With Venus losing her match a few minutes ago, there is no American remaining in either men's or women's singles at the French.
French is ongoing, and Wimbledon starts in a month. Thought I'd create a thread for the very few tennis fans on here to discuss.
I've been loving this season so far. What I had thought was just a Throwback Tournament with the Australian Open (in which Roger defeated Rafa in the final) has now become the Throwback Year. Federer dominated the hardcourt tournaments that followed (Indian Wells, Miami) and Nadal dominated the clay season that followed that, and those two greats are by far #1 and #2 in the points race this season. What I'll be rooting for is for Rafa to capture his 10th French Open title and for Roger to follow that up by winning his 8th Wimbledon next month.
Federer actually accumulated so many points during the early hardcourt season that he took off the entire clay season to prepare for Wimbledon. It's debatable, but I think that's probably the smart move since Roger is 35 years old. Rafa has looked great at the French so far and is currently the favorite against the field even though there have been very few upsets of the top seeds, which should lead to interesting semifinal matchups. I could see Murray-Wawrinka and Nadal-Djokovic as the Final Four matchups.
Over on the women's side, Serena is out with her pregnancy, of course, so it's anybody's guess who will win an upset-filled French so far.
One more note is that Andre Agassi is now coaching Djokovic, trying to bring Novak out of his slump since winning last year's French (and completing the career Grand Slam).
With Venus losing her match a few minutes ago, there is no American remaining in either men's or women's singles at the French.
Trouble - thanks for starting this.
Bottom half of the Men's draw is set for quarters. Just can't imagine Busta giving Nadal much trouble. (But Raonic may have thought the same thing). Busta is certainly improving over the last 12 months, but just think his final for the tourney was today beating the #5 seed.
Would love to see Thiem beat Joker - but as you allude to, a Joker-Nadal semi would be epic. Nadal has lost something like 24 games in 4 matches. That is absurd. With Djokovic already being extended to 5 sets, not thinking this is his year to repeat. Will be great to watch it unfold, though.
Tennis is interesting in folks rooting interests. I was pulling HARD for Federer in the Australian Open in January. And I'll be rooting for him HARD again in a month at Wimbledon. And though you could argue Nadal is his greatest rival in his career, I'd be fine with Nadal winning the French (am actually pulling for Stan the Man or Dominic Thiem of those that are left; but then Rafa would be my #3 rooting interest). Can you imagine someone saying, once Duke lost in the ACC tourney for instance, "I really want Duke to win the NCAA tourney, but I'd be fine w/UNC winning the ACC tourney now that Duke is out". I get that it is very different (teams vs individuals, etc.), but we are talking about what many folks refer to as 2 'rivals' in tennis. And it's refreshing to see I'm not the only one that would think that way.
Yeah, I think it helps that Roger and Rafa get along with each other so well that it's possible to be fans of both although there are certainly hardcore fans of each that would consider that blasphemy. In particular, I've always gotten the feeling that Fed would rather lose to Nadal than to Djokovic or Murray despite Nadal causing him some heartbreak over the years; Nadal seems to be his favorite of the Big Four, for whatever reason. For me, I just think it's neat that two players thought to be in terminal decline would rise up again and dominate like it was 2007, not 2017, and I think it'd be cool to see Nadal win the French a 10th time (double digits!) and then for Fed to break a tie with Sampras and win his 8th(!) Wimbledon at age 35(!).
Yeah, Nadal is one of the more popular players on tour. A very likeable player. Djokovic has matured a lot, but earlier in his career (and even occasionally now) he had/has a bit of a prickly personality.
Rafa and Djokovic have long been two of my favorite players game-wise. I have always loved guys who win without a big serve. They are two of the greatest returners ever, and make magic from the baseline with their speed and groundstrokes. But personality-wise, Nadal has always seemed the more likeable of the two.
I am thus needless to say loving the resurgence of Nadal this season. His play so far in the French has been absurd. Definitely hoping for a Djokovic/Nadal semi.
