2024 ROLAND GARROS

It's the year 2024 and I'm still seeing Richard Gasquet walking around a court looking like he's got cramp and a bad back whilst hitting a single handed backhand winner down the line on match point to get thru to the 2nd round. Feels like he's been around for a decade longer than Murray/Nadal even though he hasn't.

Nadal/Zverev is a hell of a first round draw as well.

Amélie Mauresmo, the tournament director, has said Alexander Zverev would be allowed to compete at Roland Garros as long as there has been no decision in his public trial. Zverev’s trial for allegedly physically abusing his former partner Brenda Patea begins on Friday in Berlin during the tournament. Zverev has always denied the charges.

“So far, our policy is that, as long as the trial isn’t finished and there isn’t a decision, he’s considered innocent and so that’s why he’s allowed to be part of the draw,” said Mauresmo.

^ this is a timebomb for men's tennis. Zverev could win this one. The men's tournament is very open.

Murray out in straights against Stan W. See what he can do, reckon there could be a deep run if he gets going.

Osaka is 1-1 all with Swiatek, 6-1!!

I just tuned into this, Osaka looks FEROCIOUS

She is about to win, sounds like a great, great performance

Okay now Swiatek looks FEROCIOUS

I wish this was the final

incredible third set & iga comeback

Holy shit that was amazing, both of them are monstrous

Incredible. Osaka is back back back despite loss. Very exciting

looking like a decently competitive first set is all gasquet is going to manage against sinner. not surprising, but i was (am?) hoping against hope for more!

Kotov's mom is doing overgrip for her son while he's fighting with Wawrinka 🥹🥹🥹 pic.twitter.com/EFnC7i9ZMu

— lokked (@luv_lokked) May 29, 2024

Shame, Osaka was so close, basically beat herself with frustrating mistakes and nervousness at the last moment. Still, incredible that she played at this level, gave me flashbacks of seeing her win her first Slam against Serena. Hope that's her real comeback. Iga was solid, but nowhere near her finest level.

Not sure I can recall a wetter start to RG. Every day so far, and without the floodlights they installed in 2020/2021(?) they'd be wildly behind by now. At least a few evenings have been dry. 55 singles matches slated for today, 11 done.

tiafoe only converted 1 break pt out of 20 vs shapo, not sure i ever recall a stat that extreme

Oof. I recall Federer was 0/12 when losing to Tsitsipas at AO '19.

And, funnily enough, I checked and Tsitsipas went 1/20 in losing to Donskoy 7-6 in the 3rd in Madrid in 2018.
Federer was 4/25 in one of his great post-peak (but pre-revival) Slam performances: beating Novak RG sf '11.
Cedric Pioline may well hold the record for most BPs squandered - 28 - but that was a match he won.

Osaka's USO win in '18 was full of BP-saves. Madison Keys went 0/13 in their semi - part of a sequence of 21 straight BPs Osaka saved in the last three rounds.

and now verdasco in the stands changing fokina's overgrip. they must be sweating through wraps at a crazy rate this year. must be humid from the rains.

great match tiebreak comeback by rune.. he was 0-5 down & produced multiple highlight shots to comeback

cool to see zhang through to the 3rd round. he was great in rome, where he made the quarters. he gets next to zero attention, in the u.s. at least. personal opinion based on mounds upon mounds of evidence: rooted in anti-china propoganda! but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

lmao mcenroe is so mad zizou bergs is playing on center court (bergs/dmitrov was moved from an outer court after so many delays)

musetti/novak going to a fifth set - 235am paris time

djokovic is really controlling ct position now, musetti cant get his shots deep enough

since 2-2 in the 4th set, novak has lost one (1) game

Well I didn’t chose a good day to arrive a bit later at #RolandGarros, as Iga Swiatek beats Anastasia Potapova in 40 minutes to become the first player to reach the QFs in this edition.

6-0 6-0

10 points lost 🤯 pic.twitter.com/n1XfSTdwxq

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 2, 2024

Djoko 2-1 down against Cerundolo

Andreeva is in the QFs. 17!

