Has anyone who has repeatedly skipped Monte Carlo won RG?

[Luxilon Borg]

Minimum 4 weeks?! They play 1 week before Wimbledon Djokovic rarely plays any grass prep. I'd say 4 weeks is way too much myself. Historically Nadal's been amazing at all the clay events but physically playing that many events isn't the brightest for most players.

First, remember if you schedule 4 weeks of clay, only a handful of players are going to go deep every week. There is a particular kind of physical conditioning required for clay. I am training on red clay now, it is biatch....

The short period of time between the French and Wimby is a layover from when ALL top tier amateur tennis and 75% pro tennis up until 1975 was played on grass.It is ultimately about commitment. Nadal and Fed up until 2010 went deep into RG, with 4 finals, and yet still managed to play 3 times in the final at Wimbledon

French Open was always played on clay. So, the short gap is not a remanant from old times.
If somebody reads your post, they will think that prior to 1975 FO was played on grass and
so they did not need long transition period; that just was not the case.

An interesting tidbit. For couple of years, the FO was actually held after Wimbledon.

Thanks for clarifying. I never meant that RG was played on grass. I really meant that hard court had not taken hold yet. The Aussie, US, and Wimby were grass, as were most of the smaller tournaments.

That is interesting..what time period was that?

Let me paraphrase your statement so that it becomes more accurate. The LONG
warm up season on clay before the French Open begins is probably a remnant from old
times when everything other than FO was played on grass (necessitating a long
warm up season of clay tournaments).

p.s. It was in 1946 and 47 when FO was held after Wimby as per wiki, but I don't know the reason.

Ah, I got it.

I would guess with a good amount of certainty that RG was held after Wimby those years due to the aftermath of the war.

 

[Kieran]

Time was, there was only a week between RG and Wimbo. They've stretched it to two, soon to be three. So the idea of needing a long time to get ready, well, it wasn't always an option. Especially when your name was Borg and you'd just won in Paris...

 

[Fiero425]

Time was, there was only a week between RG and Wimbo. They've stretched it to two, soon to be three. So the idea of needing a long time to get ready, well, it wasn't always an option. Especially when your name was Borg and you'd just won in Paris...

A week? Maybe a tournament week (Queens), but not a week in totality; not in the Open era anyway w/o checking! The players would flip out, skip one or the other, which would hurt possible Slam attempts! :nono uzzled :huh:

 

[Kieran]

I think it was even during Borg's time! I'll check it later...

 

[Kieran]

I can't find it. But I'm sure I read it somewhere. Might be wrong, there's a first time for everything... :nono

 

[Fiero425]

I can't find it. But I'm sure I read it somewhere. Might be wrong, there's a first time for everything... :nono

Honey, you're wrong! :laydownlaughing :snigger They have at least a week before Queen, another free week, or addition of Birmingham before Wimbledon! No way have they ever played back to back in a major like that! :lolz: :nono

 

[Moxie]

How do you know he's wrong? You can say you don't think they would hold them that closely together, but it doesn't mean they never have. As it is, they're only 2 weeks apart…that seems pretty close as it is. In any case, it doesn't really deserve all those emoticons and explanation points, do you think?

 

[Kieran]

I'm not so sure I'm wrong, but I can't find proof that I'm right. So I'm going to search further, I'd swear it was still that way in the seventies, and if I find it, you can bet your bottom dollar I'll post it here, with all the requisite smileys...

 

[Kieran]

There you go, Fiero, me ole mucka!

1976 French Open took place from 31 May until 14 June.

1976 Wimbledon took place from 21 June until 3 July.

1975 French Open, from 2 June until 15 June.

1975 Wimbledon, from 23 June until 5 July.

1974 French Open, from 3 June until 16 June.

1974 Wimbledon, from 24 June until 6 July.

Previous to these three years, the Championships took place two weeks after Paris, and it reverted to this system in 1977.

Now, where's me smileys:

:lolz: :clap :wave:celeb::

 

[Luxilon Borg]

There you go, Fiero, me ole mucka!

1976 French Open took place from 31 May until 14 June.

1976 Wimbledon took place from 21 June until 3 July.

1975 French Open, from 2 June until 15 June.

1975 Wimbledon, from 23 June until 5 July.

1974 French Open, from 3 June until 16 June.

1974 Wimbledon, from 24 June until 6 July.

Previous to these three years, the Championships took place two weeks after Paris, and it reverted to this system in 1977.

