Roland Garros - 2019

Rafa will be heavy favourite if they both make it. I’m expecting Federer to lose in the quarters and give him about 10% chance in a semi against Nadal.

Schwartzman gone.  That makes Fed's road to QF quite open.  Hopefully he can take advantage and at least reach QF.

For tomorrow, good luck Goffin!

noleisthebest wrote:How realistic is the Fed-Rafa SF, and if it comes to it who's going to win?

Dunno but in 2017 he would have beaten Nadal on clay in early rounds nowadays we see a clear difference between round 1 and round 2....so very unlikely. However knowing Federer he would find a way to make it closer than some think.

Fed-Rafa SF - Fed gets absolutely battered I reckon  

Anyway, today Fed plays GS match #400.  Another extraordinary number.

Yeah, come on guys Fed - Nadal at RG aged 37 isn't going to end well.

noleisthebest wrote:How realistic is the Fed-Rafa SF, and if it comes to it who's going to win?

if both get there, we will have more information to make a prediction when the quarters are over


in this moment, we all know the name of the favourite

If goffin beats nadal today, we won’t get a Fedal semi.

...and no one will complain about it, don't worry.

If nadal wins today in an easy way, I would say only Djokovic can beat him

if he struggles today, then not only federer, also tsitsipas, fognini, thiem and delpo could beat him

if he loses today, Goffin can be added to the list

Goffin has zero chance, not even to take a set.

Nadal’s been handpicked an embarrassing draw so he can face Nole as fresh as possible in the final.

That’s the only thing that upsets me.

Why can’t we have a decent balanced draw and see who really is the best.

Hopefully, God will clear Nole’s path so he arrives to the final relatively fresh.
There is so much on the line with this RG for both players.

Personally, fresh Nole will beat Nadal in 3-4 sets.
A tired one will struggle but still maybe do it in 5.

It could be an instant classic.

I think Nole has been better than Nadal on all surfaces for quite some time now.

I haven’t seen either Fed or Nadal in RG yet (just some highlights from Fed’s first match).

I know Fed is nearly 38, but he didn’t come to Paris just to say goodbye, I reckon he’ll give Rafa a very good match.

Can he win?

I believe in miracles!

Goffin is definitely the hardest R3 opponent Nadal could have had, so if it’s handpicked it’s rigged against him.
Nadals QF opponent in Nishi is probably much harder than flailing Zverev who Djokovic has.

noleisthebest wrote:Goffin has zero chance, not even to take a set.

Nadal’s been handpicked an embarrassing draw so he can face Nole as fresh as possible in the final.

That’s the only thing that upsets me.

Why can’t we have a decent balanced draw and see who really is the best.

Hopefully, God will clear Nole’s path so he arrives to the final relatively fresh.
There is so much on the line with this RG for both players.

Personally, fresh Nole will beat Nadal in 3-4 sets.
A tired one will struggle but still maybe do it in 5.

It could be an instant classic.

I think Nole has been better than Nadal on all surfaces for quite some time now.

Yeah they are 50/50 on clay

they are 11-1 in roland garros and 25 - 9 in clay masters, just because of draws, but it is difficult to tell who is the best claycourter ever between these two

To be fair she said ‘quite some time now’, and if she’s referring to past 10 months then that’s fair enough. Nadal has got considerably slower recently so he’s just not as good on this surface.
Obviously over his whole career he’s exponentially better than anyone on clay, one would have to be brain dead to question that.

Also NITB if Nadals draw is rigged to make him have Goffin, can you tell us who Djokovics R3 opponent Caruso is

"quite some time now"

lets say this season and the prior 2 seasons?

nadal: 2 roland garros, 2 montecarlos, 1 madrid, 2 roma
djokovc: 1 madrid

lets say this season and the prior 3 seasons?

nadal: 2 roland garros, 3 montecarlos, 1 madrid, 2 roma
djokovc: 1 roland garros, 2 madrid

lets say this season and the prior 4 seasons?

nadal: 2 roland garros, 3 montecarlos, 1 madrid, 2 roma
djokovc: 1 roland garros, 1 montecarlo, 2 madrid, 1 roma

I dont know... but I dont see novak being better on clay for "quite some time now"

Federer’s gone into exhibition mode here. Beautiful play; power, variety. 

There’s just nobody even now with anything like this game.

I reckon Nole's been better than Rafa on clay at least since 2105 probably before that, too.

He beat Rafa in RG in straight sets that year in QF.
You can see what difference it was when Nole was fresh.

It would be interesting to see their paths to the RG matches esp finals over the years, though it doesn't bother me much any more.

It's a new dawn it's a new day, it's a neeew life foor meeeee and Nole's going to win this RG and we'll all be feeeeling goood! 

naxroy wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Goffin has zero chance, not even to take a set.

