Tennis: French Open 2022

[MsMeow]

Leylah into the QF!

So glad! I had to leave and won't be home for 4 hours.

 

[kihei]

Another big gutsy win for Fernandez. What a tournament she is having.

 

[otown]

One of the Tsn commentators said that her nickname now is "Clay"lah!

 

[kihei]

Gauff beat Mertens 4 and love and looked really, really scary. She has a great opportunity to get to her first final.

 

[kihei]

Interesting start. Felix overcomes some sloppiness with zest and athleticism while Rafa looks a little old and creaky. How long can this last, though? 2-1 on serve..

 

[kihei]

FAA playing smart tennis gets the first break, 3-1. It's inevitably difficult to get to Rafa's backhand (Nadal's whole service game is now built around getting forehand returns to hit) but Felix is finding ways.

 

[kihei]

4-1 as Felix almost fritters his break away. FAA living dangerously: Rafa is 0 for 6 on break points so far. But our guy looks good.

 

[kihei]

First set to Felix 6-3.

Felilx, typically, had 15 unforced errors, though. I don't think that is going to cut it the rest of the way.

 

[kihei]

Second set to Rafa 6-3. Felix made him work for it, feeding Rafa a lot of shoulder-height groundstrokes giving him a taste of his own medicine. But Nadal was just a little more clutch when it counted.

 

[Tuggy]

Set apiece.

Hard to picture a road to victory for Felix. He has to work so hard to win any points. Nadal is giving nothing for free.

 

[kihei]

I think of Alcaraz in terms of spectacular points followed by the kill shot. Whereas with FAA, I think in terms of spectacular points followed by a kill shot that is too often flubbed rather than administered.

Set apiece.

Hard to picture a road to victory for Felix. He has to work so hard to win any points. Nadal is giving nothing for free.

I'm the other way around on this today. I think Rafa looks vulnerable; I think he can be had. He's so smart, though.

 

[MsMeow]

Felix is in trouble, down a break in the 3rd

 

[kihei]

What a horribly wasted opportunity. When will Felix ever learn that giving away a point or two or three per game is a recipe for failure against the big guns. You think it would have dawned on him by now. Back on serve in the fourth set.

Rafa gives Felix another chance, 3-1, as FAA breaks right back.

 

[kihei]

The sign on the stadium says "Victory belongs to the most tenacious." Let's hope not. Felix up 4-1 in the fourth.

 

[kihei]

4-2. What are the odds on Felix serving this out? No more than 50/50 I would say.

Felix blows a 40-love lead, then raises his game to hold anyway, 5-2.

What do ya know? A well-crafted love game and we are going to a fifth set.

 

[MsMeow]

I didn't expect this would go 5!!! Go Felix!

 

[Tuggy]

Going 5! Let's go Felix!

 

[kihei]

Felix is winning 64% of his first serves, same as Nadal. Oddly low, that, as it seems that FAA's first serve is what is keeping him in the match, the closest thing he has to a clutch stroke.

Felix has the young legs but Rafa is Rafa and he owns the court.

 

[kihei]

Rafa's aura of resolve here, his sense of being up to the task, must be intimidating as hell for any opponent.

 

[Tuggy]

Nadal gets the break and serves it out...

Disappointing for Felix.

 

[kihei]

Like clockwork, at 4-3 Rafa picks the perfect moment to raise his game and the match is his. Kudos to both players.

Think I'm putting the max vcash allowed on Nole in the quarters, though.

 

[kihei]

Hey, we got one to go: Carlito versus Karen.

 

[MsMeow]

This is another good stepping stone for Felix

 

[Maestro84]

As a Rafa fan I'm really happy he was able to go through, but I'm also proud to see a Canadian be the one to challenge Rafa like very few have ever challenged him at this event.

Felix is on the doorstep of winning a slam imo. He lost to the eventual finalist at Wimbledon, eventual champ at USO, eventual finalist at Australian Open, and 13x champ at Roland Garros. In 2022 alone, each of his slam losses have been five sets to Rafa and Medvedev. I think it's only a matter of time before we start seeing FAA lifting the biggest trophies.

Also as much as it pains me to say, Novak is the favourite for Tuesday, although going in as an underdog might help Rafa a bit here

 

[Elvis P]

"Like" doesn't mean agreement, though I hope you are right.

After 4 rounds my prediction looked good.