Roland Garros 2014: MOTD Day 5 Thu 29/05/2014

Here is today draw!

Rafael Nadal  (ESP) [1]
vs.
Dominic Thiem  (AUT) [33]


Richard Gasquet  (FRA) [12]
vs.
Carlos Berlocq  (ARG) [33]

 
Gael Monfils  (FRA) [23]
vs.
Jan-Lennard Struff  (GER) [33]


 
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez  (ESP) [33]
vs.
Adrian Mannarino  (FRA) [33]


Marinko Matosevic  (AUS) [33]
vs.
Andy Murray  (GBR) [7]  


Donald Young  (USA) [33]
vs.
Feliciano Lopez  (ESP) [26]


Andreas Seppi  (ITA) [32]
vs.
Juan Monaco  (ARG) [33]

Good luck!

Dominic Thiem (AUT)


Richard Gasquet (FRA) [12]


Gael Monfils (FRA) [23]


Adrian Mannarino (FRA)


Andy Murray (GBR) [7]


Donald Young (USA)

Juan Monaco (ARG)

Thanks, T, you are a   !

Thiem, Gasquet, Monfils, Murray, Seppi, GG Lopez, F. Lopez

Thiem
Gasquet
Monfils
Garcia-Lopez
Murray
Lopez
Seppi

In quickly to try my luck alway in the best Olympic spirit. Thanks a lot for the match choices.  


Thiem - Nadal: I just have to go with my heart here. I know he has the game to trouble Nadal and Nadal should be nervous. Plus maybe something went wrong with his bloodbags again. Here's to an upset!   Bamos Dominic, a lot of hopes rest on your shoulders.   You have nothing to lose and everything to win.   
Gasquet - Berlocq - Gasquet looked good in his match vs. Tomic, though Tomic was just   
Monfils - Struff - I haven't seen Struff, but Monfils convinced me in his last match.
Garcia-Lopez - Mannarino - Mannarino won't give Garcia-Lopez as many UFEs as Wawrinka did, but he should come through
Murray - Matosevic - I have seen Matosevic only in Australia, shouldn't be much of a challenge for Murray though.
Lopez - Young - haven't seen Young, the typical American clay court specialist, I presume
Seppi -Monaco - Chose Seppi to have his bff to commiserate Nadal.  

Nadal
Gasquet
Monfils
GGL
Murray
Lopez
Monaco

Just 5 mins away from the start of play.

1. Thiem not that I think he will.. I just want him to.
2. Berloq
3. Monfils
4. Garcia-Lopez 
5. Murray
6. Feliciano Lopez
7. Seppi

I am getting  a tiny bit excited about Thiem-Nadal.
Nadal is obviously a heavy favourite if for nothing else than his fitness and experience, and those two are huge.
Thiem has talent and a nice game, he is strong physically and a good, calm competitor. Great FH!
He is also best mate with Gulbis   (if that doesn't help, nothing will!)
I think he'll enjoy the opportunity to play a big match on the big scene.
The crowd will definitely be behind him, so you never know....even in the best of 5!
So let's hope for wet, cold conditions and that Thiem gets used to Nadal's spin-bombs fast!

Soderling did it, so it's not quite impossible...I wish he was still playing...
Even if he did,  he'd probably still not be in Nadal's half of the draw...just like in 2010,  the year following the best win of his career.
Let's relive that wonderful memory once more!

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9g8gx_rafa-nadal-vs-robin-soderling_sport

Strangely, no videos of it on Youtube...

Young a set and a break up on Lopez, will have a look.
This was my most difficult pick, as Young is a nice player, but has dodgy attitude swings, failing to fulfill his talent.
Good to see him back.

Biring match full of stop-start points and UEs....Young looks like he's filled out and put on quite a bit of muscle.
Lopez seems stuck with his old game which now looks to belong only to 250 tournaments....

Karlovoc through in 3 sets, young serving for the match.

Nadal-Thiem started, 3:0, I'd better start watching!

Come on DOMIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!     

Thiem wins his first service game...spending too much time on the baseline for my liking, Nadal will drain him in two sets if he goes on like this.
Hopefully, it's just the nerves and getting used to Nadal's ball.