Nadal’s been handpicked an embarrassing draw so he can face Nole as fresh as possible in the final.

That’s the only thing that upsets me.

Why can’t we have a decent balanced draw and see who really is the best.

Hopefully, God will clear Nole’s path so he arrives to the final relatively fresh.
There is so much on the line with this RG for both players.

Personally, fresh Nole will beat Nadal in 3-4 sets.
A tired one will struggle but still maybe do it in 5.

It could be an instant classic.

I think Nole has been better than Nadal on all surfaces for quite some time now.

Yeah they are 50/50 on clay

they are 11-1 in roland garros and 25 - 9 in clay masters, just because of draws, but it is difficult to tell who is the best claycourter ever between these two

I can't agree with that.  Nadal has won 58 titles and has a 431-39 match record on clay.  Nobody can touch that.  Djoko has won 14 titles and is 211-54 on clay, and they have played against the same contemporaries.  There is no doubt who is the best clay courter ever, or as between the two of them all told.  

On a different question, which I think must the one you were addressing, after Djoko first beat Nadal on clay in 2011 they have been even in the direct match-up, except at RG where Nadal is still well ahead. That makes Nadal slight favourite at RG, but definitely vulnerable.

Outside the direct match-up Nadal has continued to fare much better against the rest of the field than Djoko during that period.

If you are talking 'best ever' from this era it's Nadal on clay, Fed on grass - no doubt for either of them.  On hard its currently between Fed and Djoko, with the latter overtaking, if not already out there on his own.

**** ALERT - FED BROKEN ****

I reckon Noles was way better than rafa in 2015 and 2016

but he hasnt been since (on clay)

but for sure, he is the real threat for nadal and a great candidate for this RG

barrystar wrote:

naxroy wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Goffin has zero chance, not even to take a set.

Nadal’s been handpicked an embarrassing draw so he can face Nole as fresh as possible in the final.

That’s the only thing that upsets me.

Why can’t we have a decent balanced draw and see who really is the best.

Hopefully, God will clear Nole’s path so he arrives to the final relatively fresh.
There is so much on the line with this RG for both players.

Personally, fresh Nole will beat Nadal in 3-4 sets.
A tired one will struggle but still maybe do it in 5.

It could be an instant classic.

I think Nole has been better than Nadal on all surfaces for quite some time now.

Yeah they are 50/50 on clay

they are 11-1 in roland garros and 25 - 9 in clay masters, just because of draws, but it is difficult to tell who is the best claycourter ever between these two

I can't agree with that.  Nadal has won 58 titles and has a 431-39 match record on clay.  Nobody can touch that.  Djoko has won 14 titles and is 211-54 on clay, and they have played against the same contemporaries.  There is no doubt who is the best clay courter ever, or as between the two of them all told.  

On a different question, which I think must the one you were addressing, after Djoko first beat Nadal on clay in 2011 they have been even in the direct match-up, except at RG where Nadal is still well ahead. That makes Nadal slight favourite at RG, but definitely vulnerable.

Outside the direct match-up Nadal has continued to fare much better against the rest of the field than Djoko during that period.

If you are talking 'best ever' from this era it's Nadal on clay, Fed on grass - no doubt for either of them.  On hard its currently between Fed and Djoko, with the latter overtaking, if not already out there on his own.

sorry I didnt make my irony clear

Jahu wrote:**** ALERT - FED BROKEN ****

He came down off God Mode for a bit but back to normal now.

A lovely match but Federer looked pretty done in by the end.

Yeah, perfect 2 sets and a scrappy 3rd, but Ruud mixed it up pretty good in 3rd.

Barry I don’t think you can put Djokovic ahead of Federer on HC’s. Fed has more slams and more titles (by approx 20) on that surface. 

As things stand Federer is still the most accomplished HC player. The H2H is virtually even on HCs and that with Djokovic having the age advantage for the majority of those encounters.

Yeah right now Fed has won more on HC, but Djokovic will add to his tally.

As will Federer. As things stand Federer is the greatest on both grass and HCs.

Feder doesn’t have the legs to play more than a couple of hours, especially on clay. Once he comes up against an opponent that can extend the rallies he’ll probably lose. 

Rafa hammering Goffin as expected.

Nole's better than Fed on hard courts. 
He's been beating him there for a long time.

Fed can't touch Nole even with his neobh.

Anyway, these are meaningless egonourishing conversations.

Nole's developed into a great player, hard to punch through him.

For me, it's the excitement of watching him first overtake Rafa and then Fed.

It would/will be amazing.

It starts here in Paris.

Emancipator wrote:Feder doesn’t have the legs to play more than a couple of hours, especially on clay. Once he comes up against an opponent that can extend the rallies he’ll probably lose. 

Rafa hammering Goffin as expected.

