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The Picks at Roland Garros: Saturday, May 29

May 27, 2023 by Matthew Cronin

In Geneva: Grigor Dimitrov over Nicolas Jarry
The Bulgarian just said that in the next couple years, that the veteran wants to win a few more big events. Well Dimitrov can, as long as he can not only be consistent, but to crack the ball with his heavy forehand and his stylish backhand. He can lose control, and he will be upset, physically, and then he will lose, but he can recover.

In the final against Jarry, he will have to figure it out how. Last year he wasn’t doing much, but this week he upset Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev . “I have been playing good tennis and working a lot,” Jarry said. “To be able to play like this against Casper [Ruud] and against Sascha, I am so happy with all the work.”

He must have worked all the time, and also, he added more types of new shots. On clay, Jarry is very comfortable on the dirt, but the Chilean still has to nail the ball, especially in the final. Because of that Grigor Dimitrov will win a very long match in Geneva.

In Lyon: Francisco Cerundolo over Arthur Fils
The Argentine has had a pretty good years, on the hardcourts and in the clay, with some interesting strokes. He can really mix it up, and he is also fast, when he is running. He does really like to use the crosscourt, and down the line, off both sides. His serves are so-so, and his return is good, but not great, as he has yet to go into the top 20. But close, now.

The 18-year-old Arthur Fils from France is now quickly rising, and he has beaten a number of a few good players. He can really hustle, and he can also be super patient. Yes, he can miss a number of error, but he still will continue to drive with some engaging strokes. Fils will got into the top 100 this year, or faster, but in the final, Cerundolo will grind it down in three, longish, sets.

In Strasbourg: Elina Svitolina over Anna Blinkova
The former No. 2 Elina Svitolina has recently returned after she had a child, and it is still time to reset all of her goals. She really likes to rally, and she can be intense, although the reason why she has yet to win the Grand Slam is because she gets pretty troubled, and then she would back off. But perhaps she is changing.

This week, Anna Blinkova said that she was thinking about what she should do, to either just stay back and hope the opponent will miss one, but now on clay, she decided to attack early. Apparently, she did, and it will be close, but Svitolina will win it, her 17th titles, which is very, very good.

In Rabat: Lucia Bronzetti over Julia Grabher
The Italian Lucia Bronzetti can be loyal, and she can also scramble. Last year she put together some fine wins, but she also tripped it, at the the matches. This week, it does look like that she wants to be more fitting, and to figure it out, win or lose. This week, she certainly has.

The Austria has had a medicore year, winning a few decent matches, but losing against to a variety with the players. Grabher can be solid, at times, but she doesn’t hit the ball with enough pace. However, this week she was very solid, and damn steady. She might do it, again, but Bronzetti will out hit her with her better forehand and she will win it in three, savage, sets.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Elina Svitolina, Francisco Cerundolo, french open, Grigor Dimitrov, Lucia Bronzetti, Lyon, Matthew Cronin, Rabat, roland garros, Strasbourg

Preview: ATP at 2023 Roland Garros

May 24, 2023 by Matthew Cronin

It is possible that Daniil Medvedev will win Roland Garros for the first time, but he has to play for two weeks, in a three out of five, and while he rarely gets tired, on the famous clay, there have been some stunning upsets. But not with Rafa Nadal, who has won it 11 times, but unfortunately, he won’t be able to play because he is still injured.

So he will not go, and then you can throw 10 players who can grab it. You can look at Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime. You can also throw in even more, but you have to think that they are very good, each day in Paris, or they can fall down in the second week.

In the 1990s, the American men were very valid, eventually, winning at Roland Garros with Jim Courier and Andre Agassi. It did take them a decent about of time to get hooked on the clay.
They became patient, and when they had a real chance to crush there hard forehand, and also, there steady backhand. It was spot on.

Currently, over the past two months on clay, once again, the U.S. guys have not been deep enough. Fritz has played terrific on the hardcourts, but in the past three years, he lost very early at Roland Garros. Perhaps he went too early, and he didn’t want to rallies for hours. Sure, he can dish quick and he can alloy it up, and return, too, but on the clay, he still isn’t sure what to do during the match.