Sunny in Paris, Nadal loving the conditions...and unfortunately, so far, the opponent, as well...
I still think Thiem will settle in the 2nd set.

Nadal fails to serve out the set and Domi breaks 2:5.
I think he is handling the spin OK, as Nadal is not able to push him behind the baseline, and Domi is playing aggressively, was just missing too much at the beginning, but now startling to settle and play his game.

Serve fails him, as he double-faults on the set point 2:6.

Let's hope for the better start in the 2nd set.

noleisthebest wrote:Karlovoc through in 3 sets, young serving for the match.

Nadal-Thiem started, 3:0, I'd better start watching!

Come on DOMIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!     

 I can't believe a player Young is in the 3rd rnd of RG.

Young is a good player. There are worse players than him in the 3rd round...Anderson, Johnson(!!!)...
I know it's terrible to see players like them still in the draw and Dolgo, Stan out, but that's the beauty of "luck".

Nadal gets time violation.
Thiem fails to convert he BP that follows, but didn't have a chance in that rally
During one service preparation, Nadal rolled up his shorts and took ages to pull out some thread that was annoying him.....

And while I was typing here, Thiem got broken...
I think I'll switch to GG-Mannarino.

Mannarino is the only player I am 100% about is not doping. It's a miracle he is ranked as high as he is on pure talent.

One last peek at Nadal-Thiem....who is now well behind the baseline, terrible at the net...and probably can't wait for the match to be over.
Didn't stand a chance today. Could not get the first serve in, to start with.
Shame...he was my last hope till the QF

What a terrible display from Nadal! Running right and left moonballing hoping for a mistake.

Before I'd say gutless! Now it's clearly Shameless as well. The crowd is bored to death and want Thiem to cut down on the UEs!

Thiem BH winners 6, Nadal 1......in 2 sets!!!!!

Absolutely terrible, how can him and Toni complain about the Parisian crowd supporting the opponent? How can we justify supporting Nadal?

Even Amri gave up it seems!

The problem for nadal is that in 10 years time people will look at the clip on youtube, like we can watch Wilander winning his first slam on clay and say:

Amazing one coudl win 8 slams there just by moonballing! He won't be remembered for his tennis or shots.

At last Thiem gets a volley over the net 3:1!!!!!    

Tenez wrote:What a terrible display from Nadal! Running right and left moonballing hoping for a mistake.

Before I'd say gutless! Now it's clearly Shameless as well. The crowd is bored to death and want Thiem to cut down on the UEs!

He has been particularly terrible today, maybe played a max of 3 decent shots.
It's the the cheapest, most basic, safest grinding tennis. No talent, no heart,  no flair. Nothing.
He would be NOWHERE without the juiced bicep! His "king of clay era" surely is the black hole of tennis history...

Thiem reminds me of Stan a bit, except I think Thiem has more potential.
He needs to learn how to volley asap.
The next two years will be crucial in nis development, I wish he could hire a top coach and a good fitness trainer.
He is quite promising, being only 20.

Thiem has more potential than Stan, his shots are looser and he can whip the ball. The hands are going to improve fast.

Yes and he moves better, too. Has a proper all-court game inside him and is not a choker.

The potential is there Dom needs to tidy it up. Play more composed, going for closer to line, less powerfully even woudl be enough.

It's a learning curve. But if they meet on grass this year it could be interesting cause Nadal won;t get away with this retrieving there.

Yes, it was sad to see Thiem hit what he thought would be unretrievable winners and see them all come back...over and over.

He needed to move in more on clay but couldn't because his serve was not working. But all in all, not a bad match for him, bearing in mind it was his first one against Nadal plus it was on clay.

The most ridiculous draw for Nadal! Dusan Lajovic is my only hope! Never seen him play but his name sounds like Djokovic so that could scare Nadal off!


I hope Ferrer arrives fit and ready in the 1/4F!   

I think you have seen Lajovic play...a few years ago:
http://www.606v2.com/t17056-dusan-lajovic?highlight=Dusan+lajovic

Can't have left a lasting impression on you, though...He is better now, but don't think he has a chance against Nadal over best of 5.
I am really pleased he made it to the 3rd of RG, by far his biggest success. Just goes to show how important it was for him to get the chance and play best players in Davis Cup, it obviously gave him confidence and valuable experience. I am always happy to see a SBH-er do well.
Here is a clip of him against Stan in their DC match after AO14:



Not a very good clip, though...

