WTA Roland Garros / French Open, Paris, France, 2019

[AnonymousFan]

the last game, thought I heard a guy scream OUT! in the audience during 5-3 break point 2nd serve

 

[Hoergren]

 

[tenisplayrla08]

Well in the end Osaka's serve made the difference. Or.... Vika's lack of serve. Or the difference between their serves. Much like the match up with Serena. Vika is a fantastic returner. But against Osaka and Serena's fantastic serves, they're just harder to attack. And Vika's serve, especially her second serve, has always been a liability.
And ... I missed the first set. But by the middle of the second set I figured if it went to a third set, Osaka would take it. But I figured it'd continue to be a battle. When she opened up 5-1 and was up 30-15 in that game I figured that it was over and I had been wrong. I thought Vika had finally accepted that she wasn't quite good enough YET. Wasn't quite all the way back and would have to just keep working to get back to the top of the game. But Vika, true to form, shouldn't have surprised me, but sort of did, found a way to fight back a bit. But at that point. Especially with Osaka knowing she has that serve in the bank, it's still not entirely a battle. It's someone trying to make comeback and they have A LOT of work to do. But it's just a testament to Vika that she made Osaka serve it out one extra time. Her indomitable will got her to within a point of being back on serve. And I think she, and the crowd, and eventually the umpire realized they missed that out second serve of Osaka's. And at that point, you kind of have to accept that things just aren't going to go your way. Sort of just takes the air out of your spirit.

BUT. It lived up to the billing. Sad I missed the first set. Osaka played like the more grand slam ready opponent, because she is right now.

And like Federberg just said, she's quickly showing us that she has that different mettle when it comes to the slams. It's like people say, the champions just have something else. And well, we know Vika has that too. Or had it. But what I find so interesting about Osaka's possession of this "it" quality, is that at the same time, she still seems so nervous. Like, there are stretches in matches where she just finds her groove and gets into what the Silicon Valley people call a "flow state." But there are stretches where you can see her nerves. And then the moment it's over, with her usually the victor, in her post match on court interviews, she's nervous as all get out. Part of that is just being young. Still finding that inner confidence that comes with age that just says... I mean we all get there. It's not like, I don't care what you think, so much as, I'm grown, this is it, this is me. Deal with it or don't. I'm just gonna live the way I live. She's not there yet. But there's also that like extra bit of introverted nervousness. That seems like the type really anxious people have. So I find it fascinating to see her come in to her own. Which, as I've said before. I could see from the time she hit the tour that she was gonna be very good. But I wasn't sure, because I've thought that about a lot of young ladies and was very wrong. But I definitely thought she had something special. It took a few years to get there. But now that she is we can see that her game is just.... amazing. I mean, at least 15 times against Vika today she ended the point before she should have been able to. With out of nowhere winners, at wild angles or off Vika's returns that basically no one else handles well. It's a sight to behold.

Sad for Vika. Because she really needs the ranking points. Getting some very tough draws that is keeping her ranking below where she's playing. She's playing at a top 20 level. Can't get into the top 30. But I mean. I still can't root against Osaka (unless she plays Serena or Stephens). And even if she beats them, I can't be sad or angry. I'm just thrilled to see her play so well and be part of the contingent of the best 2 to 4 players in the world. It's fantastic. Just tough to see Vika out early again. I mean, this really is a match that should have been played in the fourth round or the quarters, at least.

Not gonna lie. I still feel like Halep would beat her. Like obviously Osaka has the power to overpower Halep. But, Halep only allows that to a point on the clay. And she finds a way to grind out the wins even against the stronger players. If Osaka can play at a level to beat Halep on the clay, I'll be really impressed. Because I think she's got the game, obviously. But she doesn't have the experience on clay yet. I don't feel. That's what I still saw today from Osaka and Vika. Vika has been at this longer so she was a bit more comfortable. But neither of them plays on clay the way the true clay courters play on clay. Like, it's subtle. But they're still playing a hard court game on the clay, which they could get away with against each other. They use the advantages clay offers. But not to the fullest extent.

Anyways. Great match.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

True. That was a pure luck.