The same thing goes with the No. 12 Frances Tiafoe, who put together a couple very good matches on the hardcourts, but on the clay, he is fumbling again. Last year, he was on fire at the 2022 U.S. Open and Tokyo, and he hit some phenomenal shots, but now he has been missing a lot. He is 25-years-old, so maybe he can re-adjust in the strokes, and to return, better. Also, both he and Fritz are cover good at the net, but they really have to put it away, and also, chuck in some excellent drop shots.

The rest of the U.S. men have had a good last 12 months, moving up, with Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda, Brandon Nakashima, Jenson Brooksby, Maxime Cressy, J.J. Wolf and Ben
Shelton. But into the quarters at Roland Garros, that would be surprising, but one person will turn on the lights.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: atp, Carlos Alcaraz, daniil medvedev, french open, Matthew Cronin, Novak Djokovic, roland garros, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Taylor Fritz

Novak Djokovic loses first 2022 match in Europe

April 14, 2022 by Matthew Cronin

Novak Djokovic lost at Monte Carlo on Monday, the first time that he had played on court after Dubai. There, in February, he lost in the quarters against Jiri Vesely. In April, Djokovic could not shake it off, and he went down against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner decided not to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and because of that he could not play at the 2022 Australian Open. He also could not play Indian Wells and Miami, which was a huge challenge mentally.

When he is on court, he can be lethal and so steady. But when you cannot play, even while he can practice all the time, the 34-years old gets irritated and frustrated.

“I’m disappointed. No one likes to lose,” he said. “I didn’t like the way I felt physically in the third. I just ran out of the gas completely. Just couldn’t really stay in the rally with him. I mean, if you can’t stay in the rally, not feeling your legs on the clay, it’s mission impossible. So, I don’t like that.”

Before he went down against Davidovich Fokina on clay, he had played only three matches this year. Now, after the loss, that is four contests in three-and-a-half months. That is nothing for him.

“Obviously I miss competition. I still feel motivation to be on the tour and compete with young guys and try to challenge the best players in the world for the biggest titles,” Djokovic said. “Obviously last four, five months have been really challenging for me mentally and emotionally, but here I am and I try to leave all of that behind and move on.

“Clay court is the surface in which I grew up in Serbia and played many years only on that surface actually, and historically hasn’t been my most successful surface, but I have had some big success on clay. Of course, Roland Garros win last year is still fresh in my memory, so I try to use that as an inspiration to kick-start the clay court season best possible way.”

He plays only the biggest events on clay except in Serbia where he grew up. His backhand might be the best ever, where he is almost perfect cross-court, and down the line is very strong, too. He can smack his very good forehand, and he can return very deep. His eyes can focus and be very smart on court.

This year, he has to play on clay anytime the tournaments allow him. The question is: Will the tournaments allow an unvaccinated player?

Djokovic has to continue to raise his game. He knows that when he lost to Davidovich Fokina, he was mediocre at best in the third set. He knows that.

“I always believed that I could come back and win the match, and I stayed there even though a lot of things were against me in terms of how I felt on the court. Game-wise, physically I was just far from my best,” he said. “So, of course, in those types of conditions and circumstances, then you have to really work two times more than you normally would. I played a clay court specialist. He had a match already on center court a few days ago. I expected this match to be really tough match, physical battle, and that’s what it was. Unfortunately, I’m on the shorter end of the stick, and my week ends here. I have to try to be optimistic and build to Roland Garros, where I want to peak.”

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: french open, monte carlo, Novak Djokovic, roland garros

Two-time finalist Thiem out of Roland Garros

June 1, 2021 by Matthew Cronin

On the first day at the Grand Slams, the emotions are high or low. At the 2021 Roland Garros, it can be sunny or cold. Or maybe in the middle. Before they start, the players are generally charged up. “Let’s play, let’s sprint, let’s nail the winners and aces.”

But they never know until they began to play. Some can be very nervous, others are calm. On Sunday, there were dozens of matches. “What time is it, where exactly is it, is the clay soft or fast?”

Here are two players who lost and won.
.
Dominic Thiem, who reached RG in the final twice has not had a great year. He lost against Pablo Andujar in five sets. Going in, then former 2020 US champ thought he could pick it up. But in the fifth set, he missed some key points. Thiem was unsure.

