French Open Day 7: Too lazy to write a title, JHM, put your puns here

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/

Thiem and Zverev about to start
Watch it, watch it now

Lol - delete my thread please!

Could one of them not have worn an away kit? This zebra look is garbage.

Lk bs. JHM can edit the title too

This and tsongas ref kit. Is it like a theme i haven't noticed?

It's the same kit as Tsonga isn't it?

Fairly functional start so far. Zverev 3-2 on serve - not too much excitement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/sports/tennis/alexander-zverev-and-other-young-stars-rise-in-mens-tennis.html

Zverev holds after a marathon game for 6-5. Standard still very patchy though.

Tiebreak it is.

First set to Zverev. Just that bit more aggressive in the tiebreak. Interesting to see whether that affects Thiem at the start of the second.

Thiem got very defensive on the big points in that marathon 11th game of the first set. Cost him the set. Long way to go, though.

Matchpoint wrote:http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/sports/tennis/alexander-zverev-and-other-young-stars-rise-in-mens-tennis.html

Alexander Zverev and Borna Ćorić look interesting.  Coric is the right shape at 6'1", Zverev seems a bit too tall.  Past evidence indicates multi-slammers have breakthroughs in their teens.

Even late bloomer Ivan Lendl for winning slams had an early impact:  "Lendl made an almost immediate impact on the game after turning professional. After reaching his first top-level singles final in 1979, he won seven singles titles in 1980"

Thiem looking in total control now. Zverev can't handle it when he really ups the pace.

Zverez has gone down in power as well, hasnt grown into his body yet

TBH, as good as Zverev is, I think it is mostly Thiem's sloppiness that allowed Zverev to take a set off him every time they played.

Thiem is currently a level above Zverev.

Theim goes through. A huge chance to make at least a quarter finsl. What a boon for him

Yes, one would think Thiem should definitely make QF now, and quite possibly SF too.  He was the one guy among Nadal's early round opponents who actually would have had some chance even with Rafa in.

Here are the players who have not yet dropped a set:

Through R3:
Gasquet
Raonic
Granollers (but had Mahut retire and Nadal withdraw)

Through R2:
Djokovic
Bautista Agut
Goffin
Gulbis

That's a lot of rain

JWT has had to retire in the first set of his match with Gulbis. Another big disappointment.

Such a shame. Looked tearful as he left the court.

The list grows .... Fed, Monfils, Rafa, JWT ......

Let's hope no more to come.

The only connection is that they are in their late twenties early to mid thirties.  Federer & Monfils pulled out before the tournament.  Maybe Tsonga & Rafa should also have pulled out before the tournament - but difficult for Rafa to do this.  He did say he had to use painkillers to play the second round - while others here have mentioned he was carrying some sort of wrist injury for some time.  Gulbis made the semi-final at Roland Garros in 2014 taking a set off Djokovic before losing in four sets. On his way to the semi-final he knocked out Roger Federer in the fourth round.

One moment I see Tsonga winning, and a few minutes later when I return, he is gone. One of Goffin and Thiem now has a very good chance to make the SF and lose to Nole there.

Of course Goffin is currently struggling to beat Almagro.

What a disaster of a first week for the tourny so far...

This is not a disaster

This is the future of tennis

Bedene looking perfectly respectable against Djokovic so far, even if the outcome is pretty much a certainty.

I think Jim Courier has developed into an excellent commentator/pundit, perhaps the best of the ex-players.....? Struggling to think of anyone better right now. His on-court interviews at the AO do strike me as a little odd, but hey still preferable I guess to some of the anodyne questions asked by so many others.

Will probably be a Wawrinka vs Murray and a Djokovic vs Someone-else semi-finals.

When all the dust has settled we might have the first "grand slam" of the current era for the men.  Then Djokovic might relax and reduce his schedule with a view to extend his slam longevity.

I have been impressed with Leon Smith as a commentator.

People have said that Bedene has been in the past quite affected / distraught by the saga of his attempt to be accepted onto the British Davis Cup team.  He is a British citizen and seems mightily proud to be accepted as a British citizen.

But with the saga over - it has been said that he has been getting that disappointed out of his system and getting back to focusing on his own singles career.

Oh I momentarily forgot Peter Fleming, another top guy with the microphone.

19 year old Coric heading out of the tournament: two sets down to Agut.

I am not convinced by Coric in general.  He strikes me as too lightweight so to speak.  He is playing modern power tennis without having the power to go with it.

Yet another shock exit : Berdych has apparently been defaulted, for offensive behaviour.

To be specific ..... for wearing a truly horrendous shirt.

lags72 wrote:Yet another shock exit : Berdych has apparently been defaulted, for offensive behaviour.

To be specific ..... for wearing a truly horrendous shirt.

Well it is his speciality. Those H & M ones he used to wear really were cheap tat.

Djokovic getting the job done but Bedene has had his moments.

With Djokovic receiving a time violation warning early in the match it looks like on several subsequent occasions Djokovic wants to give a time violation warning to the umpire. Bedene has played well but I think everyone is happy to see Djokovic be awarded the victory so that this match is not extended into tomorrow or the next day given the forecast of rain tomorrow.

Djokovic through in straight sets. It is weird though as (like in Rome) Novak seems to be letting the least things get to him. Whereas normally he seems unflappable he just seems unsettled.

Goffin posts a handy win in 5 against a decent Almagro who's no mug on clay...I keep telling you guys over the past 2-3 years to watch this dark horse, there's arguably no more talented than him on tour and he's getting physically stronger and more confident by the week.

lydian wrote:Goffin posts a handy win in 5 against a decent Almagro who's no mug on clay...I keep telling you guys over the past 2-3 years to watch this dark horse, there's arguably no more talented than him on tour and he's getting physically stronger and more confident by the week.

Dominic will steamroll David. David just does not have serve and he must put a lot of effort on court. He is not made from such a solid rock, but as you say he is going to be stronger and more mentally tough.

Looking at the R4 players, there are only 4 top 16 seeds who haven't made it: two of those are Nadal and Tsonga of course, who had to withdraw. The other two are Simon - lost to Troicki after not recovering from a 0-2 fightback against Pella - and Cilic who lost early on.

Clearly a great chance for Thiem or Goffin to make the semis (at least) which should set them well inside the top 10 I would guess.

There's so much to like about Goffin's game, he times the ball as well as anyone (except perhaps Nishikori), but just lacks that bit of power. Oh and his second serve is pants, though that might not be such an issue against Thiem (the serve is definitely where he struggles most vs Murray, see Rome where he held serve I think two or three times all match).

Yes a good win for Goffin despite Almagro's form and ranking these days. He does come across as a good technical player. Last year when I queued up for Wimbledon I went straight to the court he was playing on.

I do like Goffin and think he has the ability to be a constant QF type player. Don't think he will be too tired despite the 5 sets cause they were not long as Almagro went big to make the points finish fast.