Just spotted Fognini playing Bellucci later today, he went completely under the radar so far!

Dominic!   Well, the result was expected and very likely of course, but there's always a slim hope until Nadal manages to crush it. 

He has written on his experience on his FB page already. Says that the heavy TS of the Nadal shots were very difficult for him to handle. Usually he likes to go DTL with his BH, but says he didn't manage to do it vs. the topspin shots. Lots of UFE as expected vs. Nadal, the guy just runs everything down. Incredible! How anyone can believe in this guy is a mystery to me.

To me he also seemed quite exhausted already, especially at the end of the third set. His serve didn't give him enough free points - Nadal will make you pay for that. I so loved how the crowd cheered every point of Dominic, while Nadal's point were met with deadly silence with the exception of a few isolated persons. Still wonder, why this guy is so protected?!? It seems, a vast majority doesn't like him at all?

I still like Thiem a lot - he has powerful groundstrokes, must improve on his netgame and serve though. Plus as hard as it is to believe - this was the first GS event he played.

noleisthebest wrote:Young is a good player. There are worse players than him in the 3rd round...Anderson, Johnson(!!!)...
I know it's terrible to see players like them still in the draw and Dolgo, Stan out, but that's the beauty of "luck".

Still, NITB, this kind of player and on the other side of the net Nadal/Djoko. It's like a heavyweight going into the ring with a featherweight. Embarrassing, not a fair or interesting contest. In theory the margin between the top players should be small, but in reality there is a huge gap at the moment.

Nadal's opponents until the QF will be lucky to win games. And he won't lose a set until the final most likely. Djoko may, but only because of the "luck of the draw".

Autumnleaf wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Young is a good player. There are worse players than him in the 3rd round...Anderson, Johnson(!!!)...
I know it's terrible to see players like them still in the draw and Dolgo, Stan out, but that's the beauty of "luck".

Still, NITB, this kind of player and on the other side of the net Nadal/Djoko. It's like a heavyweight going into the ring with a featherweight. Embarrassing, not a fair or interesting contest. In theory the margin between the top players should be small, but in reality there is a huge gap at the moment.

Nadal's opponents until the QF will be lucky to win games. And he won't lose a set until the final most likely. Djoko may, but only because of the "luck of the draw".

Not quite. Young beat Murray a few years ago.
Young has a problem between his ears, unfortunately. He was overhyped (just like all young promising Americans), received a lot of USTA funding, but then thought his mum knew better, stuck his middle finger to the establishment and went off his way...it worked for some time and then he disappeared from the scene...until now!
Regarding "featherweight" argument, talent will always win over: Nishikori, Davydenko, Nalbandian...

Young lacks a few components modern pros require: mainly complete dedication and ruthless fitness regime, as talent is not enough any more...almost not even necessary if you are tall and fit.

This is a physical era and the rucks of it are cruel. The sooner Nadal retires I believe, we'll see that aspect  of the game subside a bit.
Nobody likes the fact they have to put their bodies through gruelling fitness punishment.

Interesting to read this was Thiem's first slam, it was a good showing!

noleisthebest wrote:

Autumnleaf wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Young is a good player. There are worse players than him in the 3rd round...Anderson, Johnson(!!!)...
I know it's terrible to see players like them still in the draw and Dolgo, Stan out, but that's the beauty of "luck".

Still, NITB, this kind of player and on the other side of the net Nadal/Djoko. It's like a heavyweight going into the ring with a featherweight. Embarrassing, not a fair or interesting contest. In theory the margin between the top players should be small, but in reality there is a huge gap at the moment.

Nadal's opponents until the QF will be lucky to win games. And he won't lose a set until the final most likely. Djoko may, but only because of the "luck of the draw".