“I was not struggling at all with my motivation, but the game was just not there today. Like all the shots are missing power,” he said. “They are not accurate enough. I’m moving not well enough, so everything in my game there are some percents missing. Actually, I don’t really know why, because since I stepped back on court it’s already two months, and I was really practicing well, super intense as well. Shots were there in practice and it got also better in Madrid and Rome. But Lyon [who lost in the first round] and here, the shots and all how I moved and everything was just not the real me.
It’s just not good enough at the moment. It’s very tough situation.”

Aryna Sabalenka is ranked No. 4, winning Madrid a few weeks ago. Mentally she has finally poised. Of course, she is a gigantic hitter, but now she is concentrating more. And she won’t being angry as much when she isn’t playing well.

“I have a lot of experience in these kind of matches. I mean, emotionally,” she said. “That’s why sometimes I scream, ‘Come on, or let’s go,’ because, this character inside of me and that I have to keep trying and don’t waste my energy. In some point, I understand that it’s too much emotions, like bad and good, so I kind of have to start thinking about what should I do to win this match? Put my focus in another place. It’s help me to find this, calmness?

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Dominic Thiem, french open, roland garros, roland-garros

Roland Garros, Day 11: ‘Hang it all out’

October 9, 2020 by Matthew Cronin

What is fascinating in the Roland Garros second week is there are some well-established players, but also some of the new breed.

On the Thursday and Friday, all the men and the women will compete in Paris. The traditional players are still there, such as Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Petra Kvitova and Sofie Keni , all the Slam winners.

One important questions: When they play, are there nervous or not?

Kvitova can win a another major, but she has yet to win RG. So, once again, if she is remains calm and hones her tactics, then maybe she can trick Kenin. Kenin, who crushed Danielle Collins in the final set of the quarters; she wiped her out. Both Kvitova and Kenin are aggressive and play without fear. They won’t push the ball, and they go for the lines. Big serves and returns will determine the match.

How about Nadia Podoroska and Iga Swiatek? Where did they come from all of a sudden?

The youngsters will be around a long time. But, to go way up into the top 10 in the next year, that is pretty questionable. Or they can disappear as quickly as they rose, though Swiatek looks like the real deal. They just have to prove it…

Stefanos Tsitsipas is on the winning streak. Over the past two weeks, he started to be consistent and powerful. Before that, in August, he was on and off, playing well or playing badly. Tsitsipas recently said that at this Grand Slam, he could it hang it all out.

He will face Djokovic in the semis, and the No. 1 Serbian is very controlled. And he is cane astute. If he feels rattled, and realizes it, he can change it up. Tsitsipas has had some tough days, but he never gives up.

Nadal is cruising, taking out Diego Schwartzman on Friday. It was odd to see the Argentine getting into a tiebreak and then not winning another point. But, with Nadal on clay, the mountain is very steep.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: french open, paris, Petra Kvitova, rafa nadal, roland garros, Sofia Kenin

Jennifer Fights for Her Life Grab Women’s Crown

May 30, 2020 by Matthew Cronin

We started TennisReporters.net in May 2001, 20 years ago. We have posted well over 1,500 articles.

As coronavirus began to strike the tennis world, Indian Wells cancelled the tournament on March 9. Right after that, the tournaments pulled out quickly, including Miami, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros. Now, the WTA and the ATP have shut down until June 7. Or even further. No one really knows.

However, if you love tennis, you can reminisce with TennisReporters.net. We are resurfacing many of our best stories, written by Matthew Cronin.

FROM PARIS (2001): With a smile that reached all the way around the Seine, Jennifer Capriati celebrated the most important title of her career after she willed her way past Kim Clijsters 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 in a nail biting final at Roland Garros on Saturday.

“I was fighting to the end, for my life out there. I just wanted to win so bad,” Capriati said of two hour and 21 minute sweatfest. “Afterwards, it just all paid off, all the fight. I’m really happy and relieved.”

Sharing seemingly never-ending hugs with her family after a gut-wrenching victory over a more than game opponent, Capriati lit up Roland Garros by beaming toward to sky.

“It doesn’t seem real,” said Capriati to her mother Denise after winning her second straight Grand Slam title.

“It is real,” replied Denise. “You won it with your big heart.”

