Roland Garros, Day 12: Novak Djokovic versus Rafa Nadal

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal will face off on Friday night at Roland Garros. It is amazing that those two have clashed in 57 matches. If you really like to watch the great players, how about 58? Sit down and watch TV and you can stay there foreve
On court, they totally know each other – their strokes, their attitudes – and they can go for big shots when they see openings. There have been so many winners, hundreds of them. In their first match back in 2006, Nadal beat Djokovic, who retired in the Roland Garros quarters. The Spaniard eventually won the Slam for the second time in Paris, and while the Serbian began to win the majors, Nadal continued to beat him, six times at RG. But know this: Djokovic has taken down Nadal a lot,on the hardcourts. In a sense, they are even.

Djokovic has the overall edge 29-28, but in last year’s French final, Nadal smoked Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5. That was a blow out, but yesterday, the super consistent backhand Djokovic said that this week, he is feeling terrific. “I’m confident. I believe I can win, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. Let’s have a great battle,” he said.

There were other finals, and Djokovic could not find the solution. Back in 2013, the only time, Djokovic nearly upset Nadal in this tournament. The Serb was toe-to-toe, however, the Spaniard fought and fought and he finally won, 9-7 in the fifth. That is clearly one of their classic matches.
 
“l probably pick Rafa as the biggest rival I’ve ever had in my career. The anticipation for the match against him, any match, any surface, any occasion, is always different from any other,” Djokovic said. “His match had it all: falls, crowd, break. It was a lot of intensity. I just felt under tension the entire time. I felt like I missed some of the chances to end the match in the third set. I didn’t want to give him too much opportunities to dictate the match. That’s why it was just super, super stressful to constantly be under pressure on my service games because his service games were quite smooth with the big serve. Yeah, the reaction in the end was just me liberating that tension that was building up for the entire match.”

Nadal has a phenomenal forehand … Djokovic has a better very deep backhand … they are almost tied with the serves. But, with the second serves, the Serb hits it harder. Once again, they are tied with the returns, but Nadal is more comfortable at the net. No matter Nadal’s incredible success on clay, Essentially, they are even.

Roland Garros, Day 11: Tsitsipas & Zverev on pressure

Alexander Zverev

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev have reached the semis at Roland Garros and both of them have said that right now they believe that they can finally win a Grand Slam.

In Paris, Tsitsipas had a terrific win, beating Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-5. He was very patient, hitting the balls deep. When he has a chance, he went for the winners. He didn’t do that at every opportunity, but he knew he could pound it.
“I feel privileged that I’m in that position, and I feel obviously I’ve put in a lot of daily hard work has been a key element of me being here. But my ego tells me ‘I want more.’ ” Tsitsipas said.

Last year at the 2020 U.S. Open final, Zverev was close in the fifth set, but he could not find the finish line against Dominic Thiem. The German backed away from going for his shots while the Austrian was fearless and won. This time in the quarters in France, he easily won 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The 24-year-old Zverev has won some big titles, taking numerous ATP 1000s and ATP Finals. He has won on clay and on hardcourts. But, holding him back was getting angry at himself. Now, he is so much smarter.

“Obviously, the Grand Slams are the tournaments that we want to win the most,” Zverev said. “Before, maybe, the last few years, I was putting too much pressure on myself. Before Medvedev and Tsitsipas arrived, I was seen as this guy that was going to all of a sudden take over the tennis world. I was not very patient with myself, which I feel like now, maybe, I learned how to deal with the situation a little bit better.”

Tsitsipas is 22 years old and now knows he is more comfortable with his forehand and his returns. His backhand can be flat, or he can swing very hard. He really likes his progress.

“I’m playing good. That will show by itself,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a player that thinks they can’t win the tournament. I’m pretty sure that they all can play well. If someone could grant them the tournament, I don’t think that’s a thought. Of course, I’m playing well. I think if I can keep repeating the process, the everyday hustle that I put in, for sure there’s going to be a reward, why not?”

Why not, that is for sure.

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How about this? Usually at the Grand Slams, in the semis, there have been at least a couple women players who were in the top 10, or how about No. 15? Not now, this week. All four are in their first major semifinal.