Djoko broken! Yes thanks

going 5, novak is unreal

Bah

cerundolo hasnt wilted in this 5th like musetti did.. but is now still fighting hard to hold in the 9th game

amazing forehand to break & novak will look to serve it out whoa

xp break was in the 8th game, not 9th; 9th was when novak won the match

Just incredible, again.

Best of three in the Slams NOW. Just for Novak.

So tired of him getting out of jail like this. I just can't admire it, much less enjoy it. It's Liverpool scoring in added time to me, always will be.
Cerundolo hit two DFs in the whole match and of course one (or was it both?) had to come when he was serving for 5-3 in the 4th.

I have to hope that this is Novak's Nadal-Fritz Wimb '22 moment, and he's dragged himself through on adrenaline and painkillers, and there's nothing more to come. Shows how little faith I have in Ruud (who has beaten him on clay this season! And is good enough to win this!) that I'm hoping for withdrawal.

The problem with players you hate (and my entire tennis-following life has been defined by players I hate) hanging around deep into the draw is you can't really enjoy the rest of it; today I'd be ok with any combination of results if Novak was out (Dimi into a semi, or a final, would be great) but now I just have to hope the #2 and #3 prevail cos Djoker is still there. Gah. Stupid sportsball.

Doesn't feel like Djoko will be around for much longer tbh. Might battle past Ruud but SFs and Finals will be much tougher if he even gets there.

Feels like Zverev winning as a bigger issue.

But yeah, nothing will be worse than Sampras wrapping up all those Wimbledon titles, but Djoko ending with most men's slams ranks close.

I didn't even hate Sampras! I certainly didn't want him to win those last four, 1997-2000 (or USO '02). He did his job as a barrier to Becker in the mid-'90s, but outstayed his welcome.

A little sad to see Jabeur go out to Gauff, but it's a huge improvement on her form for most of the last six months and bodes well for the grass.

Re: Sampras, just personally speaking it was the worst. At least there is something likeable about Djokovic's play. And when he got beat in his heyday it was krajicek, who I also took a dislike to.

Jabeur is definitely got a bit more form going into grass. We shall see.

Swiatek just batters opponents. Vondrousova won Wimbledon and yet there she is, 6-0 and 4-1 down

& novak withdrawals

(Henman_fist_pump.gif)

Sinner is your new #1, though he's having some trouble finishing off Dimitrov.

How the fuck did he win with a torn meniscus?

Sinner wins

Delighted for Paolini, a real late bloomer.

Yup. Andreeva and Saba are exchanging breaks early on

Djoko will probably miss Wimbledon.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/05/novak-djokovic-knee-surgery-paris-olympics-wimbledon-tennis

"In 2018, Djokovic reluctantly underwent surgery on his injured elbow, previously his most significant injury, only after months of attempting to heal the injury naturally. He admitted to crying after the surgery."

😂

A STUNNER OF A POINT#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/3R00kTiQb1

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2024

Two thrillers for QFs..

Andreeva wins with a lob!

What a day. Now come on Aussie.

Zverev made his way past the Aussie with ease. Odds on to make the final where he'd play Alacarz or Sinner, which I am expecting to go all the way.

Disaster for men's tennis if he wins this.

Griekspoor completely let Zverev off the hook earlier in the event, a double break up in the 5th.
Ruud thrashed Zverev in semis last year, hoping for similar.

Wish I could park myself in the pub for Swiatek-Gauff and Andreeva-Paolini. No breadsticks or bagels today, I don't think.

Quite pumped for Andreeva. Shot with her quite a bit for Break Point S2 and found her v charming. Excited to settle into Coco x Swiatek this morn.

Swiatek has won the first 6-2

coco is in her own head

seems like she was in her own head because she was figuring something out!

She's broken Swiatek just now

Swiatek responds with a double break

coco is crazy talented but just not quite at the point where she can compete with swiatek when she’s in form like this

Gauff is already a slam winner so the qn becomes: what to do about Swiatek in a clay court.

Almost nobody has the answer to that question..