Capriati dedicated the victory to fellow player Corina Morariu, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy in a Florida hospital for a rare form of leukemia.

“I just wanted to show that my heart is with her,” Capriati said. “We’re all players. It really hits home when something like that happens.”

A heavy favorite entering the contest, a nervous Capriati was completely out of sorts in the first set, becoming distracted by the chair umpire’s microphone and complained loudly to her.

“I can’t play that microphone,” she said to the umpire. “Are you kidding me? Turn that thing off. Don’t you have a switch?”

According to her mother, Capriati became tense last night while watching television and seeing one of her mentors, Chris Evert, saying that she was favorite to win the title and it was her time to shine in Paris. Unlike last year when she never entered an event the favorite, Capriati is now widely considered the best player in the world.

“The expectations were on her,” Denise said. “After what Chrissie said, she gave me a look and I knew that she was affected. Everyone was expecting her to win today and that’s not easy.”

Unlike in her previous matches, Capriati was unable to dictate play early, as she moved slowly and dumped numerous groundstrokes into the net. The 18-year-old Clijsters dominated the first set, running beautifully and and keeping her hard groundstrokes deep. Capriati committed a whopping 25 unforced errors in the set and said she was upset by a l
arge contingent of vocal Belgian fans.

But after changing rackets down 0-1 in the second set, Capriati regrouped and began to stand in more confidently in the neck-breaking rallies. Even though Clijsters wowed the crowd with her retrieving abilities, she was unable to control her huge forehand at key moments. Capriati broke her to go ahead 3-2 when Clijsters hit a forehand long and held on to win the set when the Belgian missed a forehand down the line.

While the first two sets were error strewn, both attacking baselines raised their games in the third set. Capriati broke Clijsters to open the set with by bashing away a forehand volley, but the 18-year-old broke her right back when Capriati dumped a backhand.

Both players served extremely well in the set, with Clijsters moving her serves all over the box and confusing her foe and Capriati frequently jamming Clijsters with hard serves into the body. At 6-6 and deuce , Clijsters tried to sneak in a drop shot, but it fell into the net. Capriati then broke her to 7-6 when the teen missed a backhand.

But Capriati was unable to consolidate the break when she committed series of shaky errors. “I couldn’t watch. I felt like I was having a heart attack,” said her brother and hitting partner, Stephen.

Clijsters was two points from the match on a two occasions, but never could control the center of the court. Serving at 9-9, the Belgian started out sloppily, double faulting and committing a bad forehand error. Capriati gained a a break point and quickly cashed in, emphatically circling a ball mark three times after Clijsters missed a forehand down the line to go up 10-9.

But the 24-year-old Floridian against couldn’t hold, when Clijsters passed her with a forehand that clipped the net cord and bounced over her shoulder.

However, Capriati made another charge, breaking her younger foe with a decisive overhead smash. She convincingly served out the match, winning it it a seeing-eye inside-out forehand winner.

“I just watched and prayed,” said Denise. “But she worked through it. I knew she wasn’t going to give up without a fight. In the last game, she finally said, ‘I’m going for it,” and she did.”

The No. 4-ranked Capriati’s resurgence from a once burnt out teen phenom who left the tour for nearly four year’s to hottest player of 2001 is a remarkable story.

“She has the confidence and will, the motivation and desire,” said Stephen of hsi older sister, who also won the ’01 Aussie Open. “She can beat anybody right now. If she can beat the best players on the biggest stage, she’s the best.”

Jennifer, who reached the semis here as 14-year-old, said that while she was growing up, she could never imagine holding up the trophy on Philippe Chatrier Court.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” she said. “I never thought Roland Garros. Maybe I thought this would be the hardest one or the last one for me to win. I was having chills up there thinking about it.”

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: 2001, french open, Jennifer Capriati, Kim Clijsters, paris, roland garros

OUR FIRST STORY: Tennisreporters.net, in Paris at Roland Garros

May 29, 2020 by Matthew Cronin

Pete Sampras, French Open, Roland Garros 2001

We started TennisReporters.net in May 2001, 20 years ago. We have posted well over 1,500 articles.