Not quite. Young beat Murray a few years ago.
Young has a problem between his ears, unfortunately. He was overhyped (just like all young promising Americans), received a lot of USTA funding, but then thought his mum knew better, stuck his middle finger to the establishment and went off his way...it worked for some time and then he disappeared from the scene...until now!
Regarding "featherweight" argument, talent will always win over: Nishikori, Davydenko, Nalbandian...

Hehe, I grouped Nadal with Djoko there, true ... I didn't mean to say that they are of equal talent though. Just that they dominate absolutely and are so head and shoulders above everyone else. Other guys might show talent, you mentioned e.g. Mannarino and there are others, but send them on court with Nadal or Djokovic on the other side and they will be lucky to win games. Nishikori could possibly win sometime in the future if he were not injured again. Nalby and Davy never won anything really big (a slam)

The continued dominance of Nadal doesn't inspire much hope that talent will win over though.

Autumnleaf wrote: Hehe, I grouped Nadal with Djoko there, true ... I didn't mean to say that they are of equal talent though. Just that they dominate absolutely and are so head and shoulders above everyone else. Other guys might show talent, you mentioned e.g. Mannarino and there are others, but send them on court with Nadal or Djokovic on the other side and they will be lucky to win games. Nishikori could possibly win sometime in the future if he were not injured again. Nalby and Davy never won anything really big (a slam)
The continued dominance of Nadal doesn't inspire much hope that talent will win over though.

I got the point first time....
I am glad Nole was/is able to dominate, esp as he has stopped Nadal's rampage. How many slams would Nadal have won if it wasn't for Nole's  2011 etc.

The physical trend was not started by Nole, that's for sure, he merely caught up with it like the rest of the tour.
Even Federer gave him plenty of stick in 2009 for not being fit enough...so I have no problem about it. I am aware of the full picture.

I wish we didn't have this situation as tennis has suffered a lot. We have talked about physicality and doping a lot on OTF, nothing new to say, unfortunately, just hoping that by subduing Nadal who has no other option but his physicality, tennis will somehow turn the clock back a bit.

I'm off to playing now...after nearly a whole week, the rain has finally stopped!

Thiem after today's match:

"Of course, the court position is not the only thing I need to improve, but especially against Nadal, who gives you a lot of pressure. It's not easy to come close to that baseline. I think Djokovic is the only player who does that against him. It was clear for me that I couldn't make it in my first match against him.
I played okay. I did a lot of rookie mistakes, but against a player like him, you always want to keep the points short. I didn't want it (having to play from so deep), but it's tough. His game, it was pretty much what I expected.
I really like my backhand down the line. But against him, it was a little bit more difficult to control."

I think that was a pretty fair assessment, esp re baseline positioning.
I noticed he was able to stay on it for nearly two sets, but ran out of steam and got pushed back third, mainly because of his serve.
All in all, I particularly liked his aggression he wasn't compromising for one minute, I don't remember seeing him scramble once, very promising young player.

Order of play for day 6, some excellent matches on:

noleisthebest wrote:

Autumnleaf wrote: Hehe, I grouped Nadal with Djoko there, true ... I didn't mean to say that they are of equal talent though. Just that they dominate absolutely and are so head and shoulders above everyone else. Other guys might show talent, you mentioned e.g. Mannarino and there are others, but send them on court with Nadal or Djokovic on the other side and they will be lucky to win games. Nishikori could possibly win sometime in the future if he were not injured again. Nalby and Davy never won anything really big (a slam)
The continued dominance of Nadal doesn't inspire much hope that talent will win over though.

I got the point first time....
I am glad Nole was/is able to dominate, esp as he has stopped Nadal's rampage. How many slams would Nadal have won if it wasn't for Nole's  2011 etc.

The physical trend was not started by Nole, that's for sure, he merely caught up with it like the rest of the tour.
Even Federer gave him plenty of stick in 2009 for not being fit enough...so I have no problem about it. I am aware of the full picture.

I wish we didn't have this situation as tennis has suffered a lot. We have talked about physicality and doping a lot on OTF, nothing new to say, unfortunately, just hoping that by subduing Nadal who has no other option but his physicality, tennis will somehow turn the clock back a bit.

I'm off to playing now...after nearly a whole week, the rain has finally stopped!

