Pre-Gaming Roland Garros

[MargaretMcAleer]

Anyway hopefully there will be news later today if Sinner and his team think he will play RG, Sinner was practicing in Turin today when I saw him at practice via video.

 

[don_fabio]

Oh, and I forgot to remind people that you can change your picks in the poll. It means little, of course. But I just took Sinner off of my top 3 picks, because, either he withdraws, or, as @rafanoy1992 suggests above, he may want to test the hip, but it doesn't seem like he'll go all the way.

I just ditched Tsitsipas and put Zverev. Hard to choose between those Clown Princes. Actually I would like them to meet in RG and have a battle on terre battue. Hope my wishes come through.

I didn't mention Nadal, but obviously it will be very important for him to have a managable draw. His level after return just wasn't there where we expected to see him, but given that this might be his last RG he can't be counted out either. If he finds that "something" and starts to feel good on the court then anything is possible. I remember watching Tsonga in his last match in RG, it was very emotional, but at times Tsonga was playing as good as ever, he was giving everything he had on the court and even more. So if Rafa comes and plays with that kind of mindset, it makes me think that all is possible. For a start, he just need to serve without holding back anything and up the speed so it becomes a weapon again.

 

[El Dude]

Regardless of the outcome of today's match, I don't feel any more clear about Roland Garros than I did when this thread was started, before Rome. If anything, Rome just affirmed that Roland Garros is wide open, with a significant number of players with a real chance of winning it.

I suppose I'd group them as follows:

Favorite(s): None.

...At least unless Alcaraz is 100% healthy, which he's not, or Rafa shows up faster and close to full form; or Novak blows away Geneva and finds at least his B game. But until we see how they play in the first round or two, they belong in the next group...

Contenders: Alcaraz, Nadal, Djokovic, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Sinner - in no particular order.

You'd think the eventual winner would be in this group, but all have big question marks. I mean, based on current form, somehow Zverev and Tsitsipas have become the lead contenders. But...really? They should be the favorites, but are both head-cases. Still, this could be either's moment - they may not get a better opportunity, and if either wins RG, it makes them a serious Slam contender for the next few years (though Tsitsipas's backhand is a huge liability off-clay). I think Sinner is possibly making a catastrophic mistake by playing, and I'm guessing he withdraws sometime in the first week, but on the off chance that his doctors are being over-cautious, he's got a chance. Rafa...I'll never count him out, but I don't think we'll really have a sense of things until we see if he can ramp up his game during the first week.

Pretenders/Darkhorses: Ruud, Rublev, Hurkacz, Medvedev, De Minaur, Dimitrov, Rune, maybe one or two others.

Now it sounds like Medvedev is ailing, so given his lower level on clay, he's in this group. Ruud, Rublev, Hurkacz, etc...I mean, maybe. Even De Minaur gets thrown is a darkhorse. I like Grigor as a true darkhorse - is nice little late career form--and the fact that no one expects him to win it--might actually make him relevant. I don't think Rune is ready to win a Slam, but the talent is there and the breakthrough moment has to come sometime. But these guys and everyone else not mentioned above are varying shades of darkhorse, but given the uncertainty of everybody above, you just never know.