It takes a little luck usually in quite a few matches. But it doesn't have that much effect in the end. They still have to back it up. But I was actually just replying to say that I guess I missed that. I must have walked away. I didn't see that at all. Sounds like Vika had a couple spots today where it just didn't go her way. And that can really mess with a players head. Sucks. But it is what it is.

 

[don_fabio]

It takes a little luck usually in quite a few matches. But it doesn't have that much effect in the end. They still have to back it up. But I was actually just replying to say that I guess I missed that. I must have walked away. I didn't see that at all. Sounds like Vika had a couple spots today where it just didn't go her way. And that can really mess with a players head. Sucks. But it is what it is.

In these kind of matches you need a bit of luck to push you through. From what I've also seen Vika lacked that today just a bit.

But still, Osaka is very impressive from the mental aspect of the game. Even at the very end of the match she didn't allow Vika to break her again, she got upset over some miss in that game, she knows that was a crucial game to hold and the eventually a match for her.

 

[Federberg]

Well in the end Osaka's serve made the difference. Or.... Vika's lack of serve. Or the difference between their serves. Much like the match up with Serena. Vika is a fantastic returner. But against Osaka and Serena's fantastic serves, they're just harder to attack. And Vika's serve, especially her second serve, has always been a liability.
And ... I missed the first set. But by the middle of the second set I figured if it went to a third set, Osaka would take it. But I figured it'd continue to be a battle. When she opened up 5-1 and was up 30-15 in that game I figured that it was over and I had been wrong. I thought Vika had finally accepted that she wasn't quite good enough YET. Wasn't quite all the way back and would have to just keep working to get back to the top of the game. But Vika, true to form, shouldn't have surprised me, but sort of did, found a way to fight back a bit. But at that point. Especially with Osaka knowing she has that serve in the bank, it's still not entirely a battle. It's someone trying to make comeback and they have A LOT of work to do. But it's just a testament to Vika that she made Osaka serve it out one extra time. Her indomitable will got her to within a point of being back on serve. And I think she, and the crowd, and eventually the umpire realized they missed that out second serve of Osaka's. And at that point, you kind of have to accept that things just aren't going to go your way. Sort of just takes the air out of your spirit.

BUT. It lived up to the billing. Sad I missed the first set. Osaka played like the more grand slam ready opponent, because she is right now.

And like Federberg just said, she's quickly showing us that she has that different mettle when it comes to the slams. It's like people say, the champions just have something else. And well, we know Vika has that too. Or had it. But what I find so interesting about Osaka's possession of this "it" quality, is that at the same time, she still seems so nervous. Like, there are stretches in matches where she just finds her groove and gets into what the Silicon Valley people call a "flow state." But there are stretches where you can see her nerves. And then the moment it's over, with her usually the victor, in her post match on court interviews, she's nervous as all get out. Part of that is just being young. Still finding that inner confidence that comes with age that just says... I mean we all get there. It's not like, I don't care what you think, so much as, I'm grown, this is it, this is me. Deal with it or don't. I'm just gonna live the way I live. She's not there yet. But there's also that like extra bit of introverted nervousness. That seems like the type really anxious people have. So I find it fascinating to see her come in to her own. Which, as I've said before. I could see from the time she hit the tour that she was gonna be very good. But I wasn't sure, because I've thought that about a lot of young ladies and was very wrong. But I definitely thought she had something special. It took a few years to get there. But now that she is we can see that her game is just.... amazing. I mean, at least 15 times against Vika today she ended the point before she should have been able to. With out of nowhere winners, at wild angles or off Vika's returns that basically no one else handles well. It's a sight to behold.

Sad for Vika. Because she really needs the ranking points. Getting some very tough draws that is keeping her ranking below where she's playing. She's playing at a top 20 level. Can't get into the top 30. But I mean. I still can't root against Osaka (unless she plays Serena or Stephens). And even if she beats them, I can't be sad or angry. I'm just thrilled to see her play so well and be part of the contingent of the best 2 to 4 players in the world. It's fantastic. Just tough to see Vika out early again. I mean, this really is a match that should have been played in the fourth round or the quarters, at least.