Yes, all four players have looked excellent during the matches, but before that, none of them have won a huge tournament. So, on Thursday, it will be the No. 31 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova versus the No. 85 Tamara Zidansek; and then the No.17 Maria Sakkari against the No. 33 Barbora Krejcikova.

Going into Paris, many people, the journalists and the fans, would have thought that the top 10-ers would have reached into the semis, such as Iga Swiatek, Ash Barty, Naomi Osaka, Sofia Kenin, Serena Williams, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova and others. But they lost or withdrew [Osaka]. So, now it will be the new, new players.

Will they be calm, or super nervous? All of them — Pavlyuchenkova, Zidansek, Sakkari and Krejcikova — will be shaking early, but when they can attempt to go for it, and read it, then they can be competitive. Two of them who wins it will start thinking about the final at Roland Garros on Saturday. Maybe they won’t sleep, but take a nap, and dream before they start. A good dream.

Thursday update: Pavlyuchenkova advanced to the final when she took down Zidansek 7-5, 6-3.

Roland Garros, Day 9: Federer and Serena are gone

Roger Federer

On Sunday, two of the best players ever who have won so many titles, are out as Roger Federer withdrew and Serena Williams lost. They are good friends, but as I have written this so many times now, they are aging. When they hit 39 years old, they are much more mature, but have slowed down. They both know what to do, and they can see it, but trying to sprint, very fast, that is a tough ask.

Federer decided to end his Roland Garros after he beat Dominik Koepfer in four sets because it was a very long match. His body said it is time to go back home. He hasn’t played much over the past 17 months, because his legs were messed up. As Andy Murray said about Federer, another good friends, “I’d argue that it’s quite risky to play multiple 4hr matches in a row in your 2nd tournaments back in 18 months so to me it makes sense to be reactive based on how your body feels, length of matches.” True.

Let us see during Wimbledon. Hopefully, his body will be in better shape. He has to because he really wants to win London.

Serena is pushing, and she looks pretty decent, but in order to get much better, then maybe she can attack early, and get it done ASAP. She lost to Elena Rybakina 6-3 7-5 — a good player who is up and down — and Serena couldn’t hit the ball from the backcourt and fumbled with a lot of errors. So in England, she has to hit it deep and mix it up more.

If she practices a lot, and I think she will when she arrives in England, then she will have her last chance to win a major. Serena will have to be totally into it, and be really aggressive on the grass.

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Two of the very good players will face off on Tuesday with Daniil Medvedev versus Stefanos Tsitsipas. That will be a fantastic battle, with some huge swings. Seems like every predictor had Medvedev getting bounced in the first round. Now, he is into the second week.
 
Who knew that Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has finally reemerged? It had taken her for a decade. She is playing decent, but not wonderful. But, over the past few months ago, she woke up and smellrf the roses. Now she is much smarter on the court. Do it again. Prove it.

Sorana Cirstea: ‘I found the joy of playing, the freedom’

Sorana Cirstea

The delightful Sorana Cirstea has always been very nice, when she talks off the courts. However, the 31-year-old has been around for 13 years, and why she has had some terrific wins, she never went very deep into the Grand Slams. She can hustle, and she is pretty fast. But, what keeps her stymied is throwing in so many error.

That is why she has never reached the top 20. But she was close. Currently, she is No. 54. Maybe she can climb into the top 30s again, or even into the top 20s, but it will be very tough.

However, she has improved, and she seems to be thrilled about her life. Finally, she likes the dirt

“It’s funny because going into clay I was not very happy. I felt I was playing quite good towards the end of the hard court season,” said Cirstea, who beat Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-2. “Now when I’m getting the rhythm on hard court we have to switch on clay? But it’s been good. I haven’t changed much. I went through the same mindset like on the hard court, and I think it took me a little bit by surprise this clay court season, because I did not expect to come out so strong, first tournament winning Istanbul. I’m definitely enjoying it. I would not say clay is my favorite surface, but I’m definitely enjoying it.”

At the 2009 Roland Garros, she reached the quarters, upsetting Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic. She was playing wonderful but she lost to Sam Stoser.