Rain canceled today's scheduled men's QF matches (Rafa-Busta, Djoker-Thiem) so all 4 men's QF matches will be played tomorrow.
Will all 4 faves advance? The other two matches are Murray-Nishikori and Wawrinka-Cilic.
I supposed if I had to pick an upset, it'd be Cilic over Stan.
5am Eastern, buddy. (That's actually not too bad compared to some Australian Open times.) I'll be very interested in this match.
Thiem is most likely a future French Open champ. I just don't know if he's got the nerves/experience to beat a Novak or Rafa at Roland Garros yet. He's got the powerful shots and the spin, though.
Thiem over Djokovic in straight sets. Nadal wins in 1.5 sets but he was cruising. Thiem will present a tough test for Nadal.
Good call, GWD! Thiem thrashed him after a tight first set; he even fed Novak a bagel in the third set. Truth be told, I think Novak mentally checked out after the 1st set for whatever reason. This was not his best effort as he was spraying errors everywhere.
Thiem's the only player that's beaten Nadal on clay this season. The future King of Clay vs the current one? Thiem might be thinking he is already the current King of Clay.
Well, if I were in Vegas, I'd take my winnings and run. I REALLY like Thiem's game. Just think he strikes the ball so smoothly. But I just can't at ALL see him taking down Nadal. Just feel like he's too young. Really no pressure at all today, but I just see the pressure of a Grand Slam semi-final, playing a living legend, really getting to him next round. Hope I'm wrong. I haven't followed the spring clay season at all, and quite frankly, was stunned when Trouble said Thiem had beaten Rafa on clay this year. I'll be rooting for him, but I'm beginning to think Trouble pegged it at the beginning of the thread. Another Throwback Slam. I realize there are 3 of the best 7 players in the world in addition to Nadal in the semis, but at this point I'd consider betting even money that Nadal wins the title. Will be fun to see what happens next, though.
Nadal and Thiem have played 3 times this season, with Thiem progressively improving each time before knocking off Nadal in Rome in the 3rd meeting.
But yeah, best of 5 at Roland Garros is different. I agree that Rafa will dismiss Dominic pretty easily tomorrow. I just think something was wrong with Djokovic when he played Thiem -- McEnroe even called it a tank because Novak was so horrible -- and so the result isn't as impressive as the scoreline implies. That said, there's no doubt Thiem has been the second-best clay player this season. He could put up a decent challenge, and if I'm wrong and he beats Rafa, then he was the best clay player this season.
Man, Stan is just killing the ball (as he is wont to do) and has taken control of his match against Murray after Andy won the first set.
Rafa straight-sets Thiem. He has yet to lose 30 games in this tournament.
Appreciate the updates guys. Feel like I missed some good tennis - certainly this morning's match. Love Stan the Man, but just can't go against Rafa. Trouble called it - Throwback Slams this year? Or, can Stan do it and go an amazing 4 for 4 in GS finals. Too lazy to look it up, but surely no one has ever won his first 4 Grand Slam finals, right? And speaking of stuff like that, surely NO one has ever lost less than 30 games to get into a French Open Men's final, right?
Rafa's the favorite and deserves to be, but Stan has that amazing power that gives him a chance. If Stan gets hot, he's probably the only player who can hit through Rafa when Rafa is in top form on clay like this. A hot Stan was the only thing that stopped Novak from achieving a Calendar Grand Slam two years ago, and if Stan gets into a zone again Sunday, it could be interesting. Stan's a big match player, he gets stronger as a tournament proceeds, and he gets stronger as a match proceeds so he can even win a 5-setter.
I'll predict Rafa in 4, but a Stan victory here wouldn't be shocking.
Borg is the only other one in the modern era; he gave up just 27 games before the final once. Still, what Rafa has done these two weeks is remarkable.
Wawrinka is a shotmaker who, when dialed in, can blister the ball. Not sure he can beat Rafa on clay, but it should be fun to watch.