Not gonna lie. I still feel like Halep would beat her. Like obviously Osaka has the power to overpower Halep. But, Halep only allows that to a point on the clay. And she finds a way to grind out the wins even against the stronger players. If Osaka can play at a level to beat Halep on the clay, I'll be really impressed. Because I think she's got the game, obviously. But she doesn't have the experience on clay yet. I don't feel. That's what I still saw today from Osaka and Vika. Vika has been at this longer so she was a bit more comfortable. But neither of them plays on clay the way the true clay courters play on clay. Like, it's subtle. But they're still playing a hard court game on the clay, which they could get away with against each other. They use the advantages clay offers. But not to the fullest extent.

Anyways. Great match.

excellent summation. I'm a huge fan of both Vika and Osaka. In fact before Naomi came into her own I was a Vika fan over anyone else. I totally agree with your analysis that they both play hard court tennis on the clay at the moment. It would be truly scary if Osaka can win this at her current level of clay court development. That would be Serena like indeed...

 

[tenisplayrla08]

excellent summation. I'm a huge fan of both Vika and Osaka. In fact before Naomi came into her own I was a Vika fan over anyone else. I totally agree with your analysis that they both play hard court tennis on the clay at the moment. It would be truly scary if Osaka can win this at her current level of clay court development. That would be Serena like indeed...

Absolutely. That would be truly impressive. Because I guess I just don't think she's ready on clay. The only way I could see her winning it this year is if the draw fell apart. That may be a bold statement with how good we've seen her be. But I think it's warranted on clay. BUT, I'm not perfect and I don't KNOW. Soooo ... let's look at what we do know.

What we know is she's lost two sets already. One a bagel. And came pretty dang close to losing to Vika. Who is not a top clay player. The fact that she pulled it out says a lot. But it doesn't say enough for me to say she can beat Halep, Serena, Keys (beat Osaka here last year en route to the semis), Bencic, Barty or on other other side of the draw, Stephens, Muguruza, Svitolina, or Pliskova on clay. Because after IW last year she didn't do anything on clay and didn't do anything on clay this year. A couple quick wins in Rome. Lost 7-5 to Bencic in the QF of Madrid (means she won 3 matches). Also means she can beat Bencic on clay. But can lose too.

Furthermore, her 2 slams have come on hard courts, even if they have been the last 2 slams. Hard courts have always been her forte though. I didn't see IW coming. Because she'd been struggling for a couple years. Or building. However you wanna describe it. And I didn't see the US Open coming. But after IW, you could have seen the US Open coming. And by the final with Serena, you could see Serena winning because it was Osaka's first final. And she's Serena. THE Serena. And you should have expected Serena to win because she was in her second straight slam final in just her third slam back from PREGNANCY and GIVING BIRTH and the ensuing blood clots. But you could see Osaka winning because while it was Serena's first tournament back, she beat Serena in IW or Miami. Easily. Like 6-2 6-3. And, I first noticed her at the US Open.... 3 years ago? 2016? In like a 3rd round match on grandstand I feel like. (While looking up any clay prowess I saw she lost to Keys in 3 tough sets in 2016 at the US Open. Could be what I'm thinking of.) I don't remember. But, she didn't come out of nowhere to win a slam on hard courts. With 2 slams under her belt, she wouldn't be coming out of nowhere to win the French. But.....

She doesn't have a clay final to her name. Not even on the ITF tour. Much less a title. When Serena won the French in 2002, she'd just won Rome and lost to Henin in the final of Berlin (also clay). Most people show prowess on clay before they win the French. Ostapenko didn't have any titles before 2017 FO. But, 1) she is an outlier (for now) and that's ok. And 2) she had shown a slight bit of prowess on clay. And 3) less relevant, but nonetheless, her draw to the final wasn't exactly hard.* But after Ostapenko, I would seriously struggle to find someone who won at the French without showing that it was either their favorite surface or a surface they excel on. But... Osaka's wins this year could serve as enough backing to say she has the goods. Plus some wins from her previous years, though you sort of have to go back to 2016 to see anything useful on clay, and... even that isn't that great. If you wanted to make that argument though, it wouldn't be impossible. Maybe. But I don't think so. I'll just have to be surprised yet again if she wins this thing. Heck, if she makes it to Halep I'll be surprised.

