Early Roland Garros Chat

[the AntiPusher]

Nope, not too long ego I read an article about it

Again..I hope it's not reciprocal by Rafa

 

[Carol]

Again..I hope it's not reciprocal by Rafa

Oh don't worry, definitely it's not reciprocal

 

[Carol]

Sock and Rafa interview each other

 

[El Dude]

Carol, I apologize for misrepresenting you about Novak. I know you never said he is "done," but it does seem that you're less optimistic about him regaining any semblance of his form than you were about Rafa. To your credit, many of your fellow Rafa fans were giving up hope but you never did.

That said, I disagree with you about RG and Wimbledon. Again, we can re-evaluate in a few weeks, and it may be that Roger will have a huge edge. But right now, Rafa has the carpet rolled out for him in a way that Roger probably won't have. This isn't to say that, as Moxie put quite well, there aren't possible "banana peels" for Rafa. Scoop actually predicts that Thiem will beat Rafa at RG, and he makes a strong case (although I still give Rafa a solid edge). There are other players who could challenge Rafa. But again, he's entering the tournament with Roger out and Novak/Andy playing poorly.

 

[El Dude]

"Roger hasn't been as dominant on grass as Rafa,has been on clay"

I doubt that Darth would agree with your assessment.

Who knows, but I've said before that I think Rafa on clay is the most dominant player ever the "GOATOASCT" (Greatest Of All Time On A Specific Court Type." Better than Roger on grass or fast hards, Novak on hards, Pete on fast courts, etc. His clay record speaks for itself and doesn't need defending.

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

Thiem perhaps cannot win the open. There is something wrong with him. I don't know if it's stamina or endurance or what. But doesn't look good enough to do more damage than an upset.

I feel Djokovic will be a good opponent for Rafa here. I can kind of see him crawl back into form. His results got better in the clay season. He thrashed Thiem so will have some confidence going forward.

 

[Moxie]

Carol, I apologize for misrepresenting you about Novak. I know you never said he is "done," but it does seem that you're less optimistic about him regaining any semblance of his form than you were about Rafa. To your credit, many of your fellow Rafa fans were giving up hope but you never did.

That said, I disagree with you about RG and Wimbledon. Again, we can re-evaluate in a few weeks, and it may be that Roger will have a huge edge. But right now, Rafa has the carpet rolled out for him in a way that Roger probably won't have. This isn't to say that, as Moxie put quite well, there aren't possible "banana peels" for Rafa. Scoop actually predicts that Thiem will beat Rafa at RG, and he makes a strong case (although I still give Rafa a solid edge). There are other players who could challenge Rafa. But again, he's entering the tournament with Roger out and Novak/Andy playing poorly.

I do think this RG will tell us what Rafa has left in him. I've used the word "opportunistic" before, and some people don't like it, but I think it's part of the arsenal of a great player. As you said at the end, Roger's not entered, and Andy and Novak are far from where they were last year. Nadal doesn't need us to tell him that this is likely the closest he'll ever come again to a gift, and he's not one to pass up a great opportunity. I'm sure he'll play his heart out for it. While some might not feel the same, La Décima would put a nice cherry on this part of the Era of the Big 4. Here's hoping.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I think

Sock and Rafa interview each other

I think I prefer listening to the comedian impersonation of Rafa than the real Rafa..Someone needs him Rosetta Stone or something..his lack of mastery of the English language at this point is not acceptable..he should be better..imo

 

[Moxie]

Thiem perhaps cannot win the open. There is something wrong with him. I don't know if it's stamina or endurance or what. But doesn't look good enough to do more damage than an upset.

I feel Djokovic will be a good opponent for Rafa here. I can kind of see him crawl back into form. His results got better in the clay season. He thrashed Thiem so will have some confidence going forward.

To me, the worst aspect of Thiem at this point is his scheduling. He likes to play a lot. (As does Rafa. I can complain, but it does me no good.) I think Dominic can win the French, though maybe not this year. His talent doesn't seem to be other-worldly, but, combined with his solid work ethic, I'd say he can reach some good heights when the Big 4 back off. Djokovic is always a danger for Rafa, but do you really see him in-form enough to even get to him, Shivashish...much less beat him?