FROM PARIS (2001): Having the glorious distinction of being the reigning Wimbledon champions means little in Paris other than being fortunate enough to have a gaggle of British journalist ask you whether you are planning on taking wildcards into Queens or Nottingham. Pete Sampras and Venus Williams discovered that quickly this year at Roland Garros; Venus, after she was bullied by Barbara Schett in the first round, and Sampras, when he was unable to uncork a bottle of white wine named Galo Blanco in the second round.

Sampras had perfect conditions this year to rid himself of the plague of Sisyphus in Paris — hot, dry temperatures and only a little breeze. He had a great draw and actually followed his coach’s game plan to the tee – come in at all costs, run around your backhand and take a lot of chances on the return.

But Sampras is nothing on clay when he’s not serving well and his forehand is sporadic. He is without a weapon. First, he barely got by No. 250-ranked Cedric Kauffmann. Then his serving performance against Blanco was one of the worst he has ever put on and he made a decent but not great player’s backhand look like Bjorn Borg’s during his prime. Sure, Blanco passed with precision, but it wasn’t as if Pete was making him guess much on his service games or was hitting deep approach shots. The winner of a record 13 Grand Slam titles again failed to put together back-to-back wins at Roland Garros for the fourth successive year. “It’s very frustrating, I knew what I had to do in that match and I just have to give him credit,” Sampras said. “He came out with some clean passing shots. He had me on my heels and dictated all the baseline points. He just played better than I did – plain and simple.”

Agassi zeroed in on Pete’s problems. “It’s straight fundamentals. It’s never been easy for a game like Pete’s to do well here. He’s great at turning an entire point around with one shot. On clay, you know, you can’t. You have to fight off three or four (shots) then slowly turn the point around, then slowly finish it. A guy like Alex) Corretja will slide to the forehand and buy himself a lot of time for the shot selection. Pete on the other hand will run to the ball, slam it, then slide. All that is doing is giving him much less time. There’s nothing that you could teach Pete that’s going to make it any easier.”

Blanco joins the list mediocre players who have taken down the dirt-challenged Pete in Paris: Gilbert Schaller, Ramon Delgado, Thierry Champion. Sampras will be 30 next year when he arrives at Roland Garros and even if he says he has many years to left to try to take the French title, you just don’t see aging serve-and-volleyers do well on the dirt anymore. Sampras may be the worst all-time great to ever comepete at Roland Garros. All of Open-era legends did better here – Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Edberg, Borg, Lendl, Wilander, Courier. Sampras would be better off taking his mind off the clay and zoning in quickly on the grass. He is titleless in ’01, having an awful year and is in danger of finishing the year out of the top-10 for the first time since ’89. He needs to take the fast train to London, find a pub, down a few pints and remember just what kind of player he is supposed to be.

Venus is another question all together. Williams was humbled 6-4, 6-4 by the Austrian powerhouse Schett, rendering her dream of grabbing the No. 1 ranking from Martina Hingis in the near future mute. “I just had a very, very rough day,” said Williams. I wasn’t playing normal.”

A confused Williams appeared to have her thoughts elsewhere, as the muscular Schett ate up her weak second serves and exploited her shaky forehand with blowtorch returns and a wicked forehand. Considered by many to be the tour’s hardest hitter, Williams frequently found herself on the defensive, unable to control the center of the court nor read where Schett was going with her shots. The Austrian also served effectively, stretching Williams out with a biting slice serve and occasionally running flat serves down the middle that left Williams flat footed. “It was my groundstrokes,” said Williams, who committed 43 unforced errors. “I couldn’t keep a ball in. I was making quite a few errors for no apparent reason.”

Williams did manage to fight off three match points in the contest’s final game, but unlike numerous times in the past, Schett didn’t seize up and Williams couldn’t pull herself through.

Venus has played sparingly this year, but did win the Ericsson Open, devastated the field in Hamburg on clay and then was upset on dirt by Justine Henin in Berlin. She has never performed well here and why she thought that playing two clay court warm-up events was enough preparation for her stated to desire to win Roland Garros this year is confusing. She needed more preparation to find her footing on the clay and to be able to groove her groundies. The 20-year-old believes she has been playing enough. “I never dreamed it would turn out like this,” Williams said. “Normally I turn it around but today it wasn’t there.”