Paolini is a set away

And she has broken at the 2nd set

Double break. Could've been broken back but Paolini seems to be playing great.

Godspeed Jasmine Paolini. Please don't be this year's Natasha Zvereva.

Breaks again, 3 and 1. Brutal.

Swiatek is a huge favourite but Paolini is an unknown quantity here.

happy alcaraz v sinner day to those who celebrate

Well.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/07/alexander-zverev-settles-assault-case-ex-girlfriend-tennis

Sinner has raced to 4-0 lead

Ok Alcaraz has a break back, 4-2..

6-2. Sounds like sinner was faster out of the blocks. Onto the 2nd

Sinner breaks straight away and outlasting Alcaraz on most of the rallies

tons of errors by carlos

Yup, not at the races so far.

But here are three break back points

Breaks and wins the next one

Ok, hopefully we can settle in

No mistakes now. Alcaraz timing his shots and breaks again

Alcaraz has won the 2nd, he has totally turned this around.

Two more bps in the 3rd

What a passing shot for the break at the 3rd time of asking!

Breaks right back. Best passage of the match

Awesome return from Sinner for the break.

Long way to go in this set..

sinners cramping has made him hit out a bit more to shorten pts which has worked well.. 2d set he had seemed more tenative

Alcaraz also a bit more tentative in that set

Paolini also through to the final of the women's doubles

This 4th set is beautiful

Only needed one bp and we are going to a 5th

Alcaraz played some stunning tennis to break Sinner (despite Sinner ds!)

Alcaraz just coming up with the answers under pressure

Breaks again. To serve..

Scrub that.. He is to serve now. One break in it

Deuce!

Kinda want to see Zverev getting humiliated in the final.

Would feel sorry for Ruud. But even more so if he lost another slam final

Would be emulating some of the greats - Lendl went 0-4, Fed lost three RG f in a row. You do feel a lot has to fall into place for Ruud to win one though. Zverev must not progress!

Missed this thread, Vamos!

Pumped for Paolini tomorrow.

zverev makes 80% of 1st serves in the 3rd to go up 2-1

gotta hand it to the skarsgard-looking fuck, he’s playing pretty fantastically well this tourney

thought ruud was going to retire there for a minute.

Ah well

That'll take the edge of his trial, I guess

ruud is good, and maybe was ill or something, but i dont trust him in big matches

On serve, just.

Interesting, Swiatek broken early.

Lets see..

Broken to love

First god rally. Iga won that time

So enjoyable this early

Do fear for Paolini here. Already going for broke

Broken. DF there..

Won all the games since Iga was broken.

Giving this another half hour or so.

Three sps..

What a fucking return. That's the set.

Re: Paolini. She can hit it hard but they have to land in almost everytime for this to go the distance

Hell yes

Ah damn

Paolini broken, even after a couple of errors fron Swiatek. She'll be lucky to win another game.

I was really hoping we were going to get a good tussle today, can she rally

Chris Evert has won the most French Opens at 7.

This record is seriously under threat.

Well, she won a game..

Whoever the ex-player commentating on Discovery, like, we get it you like Iga, please stfu

Ah well, more time to do housework this afternoon I guess, kinda underwhelming finale

If I'm Osaka, I'm leaving Paris feeling pretty good about my competitive level: She took as many games off Swiatek (17) as Swiatek lost in her next five rounds combined en route to the title.

Watched the final on delay, knowing the outcome. Paolini is the kind of counterpuncher I always find it easy to root for, and I could see her turning into a next-gen Amanda Coetzer for the remainder of her career.

Coetzer is a great comparison.

Sometimes easy to forget how dominant Chris Evert was, given how she was eclipsed later on by Navratilova and (briefly) Graf. Her World Team Tennis commitments meant she *missed* three French Opens, 1976-78, so she likely should have ten titles, seven of them consecutive. She won 125 straight matches on clay, Aug '73 to May '79, dropping EIGHT sets (Tracy Austin beat her 7-6 in the third, Rome sf). Semi or better in her first 34 Slams across all surfaces ('71 to '83). 90% win/loss all-time. I really only remember her resurgence in the mid-'80s, when she outplayed Martina at Roland-Garros in consecutive finals and got back to #1 - that after something like 13 straight losses to her.