 

[Carol]

Carol, I apologize for misrepresenting you about Novak. I know you never said he is "done," but it does seem that you're less optimistic about him regaining any semblance of his form than you were about Rafa. To your credit, many of your fellow Rafa fans were giving up hope but you never did.

That said, I disagree with you about RG and Wimbledon. Again, we can re-evaluate in a few weeks, and it may be that Roger will have a huge edge. But right now, Rafa has the carpet rolled out for him in a way that Roger probably won't have. This isn't to say that, as Moxie put quite well, there aren't possible "banana peels" for Rafa. Scoop actually predicts that Thiem will beat Rafa at RG, and he makes a strong case (although I still give Rafa a solid edge). There are other players who could challenge Rafa. But again, he's entering the tournament with Roger out and Novak/Andy playing poorly.

No worries it's ok but you surprised me saying that. I've always said that no one can dominate forever and we have seen it before, I mean Roger, Rafa, Novak, Muzz and former players going through bad patches and even the players say the same thing but it doesn't mean they can't come back. And yes, I remember that some Rafa's fans have lost the hope that he could come back while I was insisting that he will. I think Novak will do too, not so sharp like in 2011 but it's obvious that he is trying even that I don't understand so well his decisions about to change coaches and team but it's his problem. Also I thought that Roger at his age and after to be 6 months off it would be very difficult to play well and look what he did. So never we have to say never because we don't know what else they can be able to do and as Champions as they are they are showing us (it doesn't matter who is our fav) that nothing is impossible for them. Of course they are not going to be there forever but I think they deserve a huge HURRA and all our respect

 

[Moxie]

I think

I think I prefer listening to the comedian impersonation of Rafa than the real Rafa..Someone needs him Rosetta Stone or something..his lack of mastery of the English language at this point is not acceptable..he should be better..imo

That's pretty judgmental. I think his English is very fine. You should be harder on Sock who can't think of 3 people in history he'd like to have dinner with. ("A President of some kind...I'll have to think about that." Doh!) There are loads of people on these boards who are native speakers of English, and are totally crap at grammar, so I'd give Rafa a pass on having an accent, which is really his biggest problem with English. His grammar is pretty good and his vocabulary is reasonably rich.

 

[Carol]

That's pretty judgmental. I think his English is very fine. You should be harder on Sock who can't think of 3 people in history he'd like to have dinner with. ("A President of some kind...I'll have to think about that." Doh!) There are loads of people on these boards who are native speakers of English, and are totally crap at grammar, so I'd give Rafa a pass on having an accent, which is really his biggest problem with English. His grammar is pretty good and his vocabulary is reasonably rich.

I think that we as Spaniards having a strong accent it's dificult to have better accent in English, we do better talking French, Germany and even Russian

 

[Moxie]

I think that we as Spaniards having a strong accent it's dificult to have better accent in English, we do better talking French, Germany and even Russian

No one's mastery of a language should ever be judged by their accent.

 

[Carol]

At least they usually are telling me that I have a 'charming accent' but I know that I do a lot of mistakes

 

[Moxie]

At least they usually are telling me that I have a 'charming accent' but I know that I do a lot of mistakes

Just remind yourself of how many people speak English pretty poorly, and it's the only language they've got.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Can someone post the TV coverage details of RG. Does ESPN or ESPN2 or ESPN3 carry it or is it confined to TC.

 

[the AntiPusher]

That's pretty judgmental. I think his English is very fine. You should be harder on Sock who can't think of 3 people in history he'd like to have dinner with. ("A President of some kind...I'll have to think about that." Doh!) There are loads of people on these boards who are native speakers of English, and are totally crap at grammar, so I'd give Rafa a pass on having an accent, which is really his biggest problem with English. His grammar is pretty good and his vocabulary is reasonably rich.

Moxie, You are taking this the wrong way..I just thought by now Rafa's English would be a little bit better since he is an international star.. As for Sock..he should be ashame of himself ..Bullwinkle the moose can think better on his feet than he can..

 

[the AntiPusher]

:scratch:

 

[the AntiPusher]

Just remind yourself of how many people speak English pretty poorly, and it's the only language they've got.

This is very true,,especially American athletes..everyone isn't like Kobe, Federer or Djokovic who all master multiple languages at a very young age...If my Spanish was better I would probably have a larger Family by now

 

[the AntiPusher]