French Open Draw

[herios]

Berdych has a difficult draw and I doubt Roger will face him.

I agree. He's got the worst possible R1,R2 with the mot dangerous floaters: Monfils, Gulbis, possibly back to back.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Fed needs to watch out for dirty tricks like this from Tommy Haas They're great friends so Fed just laughed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsyS_8Z7BKs

He doesn't have to because Haas is in Djoker's quarter. Fed got "sponsored by Nike" quarter in which there is nothing to watch out.

Why does Nike bother you so much? Anyway, I liked nehmeth's Uniqlo "please do not rip this shirt" tribute to Nole.

Because of frequent imbalance in draws and schedules of play. They often look as if chosen by the company to suit their players.

That's a great point....


Oh by the way, pretty sure Nike has no influence over Roland Garros, since the tournament is actually sponsored by Adidas.


Yeah, so forget what I said about your great point.

---

Berdych has a difficult draw and I doubt Roger will face him.

I agree. He's got the worst possible R1,R2 with the mot dangerous floaters: Monfils, Gulbis, possibly back to back.

Yeah I agree. We're all discussing a Fed-Berdych semi when IMO, it could well not happen.

 

[Front242]

Fed needs to watch out for dirty tricks like this from Tommy Haas They're great friends so Fed just laughed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsyS_8Z7BKs

He doesn't have to because Haas is in Djoker's quarter. Fed got "sponsored by Nike" quarter in which there is nothing to watch out.

Yeah I know, was just browsing some tennis vids last night

 

[huntingyou]

you guys are sleeping on Ferrer and I might add; at some point he will get a win over Federer and there is no better place for him than the clay of RG.

 

[Denis]

you guys are sleeping on Ferrer and I might add; at some point he will get a win over Federer and there is no better place for him than the clay of RG.

Yes, this is as good as a chance as he will ever get I guess. It's still not happening though, Ferrer has too much respect for Federer, he'll succumb when he is expected to.

 

[huntingyou]

you guys are sleeping on Ferrer and I might add; at some point he will get a win over Federer and there is no better place for him than the clay of RG.

Yes, this is as good as a chance as he will ever get I guess. It's still not happening though, Ferrer has too much respect for Federer, he'll succumb when he is expected to.

The same was said about Robin

Listen, I don't buy the too much respect card.......Federer's game matches extremely well against Ferrer. My point is that it seems to me, the little guy wants to push himself even harder. Nadal owns him and still came very close to losing twice on clay. If the guy can make the match physical and pull the trigger on his I/O forehand....we can have a fantastic match.

 

[herios]

you guys are sleeping on Ferrer and I might add; at some point he will get a win over Federer and there is no better place for him than the clay of RG.

Yes, this is as good as a chance as he will ever get I guess. It's still not happening though, Ferrer has too much respect for Federer, he'll succumb when he is expected to.

The same was said about Robin

Listen, I don't buy the too much respect card.......Federer's game matches extremely well against Ferrer. My point is that it seems to me, the little guy wants to push himself even harder. Nadal owns him and still came very close to losing twice on clay. If the guy can make the match physical and pull the trigger on his I/O forehand....we can have a fantastic match.

I concur. The 'respect" thing is really invented by the fans.

 

[DarthFed]

Roger ain't losing to Ferrer in a GS. If that day comes then the end of Federer is truly near. We are talking about a short player who is hitting flat shots in Roger's strike zone all match.

Ferrer can and probably will beat him at some point. If Benneteau and Nishikori can beat Roger than Ferrer can, but at majors Roger usually plays decent and if he does...Ferrer goes bye-bye.

 

[Mog]

Berdych has a difficult draw and I doubt Roger will face him.

I agree. He's got the worst possible R1,R2 with the mot dangerous floaters: Monfils, Gulbis, possibly back to back.

I do think that Federer-Berdy may not happen.
Monfils may trouble Berdy .Gulbis is a bigger threat to Berdy and on a given day he is a big threat to any top ones. I think his match against Nadal was very good until he lost.

 

[huntingyou]

I concur. The 'respect" thing is really invented by the fans.

There is definitively a level of intimidation or even frustration with certain match-ups but they all are inherent to the tennis game itself and not some "respect" or "fear".


I disagree with Darth's take on a possible match-up with Ferrer at RG. If he can make the match physical, bring back a lot of balls and attack with his I/O forehand when getting the weak backhand reply.....he has a shot. I'm talking 2013 Federer....not even 2011 Federer.