Just looking up Coetzer now. Good stuff.

While that was an awesome effort by Osaka I'd say any challenegers to Swiatek's dominance on clay would need to build consistency on the surface over the clay court season.

Unlike Evert Swiatek is mostly a specialist on clay. Though she gets far in other surfaces I'd say she'd be pushed to get a Wimbeldon title, or many hard court slams, without building some variety. She is 23 so there's time.

On serve, but excellent tennis from Alcatraz to break

Playing at a higher level rn. 4-2

A had two further bps. Z did well to save them

Excellent to get that break. 6-3

1st game at the 2nd has become deuce from 40-0 Alcaraz.

Gets through. Big chance missed by Z

Zverev is more comfortable on his serves this set..but can he take the opportunity?

Z finally breaks!

Awesome get by A. Even better by Z..

Really finding the lines now, Z..

Oh dear df, double break

Damn..

Another df by Alcaraz

Went on to crush that game and big scream at the end. On serve

Two drop shots from A. Z still gets it to deuce but gets through. More fist pumps and screaming. Fighting for his life

A minor slip by Z and now its 0-30. Amazing

Amazing break to love there. Totally against the run of play. Alcaraz made it happen

Drop shot king

Saved 3 bps. 5-3..

Alcaraz to serve it out

One more bp here

He's got it

ugh come on carlito

Oh dear. 0-15..

Lol drop shot, he is the best I've ever seen

:-(

Two more bps..

momentum has swung in this 3rd set several times

Breaks. Zverev to serve for the set. Fuck!

Bar a game or so, Zverev has been dominant for the better part of two sets

30 all

has anyone mentioned why all 8 breaks of serve have come from the umpire’s left? the right side doesn’t have the sun (if the shadows are an indication) and also has a tailwind

Bp! Come on, a couple of awesome points

Awesome rallying and Z is a set away

What a lob..Zverev let that go

Brilliant

Alcaraz response is seriously good..

Amazing!

Lol, this set is not quite over

6-1. Flattering score for the set, I think. Zverev had bps.

Zverev to serve. Didn't win one game on his serve in the 4th which is bizarre as hell

Z was tamely broken

there have been… a lot of breaks

Insane!

He saved bps Alcaraz. 3-1. Feels decisive

Zverev so mad about that super-close call on Alcaraz's shot at 0-40, I think that hurt him through the rest of that game.

Another deuce for A to get through

Alcaraz is getting through these

carlos is a fuckin magician

fifth set alcaraz has hit some of the best shots i’ve seen in my life

That was awesome

oh man that little backhand flick pass

omg that one-handed backhand was brutal

Amazing!

Annihilated Zverev there.

Zverev looked at him like "seriously wtf"

C'mon Carlos stick it to old lanky bollox

carlos up 2 breaks!

loop return, short response & drilled to break

Came up with all the answers when he needed it the most

This set has felt close all the way until that last game, and suddenly it's 5-2.

was 5-2 in the third too, though only 1 break

Zverev so mad about that super-close call on Alcaraz's shot at 0-40, I think that hurt him through the rest of that game.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 9 June 2024 bookmarkflaglink

Zverev was weaker in the last two sets. I am really pleased to see

Two CPs

Yes!!!

Congrats Carlos!

Get in, cue Eurosport's heroic music

Youngest player ever to win a slam on all three surfaces.

was wandering the desert looking for my post-roger main, wandering no more

Never in doubt.

I cracked and went to the terrible sports pub on the corner. First time since EFC escape last May. Some glorious fizzing forehands in that last set, which he seemed reluctant to unload on for much of the match.

The Next Gen lads are so good at giving up leads in Slam finals, gotta hand it to them.

Zverev could've sneaked a slam like Roddick but he's 28 so he would need to be lucky.

Both Sinner and especially Alcaraz are settled in now.