* Fun fact that I feel like I saw a previous time I looked up Ostapenko, but forgot. Osaka beat Ostapenko in the first round of the French in 2016. (Osaka went on to the third round. Lost to Halep ... in 3 sets though.) So Ostapenko has lost in the first round of the French 3 of the last 4 years. AND lost in the first round of qualifying in 2015 in her first ever attempt at playing a slam. She just happened to win the one year she made the second round. That's not just streaky. That's like, all time streaky. But also shows how good she could be. Eventually. Though again, her draw was not hard. And Halep choked. But, as I said in another post, Ostapenko may end up having a better career at Wimbledon than the French. Won it in juniors. QF in 2017 after her French win. SF last year. Lost to Kerber, the eventual champion. 2017 probably won't always be an outlier for her. Maybe her only French win. But she may yet win Wimbledon once or more and may yet win slams on the hard courts (Miami final last year, l. Stephens).
And then I'm gonna do a post that is related to this one, but is still pretty separate of things I found while doing some fact checking for this post.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

In connection with my last post. How much confidence do you think it gave Osaka to know she beat Ostapenko the year before she won the French. Maybe not much. But possibly a bunch. I imagine it at least helped her start to believe she could be next. Especially after Sloane came back from injury and won the US Open right away. Could have just seen that the top of the game was a bit open. Though, I think it was still plenty about just getting used to the tour and building her match play confidence.
But, again, this goes back to what I was saying above. IW wasn't entirely out of the blue either. To actually get the win. Sure. But at the start of 2016 she'd beaten Svitolina at the AO, after having to qualify, before getting drubbed by Vika in the third round. But Vika would lose to Kerber, the eventual champion in the quarters. But then go on to win the Sunshine Double before finding out she was pregnant. The sunshine double is one of the toughest things in tennis. Back to Svitolina. Svitolina was not yet top 10. So no one remembers that too much. She was seeded 18th. She lost to Sloane in Acapulco, who won the title. Sloane lost early in IW and Miami. But then won Charleston before she started struggling and then had to have foot surgery. But then she played Keys VERY close at the US Open, as I mentioned above. 3rd set tiebreak to be exact. Keys lost to Wozniacki in the next match. But Wozniacki lost in the semis to Kerber who won the title. But then Osaka had a run to the Tokyo final at the end of 2016 beating Svitolina again in the semis this time. It's all a nice little bow. Svitolina had a great year and went on to lose to Kvitova in Zhuhai, the second tier YEC. Osaka beat her twice.

