Early French Open Ruminations

[the AntiPusher]

Stan has shown the blueprint to defeat Djokovic however he is the only one who has the "stones" to implement it .

Four times in 23 tries. On clay Stan is two for seven. Not to take away from his achievement, but even having the "stones" and belief still isn't enough, most of the time.

Personal rumination regarding the French? I would like to see ND skip Rome and play RG fresh and focused. It's worked for him at Wimbledon the past couple of years.

Four times in 23 tries. On clay Stan is two for seven.

Heck, That's as good as Rafa and Murray combined.. Plus Stan has defeated Novak 2 at a GS.. Only Rafa, Fed and maybe Andy can make that claim..

come on Nehmeth, that's all the hope we have, :snicker Dont be a "Debbie":laydownlaughing

 

[Riotbeard]

Stan has shown the blueprint to defeat Djokovic however he is the only one who has the "stones" to implement it .

Four times in 23 tries. On clay Stan is two for seven. Not to take away from his achievement, but even having the "stones" and belief still isn't enough, most of the time.

Personal rumination regarding the French? I would like to see ND skip Rome and play RG fresh and focused. It's worked for him at Wimbledon the past couple of years.

It's a tough question, but I am not completely opposed to this line of thinking. Actually, now that I think about it, I kind of like the idea.

I would say the legit contenders after Novak are: Rafa, Andy, and Stan. Thiem has been good, but he hasn't even made it to a finals of a masters, so I am not expecting him to win a slam yet. It would be great for him to make it to the semi's.

 

[nehmeth]

Come on Nehmeth, that's all the hope we have, :snicker Dont be a "Debbie" :laydownlaughing

Only hope? You mean besides the fact that Nole has lost every time he's played RG?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Here are the latest odds after the betting industry had time to digest Madrid happenings.

Novak Djokovic 4/5
Rafael Nadal 7/2
Andy Murray 10
Stan Wawrinka 12
Kei Nishikori, Federer 33
Thiem 66
Monfils, Raonic 80
Berdych, Tsonga, Ferrer, Kyrgios 100

Novak's odds are less than 1. This means he has more chances of winning than the rest of the field combined. The odds look reasonable and realistic.

Important changes are the following.

1. Novak improved to 4/5 from 9/10
2. Andy leapfrogged over Stan, They swapped their odds.
3. Fed went down the drain from 25 to 33.

 

[herios]

WC for the Australian Federation at RG has been awarded to 22y old Jordan Thompson, currently ranked 89.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

JMDP withdraws from RG. But, he says he is doing fine and is going to play a string of tourneys starting from the Grass season. Whoever wants to believe him can.

 

[Front242]

JMDP withdraws from RG. But, he says he is doing fine and is going to play a string of tourneys starting from the Grass season. Whoever wants to believe him can.

On the Juan hand I want to believe he's ok but Juan way or another I think his career is sadly officially over.

 

[Fiero425]

JMDP withdraws from RG. But, he says he is doing fine and is going to play a string of tourneys starting from the Grass season. Whoever wants to believe him can.

On the Juan hand I want to believe he's ok but Juan way or another I think his career is sadly officially over.

As soon as he was anointed part of the next wave and "Big 4" back in '09 after winning the USO over Federer, Del Po was doomed and cursed! Why he kept trying to rehabilitate and return was a pipe dream! The way he hits the ball is so detrimental to his wrists! :cover :nono :angel:

 

[GameSetAndMath]

All wild cards are now announced.



Grégoire BARRERE (FRA)
Julien BENNETEAU (FRA)
Mathias BOURGUE (FRA)
Bjorn FRATANGELO (USA)*
Quentin HALYS (FRA)
Constant LESTIENNE (FRA)
Stéphane ROBERT (FRA)
Jordan THOMPSON (AUS)*

Whatever happened to Benneteau? He is now ranked 647 or something like that. uzzled

 

[isabelle]

JMDP withdraws from RG. But, he says he is doing fine and is going to play a string of tourneys starting from the Grass season. Whoever wants to believe him can.

On the Juan hand I want to believe he's ok but Juan way or another I think his career is sadly officially over.

agree with you, his doctors told him lies when they said he coudl play again, they should have told him to retire or to chose another job
sad but expected

 

[10isfan]

I read his announcement, and didn't see anything that led me to believe his wrists are troubling him. He would not have stated his plan to play a string of tournaments and FO next year if he thought he would have to retire.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Regardless of what happens in the remaining matches in Rome or in Nice next week, the top 8 seeds of RG are now already determined (assuming that Fed does not withdraw, the chances of which are very less).

1. Novak
2. Murray
3. Fed
4. Stan
5. Rafa
6. Kei
7. Tsonga
8. Berdych

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Well Tsonga might as hasn't he been injured of late?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Well Tsonga might as hasn't he been injured of late?

Yes, that is a possibility; but, I hope he recovers in time.

 

[herios]

Well Tsonga might as hasn't he been injured of late?

He withdrew here. He played last week. He did not announce anything yet.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Well if Tsonga withdraws, Thiem could get that #8 seed

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Here are the next 8 seeds.

9. Raonic
10. Gasquet
11. Cilic
12. Ferrer
13. Goffin
14. Monfils
15. Thiem
16. RBA.

The seeds 13 through 16 will be matched up in random order to play the top 4 seeds in R16 and the seeds 9 through 12 will be matched up in random order to play the seeds 5 through 8 in R16.

However, I find Goffin, Monfils and Thiem to be more dangerous than the seeds 9-12 in terms of play in clay.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Well if Tsonga withdraws, Thiem could get that #8 seed

No, Raonic will get that. Thiem is currently at #15.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Ah, well I hope Thiem keeps moving up! He has progressed nicely, and I would love to see him avoid land mines until he has to face them. I will say the good thing about Thiem is he does seem to be living up to his ranking on a consistent basis which is nice to see.

 

[Front242]

I read his announcement, and didn't see anything that led me to believe his wrists are troubling him. He would not have stated his plan to play a string of tournaments and FO next year if he thought he would have to retire.

It's not really that he has to think about retiring but he's not going to beat any of the top players in his current state which means no big results.