NITB, I didn't know, I wanted to make sure you got it the right way.    Most people are a bit touchy about their favourites, as it should be. Following any sport in a more than very superficial fashion, requires investing some passion. And I find the human aspect forever to be more appealing than the technical who can only support. (Reminds me of that horrible Samsung commercial with Messi, Ronaldo, some other guy acting in a kind of superhuman hero robot style. What kind of view on the world is shown there...  )

Yeah, I support Djoko defeating Nadal every time.   More power to him in that respect.   I understand what he was doing and why. As a result we have an unprecedented dominance of two guys over the tour which I indefinitely prefer to a complete dominance of Nadal.

And I did not like these comments of Federer at all.   In a way he got what he deserved with Nadal for that kind of attitude. Talk about not being fit enough.  

Hope you had fun playing,   it seems the sun is coming out here too after many days of rain. Still work to do though, a big project yet to finish until july.   Maybe sunday will be good to enjoy some sun and wind and "positive pain".  

Every era is marked by dominance, some shorter, some longer - historically, depending on a player's talent (and obviously dedication etc).
However, many (mainly Sampras fans) talk Federer's years of domination down, branding it as a weak era which is nonsense as Federer was simply untouchable.
Then came Nadal and brought unchecked physicality and completely transformed the game. He took it into a completely opposite direction: from instinctive tennis that moves forward and attacks in as few shots as your talent and opponent allow you - to as far away from the net as possible and as many safe shots as needed in order to win a point. Why safe? Because he doesn't have the talent to do anything else.
Problem with him was that his particular brand of tennis relied exclusively on power and endurance, and he was allowed to abuse it.
Only those who follow him blindly  refuse to acknowledge the mechanics of Nadal's victories and titles.
He did not simply turn up and use current conditions and technology as some like to explain why he plays like he does, those conditions were (courts and balls) deliberately slowed down to allow him to win more as soon as he was perceived financially interesting. And a blind eye turned on the origins of his superhuman fitness.
I challenge anyone who disagrees to try and play 20-30 shots rallies full blast and see how long they last.
This is the hardest pill to swallow even for "unbiased" and "balanced" tennis fans.
Professional tennis is nothing more than a business like any other. And in business world all sorts of things happen in order to increase profit.
For some reason, people have no problem accepting that you can get a job through connection, cut a deal by using bribe and many other "variations" on the same theme,  but somehow when it comes to sport, particularly the "whiter than white" tennis, everyone gets into this super sensitive state of denial.

And even in this super-physical era of tennis, Fed was still able to rise above the rest and regain his number one in 2012.
Unfortunately, his 2013 was a write off due to back injury, but he is back again, and I think it's very exciting.
Tenez rightly pointed out that had he adapted to the "new" way tennis is being played sooner, mainly used a bigger frame, he could have made his life easier and been more in the slam winning mix.
Still, better late than never. I hope it pays off in Wimbledon.

And to finish the point, I think most people don't appreciate how difficult (read physically impossible) it is to play Nadal's tennis.

Even last night in the club this woman said how she loves Nadal. And when I asked what it was she liked (which probably nobody ever did before) she just gave the classic answer: I love his "energy", his attitude he brings to the court....
So that's your typical tennis fan. Complete ignorance that buys everything commentators (read salesmen representing those who issue their paycheques) say.
So it's a process and a mighty machinery running The Show, and really very, very few see through it.

I am tired and feeling negative just commenting about it, I can imagine the players....

It's called the x factor! It;s as simple as that. Compare nadal with Stepanek or Davydenko, and its obvious who is going to appeal to the masses.

I genuinely fail to see the X factor!
Maybe I'm blind   
It's all been manufactured to the last detail. I'll die not understanding how anyone could prefer Nadal to Federer.
Even if it was the "looks"only,  there are so many other better, properly good-looking players...Federer including!

That reminds me of a true story...they asked a really kitsch folk singer in Serbia: "Do you know you sell 10 times more records than Beethoven, how do you explain it?"
"Well, I must sing better!" she replied.

noleisthebest wrote:That reminds me of a true story...they asked a really kitsch folk singer in Serbia: "Do you know you sell 10 times more records than Beethoven, how do you explain it?"
"Well, I must sing better!" she replied.

LOL! shameless.