The Compton Crusher is not going to win a Grand Slam by using the retreat as her most common tactic, which was her main strategy against Schett. She’s now essentially in the same position she was last year, approaching Wimbledon with two bad losses in her last two Grand Slams. Can she repeat her 2000 performance and grab glory at both the All-England Club? Not if she brings the same attitude that she did to the court against Schett.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: french open, paris, pete sampras, roland garros, tennisreporters.net, Venus Williams

Preposterous? Nadal and Barty win Roland Garros

June 12, 2019 by Matthew Cronin

OK, Roland Garros is over. Finished. Done. It is on the grass now, most of it is in England. There is almost clay throughout the year, and the same thing goes with the hardcourts. But before thinking about the famous Wimbledon, there are a few thoughts about the French Open champions Rafa Nadal and Ash Barty, and others, too.

So, let us do it.

Nadal has won 12 majors in Paris. When he came into the tournament, the Spaniard wasn’t sure that if he would be hurt, which he has done it many times, then maybe he would lose. But, he really knows what he has to do, pay attention all the time, don’t even think about how sore his shaky legs, and swing hard.

Many people have to try to out-think him, to get into his brain. But at RG, Nadal cracked Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem. Those two cannot shake him. Once again, he pushed Federer to the left and the right, and down the middle. Nadal would pass him, or he would nail a winner with his huge forehand.

In the final, against Thiem, he knew that in the first couple hours, the Austrian would attack him frequently, and he would mix it up, too. They split the first two sets, but in the third set, Nadal began to punch away. He made very few errors, while Thiem became too anxious, and he was confused. He was done. Nadal beat him 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1, and now he was thrilled, a new record that may well never be broken.

In the last five years, Nadal has played great tennis, from 2017 until now, but in 2015-2016 he also had to stop for months because he frequently was injured. But he just moves on, and he pushes himself and improves. He recovered, and on clay, in the past year and a half, he won Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Roland Garros. Also, on the hardcourts, he won the ATP 1000 in Canada in 2018.

The question is, can he win Wimbledon again? The last time he did was in 2010 — 10 years ago, when he beat Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych. If his legs are fine, Nadal definitely have a good shot.

A new Australian champion
Four years ago, Ashleigh Barty wasn’t playing tennis anymore. She quit for a couple years, playing professional cricket, to be at home in Australia. Then, she came back in 2017, and gradually, she was much more tranquil and steady. Even last year, you could tell that she had a tremendous variety. She was strong, fast and patient. At Roland Garros, she smoked the very young Czech, Marketa Vondrousova, 6-1 6-3, in the final. Barty went out for the first time in the final and dived in. She was perfect.

Now she is ranked No. 2, and she is very close to the top spot, right behind Naomi Osaka. After Wimbledon, both of them can be No. 1. That should be preposterous— and fun.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: ash barty, ashleigh barty, french open, rafa nadal, Rafael Nadal, roland garros

Can Federer dent Nadal’s dominance?

June 7, 2019 by Matthew Cronin

Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer will compete on Friday at Roland Garros. They are the two best players, without a doubt, and maybe someone else will pass them.

But not now, because not only are they so intelligent, on court, they are also brilliant when they decide which way they will go.

They both have a bundle of assets: their heavy serves, their smart returns, their famous forehands, how they can slide, and they put it away on the net.

But, it has been different on clay, in Paris. Nadal has beaten Fed five times at Roland Garros. The last time was in 2011, when the Spaniard knocked off the Swiss 7-5 7-6(3) 5-7 6-1. That was a good contest, because the other four matches on the dirt in Paris, Nadal beat him fairly easy.

Now, obviously Federer is much more comfortable on hardcourts, and he has beaten Nadal five times in a row from 2015-2017. At the 2017 Australian Open at the beginning, Federer had finally improved his backhand, where before, Nadal would just push him back, with a very dense topspin, and deep, and the Swiss couldn’t move forward. Federer finally would put his head down. However, on the AO, he began to leap early with his backhand, before the ball jumped up, so he could flatten it out, down the line, for a winner. Federer won 6-3 in the fifth. He was thrilled.

But that was totally different. On the hardcourt, or on grass, the Swiss is more positive. Federer is almost always confident, on every thing, which is why he was won 20 Slams. But he has never found out how to shake Nadal on clay. After all, Mr. Rafa has won 11 majors at RG. He has been the most dominant player.

