French Open Round One - ATP

Surprised no one has created a thread about it yet.

Anyhow...Federer more solid and Lopez less inspired made the task easier for the Swiss that in Madrid.

I wasn't impressed by Federer though. Seemed actually slow today on his legs. Not sure whether he is trying to prevent injuries at this stage of teh year (memory from Halles?), but it is also his FH that I found lacking consistency and pace. All those years of having to hit loopy balls seems to have taken the sting out of what used to be the deadliest shot in history.

Berdych, what a mug.

I AM AWESOME wrote:Berdych, what a mug.

I have always thought that his top 10 run was a piece of good fortune.

Novak looked real nice against the fearsome De Bakker. I don't know Tenez Fed looked pretty good to me, Lopez is a tough opponent and he was hitting through the court with his serve and with his forehand with some ease. Maybe these new livelier Babolat balls is having a bit of an effect.

More than the balls, it was a bit breezy out there, which always makes it a bit tricky for both Lopez and Federer.

Federer to me looked very good out there. His groundstrokes were good and he was hitting them with pace. His second serve however was very impressive. Looked a bit shaky as usual on the backhand side but hopefully that'll improve as the tournament goes on.

Yeah, i liked the way fed looked, he was the same smooth operator with his movement and heavy hitting with the forehand and the serve. Del Po got through a tough match with Karlovic he played well for a guy with a torn hip.

Gasquet looks on very good form but in a very tough part of the draw.

Djokovic vs Del Potro possible in Round 3, then Djokovic v Gasquet or Bellucci possible in Round 4.

Amazing stuff.

Yep. That part of the draw is like a river full of crocs.

Gasquet looks like he is getting himself back into the mix, I really enjoying watching him and i hope he makes it to the 4th round matchup with Novak. Bellucci is like another ernest Gulbis plenty of talent but somehow lacking something between the ears or in terms of desire. Tenez what do you think of the possiblity of a Nadal v. Soderling Quarter.

And I don't know why you guys are all so negative on berdych he has been a very consistent performer and he has the potential to hurt anyone out there.

Tenez wrote:Surprised no one has created a thread about it yet.
.. but it is also his FH that I found lacking consistency and pace. All those years of having to hit loopy balls seems to have taken the sting out of what used to be the deadliest shot in history.

Not to mention his BH, hardly any attacking shots from that wing today.
Based on what i've seen today i have to say that all of Gasquet's shots are more deadly, bar serve perhaps
Hate to say it but i have given up already on Federer's chances to win RG

gallery play wrote:

Tenez wrote:Surprised no one has created a thread about it yet.
.. but it is also his FH that I found lacking consistency and pace. All those years of having to hit loopy balls seems to have taken the sting out of what used to be the deadliest shot in history.

Not to mention his BH, hardly any attacking shots from that wing today.
Based on what i've seen today i have to say that all of Gasquet's shots are more deadly, bar serve perhaps
Hate to say it but i have given up already on Federer's chances to win RG

WTF?! Based on only one match where he basically easily came through against a man that has been on decent form on clay this season, while not even playing anywhere close his best? Roger's serve looked very good today and his forehand was slowly coming into it's own. We can't say anything about Roger's chance based on just one match.

I know IAA, it sounds harsh but i can't see it any other way. He looks uhm..mediocre to me. Compare it with all the violence we've seen this clay season...
A magical shot here and there is not going to make the difference i'm afraid

Can I just say, well done Heather Watson. Great display today. Cant wait to see her in round 2.

gallery play wrote:I know IAA, it sounds harsh but i can't see it any other way. He looks uhm..mediocre to me. Compare it with all the violence we've seen this clay season...
A magical shot here and there is not going to make the difference i'm afraid

Well to be fair I'd be happy if he makes it to the semis and gives Djoko a good fight there. It'd be a good confidence booster going into Wilmbledon.

You are going to love these, just posted via Twitter on facebook.
Pics from today: Click Here

Are those your pictures?

gallery play wrote:A magical shot here and there is not going to make the difference i'm afraid

Very true. We know he can improve in the later stages like he did so many times and more recently in Madrid...but against Djoko and Nadal....it's going to be very tough.

Y I Man wrote:Can I just say, well done Heather Watson. Great display today. Cant wait to see her in round 2.

This is the ATP thread...but we'll forgive you this time!

