Early French Open Ruminations

[Front242]

Berdych has been poor lately but he's good on clay. Before last year I'd have given the edge to Berdych against Murray but Murray's improved a lot on clay since last year. His best chance of going beyond the quarters would be to face Murray on a bad day but it probably won't happen.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I will root for Rafa if he plays Novak in the finals.

I will root for Novak if he plays Rafa earlier and will root for Novak's opponent from the next round onwards.

 

[Kieran]

I will root for Rafa if he plays Novak in the finals.

I will root for Novak if he plays Rafa earlier and will root for Novak's opponent from the next round onwards.

Oh, so we've found a player you hate more than young Ralph! :lolz: :clap

 

[Carol]

Before to think who will win RG I rather to wait and to see how they are playing in Madrid and Roma though sometimes it doesn't mean too much, I remember that year playing on that original lol "blue clay".....besides to lose or to win sometimes is just a very fine line, a couple of errors in the most crucial moment and zassss,out!
Anyway I don't see Berdych or Tsonga playing the semis, and Stan? nope! but I hope to see a very competitive tournaments. Monfils, Raonic, Thiem and someone else could give us a good entertainment

 

[Front242]

A shame Monfils is so unfit 'cos he hasn't a prayer beating the top players unless he does it very quickly. The longer the match goes on the lower his chances. He's always panting like crazy between points.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Before to think who will win RG I rather to wait and to see how they are playing in Madrid and Roma though sometimes it doesn't mean too much, I remember that year playing on that original lol "blue clay".....besides to lose or to win sometimes is just a very fine line, a couple of errors in the most crucial moment and zassss,out!
Anyway I don't see Berdych or Tsonga playing the semis, and Stan? nope! but I hope to see a very competitive tournaments. Monfils, Raonic, Thiem and someone else could give us a good entertainment

Are you serious? :laydownlaughing

Milos has no chance of doing well in RG. Clay court play depends lot on good movement and he is terrible at it. Further clay court tends to neutralize big serves which he is good at. So, it is double whammy for Milos.

 

[herios]

Before to think who will win RG I rather to wait and to see how they are playing in Madrid and Roma though sometimes it doesn't mean too much, I remember that year playing on that original lol "blue clay".....besides to lose or to win sometimes is just a very fine line, a couple of errors in the most crucial moment and zassss,out!
Anyway I don't see Berdych or Tsonga playing the semis, and Stan? nope! but I hope to see a very competitive tournaments. Monfils, Raonic, Thiem and someone else could give us a good entertainment

Are you serious? :laydownlaughing

Milos has no chance of doing well in RG. Clay court play depends lot on good movement and he is terrible at it. Further clay court tends to neutralize big serves which he is good at. So, it is double whammy for Milos.

Milos was a QF at RG even before he was there at the AO. He has improved since, so he has a chance to go at the minimum to the same round if not further.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I will root for Rafa if he plays Novak in the finals.

I will root for Novak if he plays Rafa earlier and will root for Novak's opponent from the next round onwards.

Oh, so we've found a player you hate more than young Ralph! :lolz: :clap

No, this is a highly selective hatred based on circumstances and not general purpose hatred. :nono

 

[Carol]

I will root for Rafa if he plays Novak in the finals.

I will root for Novak if he plays Rafa earlier and will root for Novak's opponent from the next round onwards.

Oh, so we've found a player you hate more than young Ralph! :lolz: :clap

No, this is a highly selective hatred based on circumstances and not general purpose hatred. :nono

'A highly selective hatred based on circumstances'...yep, and we know those circumstances :snicker

 

[Kieran]

I will root for Rafa if he plays Novak in the finals.

I will root for Novak if he plays Rafa earlier and will root for Novak's opponent from the next round onwards.

Oh, so we've found a player you hate more than young Ralph! :lolz: :clap

No, this is a highly selective hatred based on circumstances and not general purpose hatred. :nono

Hatred is the seasoning on the meal of being a tennis fan. We can't enjoy tennis unless we love and hate in equal sizes. I don't hate Federer (because he hasn't threatened Rafa at a slam since Rafa was about 3 years old), but when Rafa plays, I hate whoever to fool is over the other side of the net (and the umpire too)...

 

[Front242]

Let's hope Carlos does a good job at Roland Garros Then you and Nadal's fans can petition the ATP to ban him for another 15 years.

 

[Fiero425]

Let's hope Carlos does a good job at Roland Garros Then you and Nadal's fans can petition the ATP to ban him for another 15 years.

Have you ever heard of a player with that much ego to think they can decide on the officials doing his matches; maybe McEnroe? They should have told Rafa to "go kick rocks!" uzzled :nono :angel: :dodgy: :cover

 

[Front242]

Jeff Tarango I guess.

 

[herios]

Rafa prefers those umpires who will buy whatever imaginary trace of the ball he is pointing to on the dirt. :devil

 

[the AntiPusher]

Let's hope Carlos does a good job at Roland Garros Then you and Nadal's fans can petition the ATP to ban him for another 15 years.