Both men have lost one set, in the first five matches. Both of them have played excellent ball, overall. Federer has won this tournament once, in 2017. Can he do it again and stop Nadal on clay? It is possible, if he can push himself hard. But Nadal has beat him 23 times, and Federer has won 16 matches. Does that prove that the 17-time champion Nadal is a better player? Overall, it might be a toss-up, but on clay, Nadal locks in and he out-hits Federer. In the semis, Nadal will win in four tough sets.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: french open, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, roland garros

Ash Barty always improving, to face Madison Keys

June 4, 2019 by Matthew Cronin

Many years ago, the Australian Evonne Goolagong won the French Open in 1971, which was a little bit surprising. She did win the Australian Open five times, and she also won Wimbledon, twice. That was on the hardcourts and the grass. But at Roland Garros, it was on clay, so it was difficult, to slide and be very super patient. Goolagong did that, and she won it, for the first time.

Now we have to wonder whether the other Aussie Open, Ash Barty, to actually win the event. She is so steady, and she is very creative. On Monday, she beat the young American, Sofia Kenin in three sets. In the third set, she pushed herself, and she mixed it up until Kenin panicked. She was done at the end.

In January at the AO, Barty reached the quarterfinal. She took down Maria Sharapova 6-4 in the third in the fourth round, and then she lost against Petra Kvitova, who was playing fantastic. No big deal.

In Miami, Barty beat three top 10 players: Kiki Bertens, Kvitova, and in the final, she wore down Karolina Pliskova.

She did not play great at Madrid and Rome, but it was respectable. Here in Paris, mentally, on court, the No. 8 Barty is calm and diligent.

“Nothing changes. Very much we go through the exact same process after a match,” Barty said. “Whether it’s a win or a loss, it’s the same recovery, same everything. I think that’s probably what I’ve been doing best over the last 12 to 18 months. And it’s put me in better positions. I’m in these positions now because I’m doing that better.”
She will face against Madison Keys on Wednesday, who has certainly gone deep at the Slams, at the Aussie Open, Roland Garros, and at the US Open, but on clay, she can been a little out of it. She is ranked No. 14 — not in the top 5 — because she gets hurt a lot.
However, at RG over the past eight days, Keys was thoughtful and she doesn’t become so angry, which she had before. In 2018, Keys reached the semis in Paris, and then she went down against her friend, Sloane Stephens [who just lost against Jo Konta yesterday).
If Keys can beat the Britain, she has to attack her quickly, because Konta can do it exactly the same thing.

NOTES

Novak Djokovic has yet to lose a set in the first four rounds. The No. 1 is so steady, deep and thoughtful. He has only won RG once, but remember, he is going for a Grand Slam. Last year and this year, he won the 2018 Wimbledon, the 2018 US Open, and the 2019 Australian Open. Very few people have won it four times in a row. He is thinking about it, that is for sure.

Djokovic will face against Alexandra Zverev, the best young player over the past two years, but this season, he has been struggling. The German walked into RG and in the first round, he kept his head down and survived to beat John Millman in five sets. Then in the third round, once again, he he went into the fifth set, and he came though, edging the much improving Dusan Lajovic.
In the fourth round, he also edged another player, the experienced Italian, Fabio Fognin in four sets.

Zverev has won a few huge events in the ATP 1000s, but the 22-year-old has never gone deep at the Slams. He has only reached the second week two times. Last year, at Roland Garros, he was up and down there, but three times in a row, he won it in five setter, pushing back Karen Khachanov, among others. Then in the quarters, he was very tired, and he lost quickly against Dominic Thiem.

Now, here, he can attack Djokovic. He knows that the Serbian will grind him down. Not only can he yank him around — especially within his amazing backhand — but he can throw in his spectacular first serve,and he can back on the wall and return it court. Djokovic is very fast and agile.

Zverev does like long rallies, but if it goes four hours, then the German could get tired, with his legs, and he will rush the balls. Whether he does it or not, the No. 5 Zverev will be around for a very long time, but can he stun Djokovic on Wednesday? Possibly not, but it will be a very fun contest.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: ash barty, ashley barty, french open, madison keys, Novak Djokovic, paris, roland garros