Goffin's been injured so far from his decent form, and even if he was at his peak, he'd blow it with his head. Never a real danger, same as Nishi.

Djokovic is a boring wall whose tennis reflects his personality. 

I honestly can’t look upon a player with his abysmal net skills as any kind of GOAT contender. In another era he struggles past 3 Slams.

Agree regarding Djokovic. A one dimensional player who is outstanding in that demension but has undoubtedly benefitted hugely from homogenised conditions. I can see him getting more than 3 slams in any era but he certainly wouldn’t have 4 W titles and I think he’d struggle to get 3 USO’s in the era of fast HCs. People may point at Agassi as a player won W with a baseline game in an era of fast grass and serve and volley, except Agassi could volley and was very adept at taking the ball early and aggressively - more so than Djokovic.

Nole is brilliant. Anything but boring.

I suppose this is how Lendl was perceived back in his day. Only now people are appreciating him. It was all about Mac.

Nadal looks ok. But far from 2018 form. I expect Screech to beat him fairly comfortably.

Nadal is becoming quite limited in that he can blow away a weaker player but will crumble against anyone who can sustain aggression, or in the case of Djokovic just run him ragged.

Goffin now looking quite dangerous. Such a pity he lost the first two.

At last watching...
I love Dimi.
I love Stan.

They both need the win.

But I think Dimi needs it a feathertouch more.

so it's
COME ON DIMIIIIIIII!!!!!

That all aside, Dimi is the more "proper" player of the two.

More in the arsenal.

More unlucky in love.

so...

And now over to Tsits Filip


Beautiful match even though it's over.


Fica's caught some late last fire...lovin it while it lasts!

Tsits is adorable!

noleisthebest wrote:Goffin has zero chance, not even to take a set.

I think someone owes Goffin an apology   He is the first in a long time (since Rafa lost to Nole at RG) to take a set off of Rafa at RG!!

Also, not sure why you find Tsitsi adorable?? I can understand your liking his game, but it seems everyone who watches him and see him behaves starts disliking his character. I was surprised the other day when he was playing Sasha Zverev of everybody (was it Rome or Madrid?, it was recent on European clay...) that commentators literally started saying after another show of gamesmanship or whatever fuss from Tsitsi how they were on team Zverev and wanted him to win, etc.

sphairistike wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Goffin has zero chance, not even to take a set.

I think someone owes Goffin an apology   He is the first in a long time (since Rafa lost to Nole at RG) to take a set off of Rafa at RG!!

I saw that...what can I say....I am rubbish these days!

sphairistike wrote:
Also, not sure why you find Tsitsi adorable?? I can understand your liking his game, but it seems everyone who watches him and see him behaves starts disliking his character. I was surprised the other day when he was playing Sasha Zverev of everybody (was it Rome or Madrid?, it was recent on European clay...) that commentators literally started saying after another show of gamesmanship or whatever fuss from Tsitsi how they were on team Zverev and wanted him to win, etc.

You should know by now I'm not "everyone"

noleisthebest wrote:You should know by now I'm not "everyone" 

Hehe, I know, and I pride myself also to be different from the mass, e.g. I have never been on social media, except maybe (if it is considered to be a social medium) this forum  . But occasionally, we all need to see what is in front of us and Tsitsipas is not that likable and he shows gamesmanship too often and thinks he is better than what he actually is and occasionally gets the wake up calls needed, but not sure he has really adjusted yet...

So, what is the verdict on Rafa's form?  Did not see the match, and the scoreline is ambiguous:

On one hand, it is the kind of scoreline that top players sometimes get when everything is going too easy and they lose concentration for a few games.  On the other hand, when Rafa is firing on all cylinders, he does not give up many sets at RG.

sphairistike wrote:He is the first in a long time (since Rafa lost to Nole at RG) to take a set off of Rafa at RG!!

Not quite.  Schwartzman took a set last year.

Nadal actually played well, he only faced break point in one service game all match (the game goffin broke), and won 87% of points on serve. Only one dip in the end of the third, which was costly.
Goffin played a great set 3, but was average for the rest of the match. Got bullied for most of it.

sphairistike wrote:but it seems everyone who watches him and see him behaves starts disliking his character.

I do not know why you guys all dislike him so much.  I am not sure I have seen him cheat outright (though I could be forgetting something).  He is very aggressive with his gamesmanship and certainly not a particularly good sport, but he is in it to win it, not to make friends.  As in any endeavor, top performers are unlikely to be the nicest of people.  Fed is not above some gamesmanship here or there himself.

Nadal vs Londero in Rd4.  Cannot say I am thrilled with that pairing.

Tsits Filip continuing to play great tennis.

Brilliant match.

Tsitsipas all of a sudden in a close fight. Now served back-to-back doubles to go down a break in the 4th set.