 

[herios]

I concur. The 'respect" thing is really invented by the fans.

There is definitively a level of intimidation or even frustration with certain match-ups but they all are inherent to the tennis game itself and not some "respect" or "fear".


I

Yes, intimidation is the better word. That is a factor, without a doubt, but not 'respect".
But as we have seen a few times by now, guys with horribly lopsided H2H with Roger like: Soderling, Davydenko, Benneteau, in the end, figured out a way to beat him.
I agree that in a slam, it will be much moe difficult. Only Soderling managed to break the status quo in 3 out of 5.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Yeah I agree about the whole respect thing. I'm not saying it can't happen, but I remember reading somewhere that when asked why wasn't he beating Nadal and Federer consistently earlier, Djokovic said "too much respect." IMO, that's a lazy answer. He beat Nadal as early as 2007 (beat him twice that year, and beat him 3 times in a row in 2009. He beat Federer early as well, and made bold claims since the get-go).

 

[Mog]

I don't believe in "Too much respect thing".

 

[herios]

At least, while a dream draw for Roger, he will have an intriguing opener.
His R1 opponent, is the young promising spanish player Pablo Carreno-Busta (ranked 166), who had that dream run at Estoril, defeating Goffin, Benneteau and Fognini,and played tough Wawrinka (1-2) so his current level is more than what his ranking would suggest, more like a (50-100). They play tomorrow.
great opportunity for Pablo to get the exposure.

 

[Mog]

At least, while a dream draw for Roger, he will have an intriguing opener.
His R1 opponent, is the young promising spanish player Pablo Carreno-Busta (ranked 166), who had that dream run at Estoril, defeating Goffin, Benneteau and Fognini,and played tough Wawrinka (1-2) so his current level is more than what his ranking would suggest, more like a (50-100). They play tomorrow.
great opportunity for Pablo to get the exposure.

Thanks herois, good update on Pablo

 

[Front242]

At least, while a dream draw for Roger, he will have an intriguing opener.
His R1 opponent, is the young promising spanish player Pablo Carreno-Busta (ranked 166), who had that dream run at Estoril, defeating Goffin, Benneteau and Fognini,and played tough Wawrinka (1-2) so his current level is more than what his ranking would suggest, more like a (50-100). They play tomorrow.
great opportunity for Pablo to get the exposure.

Thanks herois, good update on Pablo

Cool. Yeah, cheers for that herios. Hopefully it'll be a good match. Wasn't aware Fed was already playing tomorrow (didn't check any of the matches for tomorrow yet actually). Look forward to it.

 

[herios]

At least, while a dream draw for Roger, he will have an intriguing opener.
His R1 opponent, is the young promising spanish player Pablo Carreno-Busta (ranked 166), who had that dream run at Estoril, defeating Goffin, Benneteau and Fognini,and played tough Wawrinka (1-2) so his current level is more than what his ranking would suggest, more like a (50-100). They play tomorrow.
great opportunity for Pablo to get the exposure.

Thanks herois, good update on Pablo

Cool. Yeah, cheers for that herios. Hopefully it'll be a good match. Wasn't aware Fed was already playing tomorrow (didn't check any of the matches for tomorrow yet actually). Look forward to it.

Wasn't either, just saw this on twitter

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Neither Monfils or Gulbis ever showed me they can hold it together upstairs in a 5 setter. Birdman has turned that corner somewhat in that regard. There might be a couple of competitive sets but I expect Birdman to win those matches UNC.

 

[Denis]

Neither Monfils or Gulbis ever showed me they can hold it together upstairs in a 5 setter. Birdman has turned that corner somewhat in that regard. There might be a couple of competitive sets but I expect Birdman to win those matches UNC.

Remember last year Wimbledon first round? I think Gulbis can do this. He reached the QF here too a couple of years ago.

 

[herios]

Neither Monfils or Gulbis ever showed me they can hold it together upstairs in a 5 setter. Birdman has turned that corner somewhat in that regard. There might be a couple of competitive sets but I expect Birdman to win those matches UNC.

Remember last year Wimbledon first round? I think Gulbis can do this. He reached the QF here too a couple of years ago.

Gulbis could be very dangerous. I don't know why murat is brushing him off so easily. Ever since he's made that dclaration he'll be serious about tennis, he's been all business.
BTW, he is 19-7 for the year and since February he lost only to top 20 ranked players.