She remembers that year, but she has changed and more mature.

“It’s funny, because I have a different mindset. Because if you think too much in the past or too much in the future, you will get frustrated,” Cirstea said. “If you ask me 12 years ago if I would still be playing today, I would definitely say no. I just go with the flow. I’m healthy, I’m enjoying myself, I’m playing at a very good level, probably one of the best I have been. I’m very mature. I’m taking it day by day, I’m not going too far ahead with my mind. I’m actually enjoying all this process. Definitely I’m enjoying much more I think this comes with maturity.”

Cirstea did have many ups and downs, moving around, finding the lines, but also, she did not understand where she was going, and what could she do? It looks like she thought about it, and right now, she thinks a lot.

“I would say, everyone has their own rhythm and their own path. You can’t compare yourself with anyone,” she said. “At the beginning of my career, I had this a lot, people comparing me to other people my age or comparing me to different players. So now, looking back, I feel that’s absolutely useless, comparing yourself with other people, because everyone has their own path and their own timing and their own route in life, their own way.

“Also, do not look left and right but look left and right for lessons, for positive things. It took me a long time to understand this and not get frustrated, because there were people my age or younger doing better. It plays a little bit with your head. But the moment when I realize that I’m playing for myself, I have my own career, I have my own path, my own life, things started to change and I found the joy of playing. I found the freedom of playing. I found the joy again.”

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Kei Nishikori finally didn’t have to play for many hours again, as his opponent, Henri Laaksonen, retired. Now he has to face Alexander Zverev on Sunday. What a banger. The German said: “This is the main goal of my tennis career, to win Grand Slams and I feel in the past year-and-a-half I am on a very good [path] again and I hope I can continue.” Let’s see.

Victoria Azarenka crushed Madison Keys on Friday. Maybe Azarenka can stay around because she can be darn good.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova sort or stunned Aryna Sabalenka. Pavlyuchenkova is a little bit more mature. Sabalenka looked great this year, until at RG, she collapsed.

Roland Garros day 5: American men has little chance

Steve Johnson

Notes on a draw sheet:
Every day in the Grand Slams first weeks, there will be some really long matches and some darn good ones, too. There are marathons that can be fantastic, but also, it could be lousy and with so many errors.

Over too many years, American men rarely reach the second week. Here and there, but the last time was Andre Agassi, who won it in Paris, grinding and cracking the ball. He won it in 1999. He was so brilliant.
 
Now, it has been 22 years ago and probably, no American will win the 2021 Roland Garros. But, to reach the second week, that would be something.

On Wednesday, John Isner, Reilly Opelka and Steve Johnson won their matches. Isner has always been played very well on the hardcourts. The tall, young man Opelka is smart and he is committed to his game This year, Johnson did very little until this week, so maybe he can be self-assured again. Let’s see come Monday.
 
The Japanese Kei Nishikori has been around for a long time, and when he is healthy — and that is rare — he is muscular and he has a great set of wheels. He just won two five-setters. So, eventually, he will be sore in the third round. His legs will be very fatigued. But, to win another match … unlikely.

Chilean Cristian Garin won a five-setter. When the tournament ends, he will be ranked in the top 20. He is stellar stuff.

Serena Williams won in three sets, downing Mihaela Buzarnescu. She has always been great, but she is still on and off. Gradually, though, she will be more compatible

Aryna Sabalenka also won. For sure, she has a chance to win it all, but only if she is continues to stay calm. Victoria Azarenka and Madison Keys will clash. That will be a barn-burner.

Two-time finalist Thiem out of Roland Garros

Dominic Thiem

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?

2021 Roland Garros: 8 women to reach the quarters

Bianca Andreescu

On Sunday, Roland Garros will start. It is a huge draw, at the four Grand Slams, but many people cannot make into the second week. Moreover, to reach the quarters, then they are already playing very well and they can think that they knock down anyone. 

But that is not reality as the eliminations continue. 

Here are eight players, to reach the quarters, as not only playing darn good, but they also like clay, sliding all over. 