Tenez wrote:Are those your pictures?

No Tenez, Im setting up the v2 tennis twitter page and they were just put on twitter earlier.
There will be a twitter thread coming soon on the tennis section with tweets from the tennis players and links to photos, interviews & videos etc.

Ah - ok.

I can't find the transcript interviews. It;s frustrating cause the clips showing on RG.com only show a part of the interview it seems.

Lets see how Rafa looks and if Andy has finally exorcised the ghosts of clay court seasons of the past. This tournament is going to be especially pivotal, are we seeing a changing of the guard, or is the king of clay going to strike back with righteous fury at the unbelievers of his claydom? To me Fed is flying below the radar and if he can make it through to the finals that would be a big accomplishment and confidence builder for wimbeldon the one grandslam that i feel he has a great chance of winning this season.
Can't wait for the big seeds to start matching up with each other.

Took Murray a couple of games to get going but he's looking OK now. Leads 4-1 in the first set

Prodon did something a bit silly there I think, he gets a lucky net chord and instead of apologising he clenches his fist. This spurs murray on and suddenly he's playing more aggressively, takes the next three points and clinches the set 6-4.

Much better second set from Murray, his returning looks in fine shape. Prodon looks cooked. 6-4 6-1

I don;t understand this excess of anger, agressivity and vulgarity on the court like shooting the F word (at his opponent or not - never to sure) because one loses a point.

Why don't they get penalties for that. Tennis can do without that.

Have to say for a qualifier that was the laziest service game I have seen. The footwork was dreadful.

Andy you numpty! Gets broken after missing a few shots, so then regains focus and breaks straight back to love. Just focus you twit!

Andy is going to make minced meat out of this guy.

easy enough in the end for Murray, bar a few sloppy games he looked pretty good out there, posting some good numbers. His first serve was devastating when he got it in, and his returning was top notch too.

Andy is alright!

Had Isner got a better FH, this match could be closer.

Well played Isner in that game. I like his tactics coming into the net when he can. I think he could be onto something here.

Dare I say it. Serve and volley on the comeback?

That was a gutsy set for Isner. Fought his way back into it.

legendkillar wrote:Dare I say it. Serve and volley on the comeback?

Maybe thanks to those new balls maybe? Nadal is certainly forced into more errors.

I could see Federer beating this today's Nadal.

If I was Federer watching this I would think I could bring serve and volley into it. I think the new balls could be making the difference.

Yes the ball is certainly giving the hard flat hitter an advantage but it seems to me that there is more clay on the court than last year, not allowing Nadal to move as well from side to side or back to front.

Both coudl certainly give an advantage to the shotmakers.

Interesting!

Of course i expect Nadal to get through this one but still more open than any of us woudl have thought, I am sure.

We know that Isner can play a 5 setter if necessary

Well we know he can "serve" for 5 sets with many games...not sure about the "playing" bit!

Isner losing all his 3 serves when serving against the sun.

But anyhow, this Nadal will not win against Davydenko.

Well we know he can "serve" for 5 sets with many games...not sure about the "playing" bit!
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Don't care T, he's a legend for that match. If he wins today he's the goat

BTW:
querry beat Kohli
Fish beats mello
Kendrick beats 30th seed Garcia lopez (!)
Harrison gives Sod a hard time and than we have this match...

I'd say the Americans fancy these Babolats

USA, USA, USA; sorry had to get that out of my system. Not particularly into flag waving but John Isner is actually a pretty nice guy and a gentle giant although I can't style big serve tennis. He is actually moving relatively well from the back of the court and moving up into the court at every opportunity. Harrison actually is the real talent out of the bunch.

Come on Johnny give Novak that number #1 ranking, he gave you a lot of love when you went out to Belgrade this year do him a solid right back.

Who is throwing mud at Isner's back? It looks like he came to RG on a rainy day on his bike!

Yet again another 5 setter with Nadal comes down to physicality and stamina.

Nadal looked pretty average today, missed a lot of easy balls that he would otherwise make. Isner's served paid huge dividends.

socal1976 wrote:Nadal looked pretty average today, missed a lot of easy balls that he would otherwise make. Isner's served paid huge dividends.

Nadal's poor length allowed Isner into the match

i don't know Rafa just doesn't look right to me, no way he would drop a couple of sets to John Isner at Roland Garros in years past.