Tennis: All Purpose Tennis Thread XIV

[kihei]

Schwartzman just completed a 50 minute 6-2 set against Nadal in which Rafa played really well, too. Yowza, the guy is 0-9 against Nadal, but that was impressive as hell (so is Diego's girlfriend who the cameramen have discovered).

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

Wow Diego with the upset. Shapo with a prime chance to get to a final.

 

[kihei]

Diego took the second set after breaking Nadal three times in a row, only to be broken twice back before eking out the 7-5 win. Red flags for Rafa all over the place. In the second set he looked like an old pro just trying to grit one out. Diego picked on his backhand side relentlessly often opening up the forehand corner. Well timed and placed dropshots went unchallenged. Rafa's strokes had no real bite, and, most worryingly, he lost rallies over five strokes by a wide margin. Hoping for Rafa to win Paris, but I don't know if a slower court benefits him in his present shape. Definitely a year to pick the field, I think, unless he gets a sweetheart draw.

 

[CanadianFlyer88]

Rafa won easily today. I think he's on a mission.

Go on.

 

[MsMeow]

Go on.

I thought of that quote after reading about today's match

 

[Hadoop]

Wow @ Schwartzman today.

 

[MsMeow]

I created a French Open thread below. There are already covid cases and removals of some players.

 

[kihei]

Denis is in tough today unless Diego has a massive let down after his big win yesterday.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Pliskova/Halep final.

 

[Cloned]

Break city in this Shapo match.

 

[Hadoop]

Heckuva match between Shapovalov and Schwartzman. Tough loss for Denis again (just like at the USO) but you feel like he is getting better at match management with each tournament.

 

[Tuggy]

Real tough loss for Denis...

 

[kihei]

Denis actually won more long rallies than Diego, 61 to 55. 41 forehand errors, though, really makes things difficult. Still, he is metamorphosizing into something special.

 

[MsMeow]

That was an amazing match from both players! Denis' serve needs a bit of work though, but what I loved about this match is they didn't choke, they both kept hitting out, they weren't pushing at all. Really entertaining tennis!

 

[kihei]

Obviously hampered by a thigh injury, Pliskova calls it a day at love-6, 1-2 against Halep. Hopefully she can recover before Roland Garros.

 

[kihei]

Schwartsman immediately breaks for 1-love. Too bad he can't hold serve to safe his soul this week....now 3-love as Diego gets a second break in the rain.

Generously Diego gives one right back, 3-1. More to follow, I'm sure....Quick like a bunny, he gives the other break back, too, 3-3 now. Get a service game, Diego.

Despite 15 backhand unforced errors, Nole takes the first sest, 7-5 as Diego can't get to the breaker.

 

[kihei]

Diego starts the second set with a break, 1-love. We know how this song goes....That was quick, 1-1.

Nole closes it out 6-3.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

What a phenomenal performance by Novak. Down 0-3 in first set to 7-5, 6-3. Unbeaten by an opponent this year.

Most Masters 1000 of all time @ 36 ahead of Rafa now. #2 on most weeks at #1 in ranking surpassing Pete Sampras (23 weeks behind Fed).

 

[kihei]

Nole definitely the favourite going into Paris, I think. If there is a question about where his head is at right now, the Italian Championship pretty much resolves doubts,

I think he will be super-focused on the French. Blowing a gift slam in New York imperils his chances of getting to 20 to tie Roger. Everybody says he has lots of time, but only two players, Roger and Ken Rosewall, have won three Slams after 33 years of age. It's a Herculean task, and capturing Roland Garros should prove a strong motivator.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

Shapo officially in Top 10. Surprised to see Gael at #9, I guess I haven't been paying a lot of attention lately.

 

[discostu]

Shapo officially in Top 10. Surprised to see Gael at #9, I guess I haven't been paying a lot of attention lately.

The ranking systems have been adjusted, so, he's being propped up by his strong play in 2019.

Not sure when they'll go back to normal in terms of sticking to a 12 month term, but whenever they do, it'll be a weird adjustment.

Speaking of which, I assume the Asian swing is still cancelled. It really leaves just a handful of tournaments on the calendar for the remainder of the year.

 

[MsMeow]

Felix won in straights today

 

[MsMeow]

What's going on with Bianca?

 

[Say Hey Kid]

My top 4 are Barty, Halep, Osaka, and Pliskova. Staying with Halep to win the French.

 

[Tuggy]

What's going on with Bianca?

Good question.

They never really revealed what injury (or how severe it was) she had.

I'm guessing she played when she shouldn't have and made whatever it was much worse. Or maybe she's had multiple issues.

Either way, hopefully she can come back at some point and be the same player, but I'm kinda in the believe when I see it camp on that one.