French Open Day 2 - Taylor swift? Quick Sands? Beck fast?

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Schedule - http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/index.html

3-2
They have both made 17 UE

The problem with Stan is that he has a tendency/preference to push the FH back when returning, he needs to be more aggressive.

Out and about following the scores. Did say the dip would come.

I suppose it takes some a while to acclimatise themselves to the exact conditions of the court and get their mind focused on the present match.  I think Rosol has shown that on his day he can be a tough opponent for anyone.  But he is inconsistent and generally can't sustain such a level through a long tournament.

How comes there is play on this court and no other court as yet?

Lydian I think we have seen a very tired Stan during this match
He has had to rally himself on a couple of occasions.. he should not have let that first set go so easily.. but he has had to dig really deep.
Rosol has hung in there but I do thin Stan now has the edge

Rosol has sustained the standard longer than I thought in this match his drop shots have been very "telling" throughout

As I say Im not crazy about the man but hats off he has played some great tennis.

There is play on the other courts but the incomplete matches from yesterday will be the second matches on each court?

Ok Stan lets get it over with

Cmon......

Well credit to Rosol he just aint gonna give up

Well done Stan just .. I think you will wish you had got it over with quicker.

Reluctant though I am... well played Rosol

Long live the King

Five sets seems to be the norm at the moment. Dustin Brown beats Sela, Sock beats Haase, Troicki & Dimitrov into a fifth.

Heather Watson at least matches last years RG performance in getting to the second round.

Damp conditions favours the non-clay players: ball gets heavier, bounces lower & less spin.

Damp conditions effectively turns it into almost HC conditions as the top dressing gets dampened down.

Murray loses the 1st set...amazed no comments on here!
Surely Stepanek will blow out? The guy's 38 this year!!

Im not sure that after winning RG 9 times that it has not been damp conditions on more than one occasion for Rafa

eg. 2013 he beat Novak in the semi final in rainy conditions as I remember
so not much comfort there

Yes but the combo of cold and damp is difficult if you normally have a sliding advantage. The cold will negate spin as will a lack of dressing to bite the ball. However, yes the top guys should be able to adapt to any surface...it's the same for both guys always. For me though, it's not proper RG conditions...it's a slow HC event so far.

I cant, indeed wont, argue with you on the technicalities Lydian but Im not convinced that the conditions will particularly favour anyone at the moment
Murray is a natural hard court player but he does not seem to be liking it much out there.... but heh Stepanek ?? life in the old dog yet

Andy determined to make his first round as difficult as possible for himself. Chuntering to himself again, blaming the players box for everything.

Murrays gone. Hes gonna be dumped out in straight sets

Whatever happens.. I have enormous admiration for Stepanek .. such superior play from a veteran.. he could give some of the young guns a tennis lesson.. together with his conduct on court ..

Somethings badly wrong with his striking... nothing deep whatsoever barely made a break point all match

he cant hit a forehand, literally cant hit one

Game over... 2 sets down and to be frank it would be better if he just goes home in straight sets... his tournament is effectively over even if he does come back

temporary21 wrote:Game over... 2 sets down and to be frank it would be better if he just goes home in straight sets... his tournament is effectively over even if he does come back

What?! Absolutely not.

too many miles in the legs if he comes back. To be frank if he goes out my interest is gone until next Friday

The saving grace for Murray here is that they are unlikely to finish tonight (surely Murray won't lose another set tonight anyway) and then tomorrow he'll be recharged. On the negative side it means he won't be able to wear Stepanek down as the match would be played in 2 halves with a break. Stepanek could feel tired tomorrow though sleeping on a 2 set advantage - a lot of pressure overnight to see it through...a funny old game is this tennis lark. But come what may he's a tough cookie. However, it's not over yet - getting that 3rd is always the toughest!

Murray barking like a dog in set 3 when Stepanek is making unforced errors...embarrassing

I liked that 'let's go' from Murray, quite amusing.

Jermaine2015 wrote:Murray barking like a dog in set 3 when Stepanek is making unforced errors...embarrassing

Yes, I don't find that particularly sensible or pleasant. I'm all for a bit of firing up but this comes over as silly.

well hes turned up 2 hours too later. Which means Stepanek gets two bites of it when fresh tomorrow, a stress entirely his own making.

Thats called passion, something hes lacked all match...

Not really.

And then shouting "come on, let's go" at full pelt into Stepaneks ears after that last game. Not classy at all.

No that's not passion, that's deliberately trying to unsettle your opponent.

I didn't hear Stepanek shout similarly after winning set 2.

Would bother to agree with you if anyone ever complained when other players do it... but you dont. Steps done that plently in his career too

lydian wrote:The saving grace for Murray here is that they are unlikely to finish tonight (surely Murray won't lose another set tonight anyway) and then tomorrow he'll be recharged. On the negative side it means he won't be able to wear Stepanek down as the match would be played in 2 halves with a break. Stepanek could feel tired tomorrow though sleeping on a 2 set advantage - a lot of pressure overnight to see it through...a funny old game is this tennis lark. But come what may he's a tough cookie. However, it's not over yet - getting that 3rd is always the toughest!

That's a massive negative not a saving grace for Murray. At best, he will be 2 sets all overnight. No way would Steps win a 5th set (if it gets there) tonight. However, a one set shoot-out tomorrow against a nervous Murray and I make him favourite.

If Murray actually turns up tomorrow, he should be favoured despite the rest. Its just baffling hes taken this long to turn up and compete

The flip side is if hes lucky enough to get out of this, thats legs he wont have for the last 5 days...

Woudl they start another set today even if this is 6-0?

temporary21 wrote:Would bother to agree with you if anyone ever complained when other players do it... but you dont. Steps done that plently in his career too

Yes, because it's not allowed to criticise any player unless ever other guilty player is also criticised.

(Oh, and you haven't read what I think if Stepanek)

I've only seen this set? What exactly was Andy doing in sets 1 and 2?

Well when you target specific players for your ire for years and years, dont be surprised at all if people ignore you...

Born Slippy wrote:However, a one set shoot-out tomorrow against a nervous Murray and I make him favourite.

Firstly I think they're probably going to go off after this set or mid 4th set.
Also there's no way if it did go to a one set shootout tomorrow that Stepanek is favourite! Of course nerves may give Stepanek a great chance, but he'd be nervous too.
Maybe this is a trend I accidentally started, but you tend to underplay Murray, for example in Rome before his quarter final you said he would be underdog vs Berdych/Ferrer in the semi.

temporary21 wrote:Well when you target specific players for your ire for years and years, dont be surprised at all if people ignore you...

Thankfully you haven't ignored me though, I'd be devastated if you did!

Well Step to his great credit was really good, though he was fed 80% short balls to help him...

For sure, and as posters know I've called Stepanek "Turbot" for years.
Stepanek is a street fighter, it's part of his mix...but Murray is #2 ranked and should rise above this sort of stuff...IMO.
Anyway...whatever. They won't finish this tonight come what may....an uneasy night for both of them, so more energy burnt.