Paris Bercy, ATP 1000

[britbox]

Nadal gives Stan the break with an untimely double fault.

 

[ClayDeath]

He can't back his weak serve up with a diminished ground game. he is consistently in trouble with his serve because it is under pressure.

he does not return well enough either so that puts even more pressure on his own serve.

he just has a lot of work to do. He is going to have to go do it.

they are all achieving their results with hard work and some sacrifice.

i had a feeling it was going to be a bit of a test for Rafa this time against Wawrinka.

you need quality and consistency.

 

[britbox]

On top of that I think he's lost a  mental edge on key points.  He had multiple chances to take that first set.

Anyway, at least he's forced Stan to serve this out.

 

[britbox]

...and Stan blows two simple put aways. Break Point Nadal.

 

[britbox]

Terrible game by Wawrinka.

 

[ClayDeath]

It will all come back. He made a career out of being mentally tough as nails.

he is an all time great. you don't lose that mental apparatus of a gladiator.

he just has to put in the hard yards again. To win at this level consistently requires hard work, focus, and sacrifice.

rafa can do it again if he wants to.

 

[ClayDeath]

Stan has been lacking some quality and consistency also.

that is why this is a sloppy match.

i have not been keeping up with Stan lately. Not sure if he had any injury issues.

 

[britbox]

What a slop-fest.  Nadal bottles it this time.  6-6 at the change.

 

[britbox]

Match Point Stan.

 

[britbox]

Great DTL to seal the win.   Stan wins 7-6, 7-6.

 

[ClayDeath]

I guess the outcome of this was never really in doubt. we could have called this match yesterday.

 

and this is after significant tennis activity in Basel. he got in plenty of court time there.

he beat Stan 13 times in a row without ever losing a set. I don't really buy the pressure part.

he is shaky because he refuses to put in the time required on the practice courts. I played this sport long enough to know that I was most consistent and confident when I put in my time on the practice courts.

of course I went a bit overboard too. I would hit 2 hours against the wall at my club before even hitting the practice courts.

heavy topspin game requires superb timing and immense physical and mental stamina. you have to put in very long and hard yards to get that equation.

 

 

 

[Billie]

Wow it looks like a heck of a day in Paris today.  They started playing before I went to work and when I came back 9 hours later, they were still at it.   All matches were tight and a few points decided most of the sets.   For the first time in his 680 career wins Nole didn't break a serve of his opponent.   Just nuts!  But he managed to win his 28th straight set and 20th match in a row, so that is good.  Also his 25th top ten win in 2015 (record for a season) and his 37th Masters 1000 win in a season (also record for 1 season).

I expect Andy to win tomorrow and hopefully Nole will too.

 

[ClayDeath]

wawrinka is not in the same class as nole right now.

nole has taken his game and his fitness significantly higher after that loss at RG. he declared that he was just going to outwork everybody and he has.

I don't give wawrinka much of a chance tomorrow. only question is score. it is going to be in straight sets.

 

and he has andy murray's number too. this is a foregone conclusion in my estimation:

nole is not going to lose a single match for the remainder of this year.

 

[ClayDeath]

only man who could have stopped nole from this rampage was rafa but he got off the train for a while.

 

and now nole wont let him back on the train.

 

I believe that nole is going to take 7 of the next 8 slams. or 6 out of the next 8.

 

there is a small chance that he can stumble at Wimbledon if his clay season is long and hard. RG campaign may take a lot out of him for instance. Rafa may decide to go work hard and put up a real fight on the red clay next year. he could make nole work out there.

 

we will just have to see.

 

[Moxie]

I didn't see any of the tennis today, though it sounds like Nadal v. Wawrinka was a slop-fest, late at night.  I'm not sad Rafa is out.  He wouldn't have beaten Djokovic, anyway.  I think Murray is into the final, and Novak v. Stan could be a fight.

 

 

[EdbergsGhost]

Djokovic/Berdych showed good quality from both players, some of the best play I've seen from Tomas.  He played power tennis with deft touch, and he gave Novak all he could handle.  Good preparation for his semifinal against Wawrinka.  Pretty sure we will see Djokovic v. Murray in the final Sunday.

 

[britbox]

Djokovic/Berdych showed good quality from both players, some of the best play I’ve seen from Tomas. He played power tennis with deft touch, and he gave Novak all he could handle. Good preparation for his semifinal against Wawrinka. Pretty sure we will see Djokovic v. Murray in the final Sunday.

I didn't see the Berd/Djoker match but it sounded a lot better than expected.  I'd anticipated a bit of a procession to be honest.

Stan might give Novak something to handle... but yeah, Djokovic v Murray would be my expectation for the final too.

 

[isabelle]

A Nole/Murray final would be great both for crowd and for Bercy's tourney, 2 wonderful players with 2  "one of a kind" styles, it's mouth watering

I loved 2015's edition, it was perfect even if I'ld have loved to see e Froggy in semi it was a great week

 

[ClayDeath]

Andy is not without his chances.

2 things have to happen:

djokovic has to be a bit off and Andy has to play a near perfect match

what is the probability of that happening? not very high.

djokovic is in a zone. He can spot you a set or he can give you 4 breaks in a single set. He is still going to beat you. His game, his fitness, and his belief is just too strong.

95 percent probability djokovic takes it given the results of their last 9 or 10 matches. Andy really has no answers for Djokovic.

 

[EdbergsGhost]

Andy is not without his chances. 2 things have to happen: djokovic has to be a bit off and Andy has to play a near perfect match what is the probability of that happening? not very high. djokovic is in a zone. He can spot you a set or he can give you 4 breaks in a single set. He is still going to beat you. His game, his fitness, and his belief is just too strong. 95 percent probability djokovic takes it given the results of their last 9 or 10 matches. Andy really has no answers for Djokovic.

Djokovic's losing the second set was a good thing.  That streak ended; he opened up his shoulders and played his best tennis this week.  Wawrinka had no answers (and no legs).  Murray will have a difficult time Sunday.