Ash Barty
She has won this before, with an incredible combination of skills. Not only can she run fast and rarely gets tired, but she can slice it, top it, and then she can nail it. As long as she won’t get nervous, she can be brilliant and win it again. Maybe.

Aryna Sabalenka
The Belarus is now ranked No. 4, winning Madrid on clay. While she had taken down against a few of the top players, but she still haven’t to figured out who to cut them down at the Grand Slams. Yet. The 23-year-old might be the biggest hitter on tour. If she really wants to do it for the first time at a Slam, then she was to be placid and bottomless.
 
Bianca Andreescu
She finally returned this week, after she reached the final at Miami, got hurt and she had to retired. Yesterday, she won in Strasbourg but then pulled out before her quarterfinal with an abdominal injury. She might not be 100 percent, but she hits the heck out of the ball. The one-time Grand Slam champ really wants to show in Paris that she is back in form as long as she continues to be healthy.

Serena Williams
The American has won here before. While she is aging, she really want to win another major to tie Margaret Court Smith with 24 23 Grand Slams. Yes, she is a little bit slower now, but she has been practicing a lot, so when she arrives at RG, she will be ready to be more passionate, and hustle. She is still very powerful, so as long as she doesn’t get upset when she isn’t playing well, then she can fight back. But, to win it again? That would be surprising.
 
Iga Świątek
There is now doubt that she is the favorite, she is a titanic hitter won the 2020 RG, and last week, she won another big event, crushing Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0. She is quick, she can read opponent’s shot, she can slap it and crush it. Not only does she love clay, but the young person studies off the court, and on the court. She is ready to grab it again.

Garbiñe Muguruza
The Spaniard also won it in France. Then she went through a stretch when she was really struggling. However, in 2021, she came back mentally so now, she is more mature. From the back, both sides, she can smack it very deep. When she moves forward, if she can breath on court, she does have another opportunity to win RG another time. But that is a big if.

Coco Gauff
The 17-year-old American is getting better all the time. She hustles, she practices with purpose, and she has added some fine strokes. She is very young, and she is ambitious, and she also has improved to return. But, to win it at this age? Maybe not, but or maybe she can stun the world.

Jessica Pegula 
What a year it has been for the veteran, who for her first eight years, it was hard to for Pegula to knock off the top 20 players. Now, she has been stable. Plus, she finally figured out that she can be much more assertive. She is very spruce and she can pull it into the quarters. But, to win it all, probably not even though she will scrape in the glorious three-setters.

California rising, in Indian Wells

Casper Ruud

To start, California’s Indian Wells will play in October, which is fantastic. Over the years, in March, hundreds of thousand fans came out and watched some thrilling matches during the day and night. Last year and early this year, they couldn’t play due to coronavirus. But they waited. Last week the owners decided to push into October when many more people will have taken the vaccine. So now, it is time to try again, with the players and the fans. Go for it.

Roland Garros will start in May 29. Here comes the Grand Slams again. But, this week, who will rise up and play fantastic? Who is playing great, who is mediocre, or someone who is playing bad?

Here is the first one. Casper Ruud believes that he can reach the second week. He has had a good year, taking down Diego Schwartzman, Pablo Carreno Busta, Fabio Fognini and Stefano Tsitsipas. Ruud is playing this week in Switzerland. The 22-year-old has much more aplomb.

”I’ve shown myself that I’m up there at the high level of clay court players and I can compete well with pretty much any player on clay,” Ruud said. “I’ve been winning a lot of good matches against good opponents. So, it gives me a lot of confidence going into the Roland Garros and I have to say I’m hoping to be in Paris for the second week of the tournament. That’s my goal.”

Ruud did mention that his forehand and his backhand are strong, but he needed to improve his return, so he worked on it a lot, and now, it is better.

As he said, later, he might be playing terrific, but he is not there to knock off the big boys: [But] “I’m not a rock star in Norway yet,” Ruud said.

This was a stunner last Sunday. During the final in Rome, Karolina Pliskova lost 6-0, 6-0 against Iga Swiatek. Yes, who would believe that? The 19-year-old Swiatek won the 2020 RG and, when she plays on clay, she is incredibly good.