Then 2017 was not great overall for Osaka. I don't think I see a single semifinal in her match record in 2017. That's why she surprised everyone by winning IW in 2018. But look closer and you see she lost to Konta at the AO in the second round. Konta went on to the quarters, losing to Serena, who won the title, while pregnant. Konta would go on to win Miami 2 months later. She'd lose to Konta again in three sets on clay in Stuttgart after qualifying. Lost to Keys in IW and Halep in 3 in Miami (who lost to Konta in the quarters). Lost to Venus (finalist) at Wimbledon in the third round 6-7 4-6. Venus was in her 2017 resurgence. AO and Wimbledon final. USO semifinal loss to Sloane, the champ. Osaka lost to Kanepi in the third round at the US Open. Kanepi lost to Keys (finalist) in the quarters. But the quarters is the farthest Kanepi's ever been at a slam. She matched it. That's her best. Now of course, these draws are intertwined, everyone loses to someone who lost to someone who won the title or a title later that year. But, part of this works because Osaka was losing in the third round of slams. Or the second. But... I did this last year I think after she won IW or the US Open. She was losing matches to people who are good. Except on clay. People who were at their best.
Then she loses to Halep in the 4th round of the 2018 AO, who lost a tight one to Wozniacki in the final. Then the IW win. Then loses to Keys again at the French, with Keys on her way to the semis, only losing to Stephens yet again. Keys was now a grand slam finalist. After her IW win that still helps your confidence. Because you know that when you're losing, it's to the best in the world. So when she meets up with an on fire Sabalenka at the US Open. She plays a confident match. Wins in 3. Dispatches Tsurenko. Now it's Keys. Again. This time it's an easy straight sets win. And then Serena. And all the controversy.
I'm making some leaps here probably. Definitely stretching some things. But it seems like she just ran into the top players in the world, repeatedly, for a couple years. Again. There were losses that weren't to top players. On hard courts as well as clay and grass. But her coach certainly saw in real time what I'm seeing in hindsight. And that coach was Sascha Bajin. Former longtime Serena "hitting partner." He saw Osaka for what she could be. He probably helped bring out of her what she may not have been able to find with someone else. Though, I find that hard to believe. I think coaches do matter and are helpful. But if it's there. I think most of the time it gets found. Maybe not. Maybe we miss out on a lot of great champions right under our noses. But basically anyone could have spun the web I just spun to Osaka and said, "Listen. You're close. You're there. Keep believing. Fight. Keep playing your game. Here's what we can work on. Here's where you can attack them next time." And now we have a new number 1.
But I also think this shows that it's extremely unlikely she wins this French. The results just are not there. They were there before IW and before the US Open on hard courts. I bet she'll get there. She's got plenty of time. If Maria Sharapova can go from being a cow on ice (self described) to winning to French Opens. Osaka definitely can. But she's not there yet.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I know it is early days though Osaka's wins so far at RG remind me of how she played at the AO,winning in 3 sets,mentally a lot of the time getting her the win.

Positive signs for Vika,her least fav surface,she was soo close in getting the win.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Going 3 on Suzanne-Lenglen.....match between Halep vs Linnette......Halep should have wrapped it up in straight sets,had a break in the 2nd set.

 

[tossip]

Vika has lost something since giving birth,she is no longer feisty and hungry to win she looked tired after the second set.Osaka will not win this event thas for sure...she will need a lot of help from the voodoo gpds

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Vika has lost something since giving birth,she is no longer feisty and hungry to win she looked tired after the second set.Osaka will not win this event thas for sure...she will need a lot of help from the voodoo gpds

May be you are a believer in voodoo business. But, the rest of us are tired of that non-sense. Serena lost fair and square. Not because of some idiotic voodoo business.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Scratchy performance from the defending champion Halep,who had 3MP in the 2nd set,lack of concentration,Linette taking the 2nd set 75....Halep 64 57 63.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Scratchy performance from the defending champion Halep,who had 3MP in the 2nd set,lack of concentration,Linette taking the 2nd set 75....Halep 64 57 63.

She is the top dog on clay on paper and she goes for three sets in every match.

Looks like Osaka may threepeat.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

Linette showing today why she's a perennial top 100 player. Not much more than that. Of course Halep should have finished it off. But I almost don't blame Halep for not serving out matches sometimes. Because she's 5'6". Her serve has never been a huge weapon. She relies on breaks. And she's good at that. And in the end she got another to take the match. Which is not surprising. Her game is built on point construction and redirecting pace. Using player's pace against them. And great defense. Her inability to serve out a match can often be chocked up to the adrenaline players get when they've been backed into a corner.

 

[tented]

Vika has lost something since giving birth,she is no longer feisty and hungry to win she looked tired after the second set.

Hello @tossip

Personally, I miss the Vika who won majors, but it’s understandable that she has changed since giving birth, as has Serena.

 

[AnonymousFan]

Keys dropped the second set to Priscilla Hon, and it's 5-7 7-5 with play suspended. Great name imo...

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Hello @tossip

Personally, I miss the Vika who won majors, but it’s understandable that she has changed since giving birth, as has Serena.

Vika due to personal family reasons has played a limited schedule,I feel during the clay season,her least fav surface she has played well.Vika and Ash Barty won the doubles in Rome defeating the top seeds on the way to their victory.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Keys dropped the second set to Priscilla Hon, and it's 5-7 7-5 with play suspended. Great name imo...

Hoping my young Aussie player can get the upset......not a fan of Keys

 

[kskate2]

French Open Results for Round 2 Day 5 - Thursday, May 30, 2019