Carlos B is. n o body, he doesn't hit the ball and his calling of time violations shouldn't affect Rafa or any other player's game. I think the crowd reactions to the matches is a bigger distraction

 

[Front242]

Let's hope Carlos does a good job at Roland Garros Then you and Nadal's fans can petition the ATP to ban him for another 15 years.

Carlos B is. n o body, he doesn't hit the ball and his calling of time violations shouldn't affect Rafa or any other player's game. I think the crowd reactions to the matches is a bigger distraction

If he's a nobody then why ban him ? There's clearly a reason Nadal had him banned. He's one of the few umpires out there doing a proper job by enforcing the rules along with Pascal Maria. Mohamed Lahyani is probably my favourite umpire but he's not the best at enforcing time violations. Anyway, if Carlos Bernades is umpiring Nadal v Djokovic I expect both to get time violations as Novak's pressure this year will surely cause him to bounce the ball a lot more than usual. And they both have to adhere to the rules.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Let's hope Carlos does a good job at Roland Garros Then you and Nadal's fans can petition the ATP to ban him for another 15 years.

Carlos B is. n o body, he doesn't hit the ball and his calling of time violations shouldn't affect Rafa or any other player's game. I think the crowd reactions to the matches is a bigger distraction

If he's a nobody then why ban him ? There's clearly a reason Nadal had him banned. He's one of the few umpires out there doing a proper job by enforcing the rules along with Pascal Maria. Mohamed Lahyani is probably my favourite umpire but he's not the best at enforcing time violations. Anyway, if Carlos Bernades is umpiring Nadal v Djokovic I expect both to get time violations as Novak's pressure this year will surely cause him to bounce the ball a lot more than usual. And they both have to adhere to the rules.

Rafa's mind and game wasn't in a good place the PAST 2 years and that was evident by letting Carlos tacky umpiring bother him. It seems that Rafa has moved on and hopefully he is more mindful of his time to avoid these preventive penalties IMO. Let's stay focused on positive factors .

 

[Front242]

Carlos B is. n o body, he doesn't hit the ball and his calling of time violations shouldn't affect Rafa or any other player's game. I think the crowd reactions to the matches is a bigger distraction

If he's a nobody then why ban him ? There's clearly a reason Nadal had him banned. He's one of the few umpires out there doing a proper job by enforcing the rules along with Pascal Maria. Mohamed Lahyani is probably my favourite umpire but he's not the best at enforcing time violations. Anyway, if Carlos Bernades is umpiring Nadal v Djokovic I expect both to get time violations as Novak's pressure this year will surely cause him to bounce the ball a lot more than usual. And they both have to adhere to the rules.

Rafa's mind and game wasn't in a good place the PAST 2 years and that was evident by letting Carlos tacky umpiring bother him. It seems that Rafa has moved on and hopefully he is more mindful of his time to avoid these preventive penalties IMO. Let's stay focused on positive factors .

Tacky umpiring? Enforcing the rules? That sucks alright.

 

[the AntiPusher]

If he's a nobody then why ban him ? There's clearly a reason Nadal had him banned. He's one of the few umpires out there doing a proper job by enforcing the rules along with Pascal Maria. Mohamed Lahyani is probably my favourite umpire but he's not the best at enforcing time violations. Anyway, if Carlos Bernades is umpiring Nadal v Djokovic I expect both to get time violations as Novak's pressure this year will surely cause him to bounce the ball a lot more than usual. And they both have to adhere to the rules.

Rafa's mind and game wasn't in a good place the PAST 2 years and that was evident by letting Carlos tacky umpiring bother him. It seems that Rafa has moved on and hopefully he is more mindful of his time to avoid these preventive penalties IMO. Let's stay focused on positive factors .

Tacky umpiring? Enforcing the rules? That sucks alright.

yes tacky umpiring, enforcement of rules at bp or 5-5 is asinine. They should establish precedent by giving warning at the beginnings not towards the critical stages. I have heard over 5 commentators both of BBC and TC like James Blake said that their methods are unacceptable. If you don't agree with their assessments it won't be a surprise

 

[Front242]

Rafa's mind and game wasn't in a good place the PAST 2 years and that was evident by letting Carlos tacky umpiring bother him. It seems that Rafa has moved on and hopefully he is more mindful of his time to avoid these preventive penalties IMO. Let's stay focused on positive factors .

Tacky umpiring? Enforcing the rules? That sucks alright.

yes tacky umpiring, enforcement of rules at bp or 5-5 is asinine. They should establish precedent by giving warning at the beginnings not towards the critical stages. I have heard over 5 commentators both of BBC and TC like James Blake said that their methods are unacceptable. If you don't agree with their assessments it won't be a surprise

No, I agree they should do it not just from the beginning but all through the match till he gets the damn idea and stops doing it to throw his opponents off. We both know the crucial points though are where he takes even longer (ask any of his opponents as many have complained) so at least Carlos does something unlike most of the rest.