The 29-year-old Czech Pliskova has won some big wins over the years, reaching the final at the 2016 US Open, winning Rome in 2019, and grabbing other titles, such as Cincinnati, Doha and Brisbane.

But Swiatek was on fire in Rome, every game.

“[Swiatek] didn’t give me anything, but sometimes I just tried to make it a bit difficult just to put the ball in. I just was feeling horrible out there,” Pliskova said. “She really made it extremely difficult for me to do any point. She was playing super fast. I thought she was just going for it. She had amazing day and I had horrible day. She’s really extremely confident on clay,”

Swiatek is powerful, and more than that, she can mix it up and it is hard to read where she will go. She does like to adjust.

“She can just redirect so well and she can play even faster, and especially on clay. Because she has so much spin, it’s super tough to do something from it,” Pliskova said. “She had amazing placement of the ball. Everything was super, like, deep and just like close to the lines. She was serving quite big. She has a good serve overall. I think she didn’t have really any — I think overall she didn’t really miss anything today. Even though I was not playing great, but she was having maybe a moment of her life,”

Swiatek can win it again to win another Slam. On the other hand right now, Pliskova is in the cloud.

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Sloane Stephen has won three wins in a row. Two years ago, in Madrid, she reached the semis. Two years later, she lost so many early matches, and currently she is ranked No. 65. Now the former US Open champ is in Parma this week, she appears to be slightly back. We hope …
Grigor Dimitrov lost again. He can be pretty good, but week after week, he can collapse. … Dominic Thiem lost this weekend and really thinks he can win RG for the first time. He has been there twice in the final but Rafa Nadal took him down. To do that, he is going to have to pound Nadal’s backhand, over and over.

The two very good A’s: Alexander Zverev, Aryna Sabalenka win Madrid

Aryna Sabalenka

In the third set in the Madrid final, the rising Aryna Sabalenka was looking at a 4-4 score against No. 1 Ash Barty. Last year, in the winter, the spring and much of the summer, she was decent, but not great. But in the fall, she decided it was time to be different, smarter and control her emotions. So then, she was in control.

Sabalenka won the next two games for 6-0 3-6 6-4 victory. That was the best title ever. She is a gigantic hitter, with her hard forehand and backhand, and with her first serve, she can blast it. Her returns are very decent, too.

But listen, she has yet to win major title, but Barty has. Now they are 4 and 4, tied in their head to heads.    
 
Sabalenka thinks that she can win Roland Garros. She thinks that, but she has to prove it. The Madrid championship was the first time she won on clay. So, in Rome and Roland Garros, if she wants to week after week, against the excellent players, she must focus all the time.  One way or another, Sabalenka will continue to be aggressive and, right now, tough to beat.

Barty won 2019 Roland Garros, and she could win it in June. She has played excellent ball this year, mixing it up and move it all around the box. Getting another French title is very doable for her, as her confidence is beginning to make a difference.

German Alexander Zverev is so spectacular when he is confident. On Sunday, he overcame Matteo Berrettini 6-7 6-4 6-3 once again in Madrid. There have been so any times when he gets upset and irritable/ But, when he is playing well, he shows a smart and tactical game. He also likes to scramble and eventually he can whip the ball.

Zverev now has five ATP Masters: Madrid (twice) London, Rome and
Canada. Last week, also upset Rafa Nadal and Dominic Thiem, two Slams winners. If he continues to be healthy, it is pretty clear that Sasha will win a major. But in Roland Garros? Possibly. Good luck.

NOTES
Sabalenka said: ‘I feel a little bit better on the clay, a little bit different.’ Oh yes she did…

John Isner on Andrey Rublev: “He’s the second best clay-courter in the world right now. He hits the ball so big. It’s pretty fast. He just does so many things well.” He has, over the last year…

Simone Halep, after she losing Elise Mertens: “I want to do it better, is to stop missing, because sometimes I am rushing and I do some mistakes that I normally don’t do. I have to work on that and to be more patient in the future.” The future is now …

Felix Auger-Aliassime when he lost against the rising No. 16 Casper Ruud: “He’s improved a lot. He has a great forehand, we all know that, and he did what he had to do.”

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

Sofia Kenin

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.