Now, where's me smileys:

:lolz: :clap :wave:celeb::

Touche'!

 

[Luxilon Borg]

BTW, one player that came in to my mind, is the most obvious, is Murray. He has routinely opted out of Monter Carlo, and he has the poorest results, by far, of the big 4, at RG.

 

[Moxie]

Here's one: Andre Agassi withdrew from Monte Carlo in 1999, but went on to win the French Open, though I don't know about "repeatedly skipped MC."

Actually, I did a little more research. Agassi (turned pro in 1986) skipped played MC only in '94 and '98 before he won RG in '99. (Skipped 9 years before RG win.)

Also, Jim Courier (turned pro in 1988) played MC only in '90 & '91 before winning RG in '91, and didn't play MC the next year when he repeated at RG. Afterward, again, he skipped it more than he played it.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Here's one: Andre Agassi withdrew from Monte Carlo in 1999, but went on to win the French Open, though I don't know about "repeatedly skipped MC."

He did not play it very open, but far more than the other top American hard courters.

 

[Fiero425]

Here's one: Andre Agassi withdrew from Monte Carlo in 1999, but went on to win the French Open, though I don't know about "repeatedly skipped MC."

The only thing I can remember about Monte Carlo and Agassi; hmmm, it had to do with his physicality or lack thereof! Because of his poor diet; McD's and other fast food, if an opponent could keep him on court for 3 hours, the player had a good chance to win the title; esp. in 5 sets! He made it to the '89 final against someone I didn't even know; Alberto Mancini! I got to it late, but it was in the 4th set, Andre was up 2 sets to 1 with at least a break and a clock came up in the corner showing 2 hours, 50 min.! On cue Mancini started keeping the ball in play, running him around more, and Andre was done in 5 to this guy! It happened to him again and again where he was favored; 2 FO finals vs Courier and Gomez respectively, then the worst beatdown in history to Sampras at the USO in '90! I guess that's why he hired that trainer and started working with other coaches after Bollettieri dropped him like a hot potato! :snigger :laydownlaughing :lolz:

 

[Moxie]

^Actually, Becker played Mancini in that final. From my research, neither Agassi nor Courier even ever made the final at MC. (Oh…see my edited post above re: both.)

 

[Luxilon Borg]

^Actually, Becker played Mancini in that final. From my research, neither Agassi nor Courier even ever made the final at MC. (Oh…see my edited post above re: both.)

Well done! Agassi played Mancini in the 1989 ROME final. I watched it live.

 

[Moxie]

^And you see I got you two answers to your question. As you suspected, two Americans.

 

[Fiero425]

^Actually, Becker played Mancini in that final. From my research, neither Agassi nor Courier even ever made the final at MC. (Oh…see my edited post above re: both.)

Well done! Agassi played Mancini in the 1989 ROME final. I watched it live.

Busted! :nono :cry uzzled - I blew it! Memory fading! Need to check Wiki before I go half-cocked! :angel:

 

[Moxie]

^Actually, Becker played Mancini in that final. From my research, neither Agassi nor Courier even ever made the final at MC. (Oh…see my edited post above re: both.)

Well done! Agassi played Mancini in the 1989 ROME final. I watched it live.

Busted! :nono :cry uzzled - I blew it! Memory fading! Need to check Wiki before I go half-cocked! :angel:

If you did that on memory, you're pretty good, as you were only off by a couple of tournaments, and you got Mancini. But it is good to check. Now, did you see that Kieran came up with the proof on the mere one week break between RG and Wimby? THAT was some good researching, and you should give him the props. And also not just declare people emphatically wrong, when you don't know, either.

 

[Fiero425]

^Actually, Becker played Mancini in that final. From my research, neither Agassi nor Courier even ever made the final at MC. (Oh…see my edited post above re: both.)

Well done! Agassi played Mancini in the 1989 ROME final. I watched it live.

Busted! :nono :cry uzzled - I blew it! Memory fading! Need to check Wiki before I go half-cocked! :angel:

If you did that on memory, you're pretty good, as you were only off by a couple of tournaments, and you got Mancini. But it is good to check. Now, did you see that Kieran came up with the proof on the mere one week break between RG and Wimby? THAT was some good researching, and you should give him the props. And also not just declare people emphatically wrong, when you don't know, either.

:clap :blush: :ras: lease: :speechless: :chillout: :violins: