Roger Federer retires

The forecast for the French Open is cold and rainy, meaning the ball bounces lower. This seriously disadvantages Rafa and Thiem.

Sadly Novak is my pick for the title now...

Rafa ftw!!!

Semis:

Nadal [2] v Schwartzman [12]
Djokovic [1] v Tsitsipas [5]

Swiatek v Podoroska (Q)
Kenin [4] v Kvitova [7]

Schwartzman beat Thiem in 5 tough sets to get through. Rafa and Novak have been winning easily, as expected. Podoroska is a qualifier who had won 8 matches in a row.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Oct 7th 2020 »

Thiem is disappointing. Hopefully Rafa continues to sweep before facing Novak.

I wasn't that disappointed in Thiem. He looked, and admitted that he was physically and mentally drained from the US Open. Yet he managed to make the QF and win 2 sets against an in-form Schwartzman (who easily beat Rafa in Rome).

Hopefully Rafa learned his lesson after that Rome horror show. Novak is there to be beaten. He was playing badly in his QF and lost the first set and nearly went down a break, before he started faking an injury (again) and then came out firing. Hopefully Tsitsipas can do to Novak what Thiem did to him at the French last year. However,

Prediction:

Djokovic d. Nadal in 5 sets

Kenin d. Swiatek in 3 sets

Nadal is winning it all.

Don't underestimate the power of Djokovic's scrapping. He was definitely the worse player against Federer at Wimbledon and Thiem at the AO, but still won both matches.

Sofia Kenin has the chance to win her 2nd GS in the past 3 slams. That's despite being double bagelled at Rome...

« Last edited by Matt77 on Oct 8th 2020 »

Playing Rafa on clay is different.

But the temperature and time of year means the ball bounces lower, helping Novak, and disadvantaging Rafa and Thiem. After all, this is the first time in 5 years that Thiem hasn't made the semis.

You just gotta believe.

Rafa easily accounted for Schwartzman 6-3 6-3 7-6. He won the tiebreak 7-0 after saving 2 break points at 5-5 in the 3rd.

Novak battled past Tsitsipas 6-3 6-2 5-7 4-6 6-1, despite serving for the match at 5-4 in the 3rd and having match point. Me thinks he will regret spending extra time on court.

Hopefully Rafa can stay hot and make quick work of him. The longer the match, the more in Novak's favor.

Should Rafa win, I think it puts him in great shape to finish with the most Grand Slams. It would tie him with Federer, putting them both ahead of Novak by 3. That will be tough for Novak to overcome since Rafa is only a year older than him and he continues to basically have the French as a guarantee each year. It also seems like the next generation of great tennis players is on the precipice.

19-year old Polish player Iga Swiatek easily accounts for Sofia Kenin 6-4 6-1, winning the last 6 games in a row. Aga Radwanska went her entire career making 1 GS final (a loss), and now she's been piped by another Polish player already...

Swiatek's scorelines this tournament have incredibly been:

R1: 6-1 6-2 over last year's runner-up
R2: 6-1 6-4
R3: 6-3 6-2 over Bouchard
R4: 6-1 6-2 over world #2 and 2-time GS champion Simona Halep
QF: 6-3 6-1 (won 11 of last 12 games)
SF: 6-2 6-1
Final: 6-4 6-1 over GS Champion Kenin

She never lost more than 5 games in a single match... Also, she hits the ball harder than Rafa...

« Last edited by Matt77 on Oct 10th 2020 »

Let's see if she can actually dominate, or if she'll be another young player that never can reach greatness. Goff, Osuka, Swiatek could be something for next decade if each can pan out.

You seem to have forgotten Rafa in the title of this thread. :P

xD

I don't think she'll be an Ostapenko, but she can possibly win 1 or 2 more slams in her career. She has a powerful serve, powerful shots, lots of topspin, good dropshots, and a great attitude on and off-court.

That said, I've never seen a player destroy all of her 7 opponents in a grand slam the way Iga did.

Gauff is so overrated Warrior. People think she's guaranteed to win 5+ slams. I mean, she served 19 double faults from a set up against a qualifier, and lost. She has work to do.

Kenin's luck finally ran out and she thankfully lost. Now we need Rafa to do his job and obliterate Novak 6-1 6-1 6-0

Watching 5 sets is too hard, so I'll probably watch from halfway through set 2. The last time I watches a full 5-setter, was the most heartbreaking sporting match and result I've ever had to witness. Never again...

It's been a minute since I watched an entire five setter.

Wouldn't be surprised if Novak and Rafa go the distance though.

« Last edited by Warrior13 on Oct 10th 2020 »

There are too many giant servebots in men's tennis at the moment for me to know who you mean xD

Actually I'm guessing Medvedev in the US? He isn't a giant at all when compared to some of the players out there...

He'd be the one. XD

He lost in the 1st round of the French, and has never won a French Open match in his career

« Last edited by Matt77 on Oct 10th 2020 »

I know, but that was the last five setter I watched from start to finish. Was that the US Open last year?