RG - Day 8

It's catch-up time for a number of players today, with matches held over from yesterday. Andy M is one of the lucky ones. He's through. Others have been less fortunate and could face a match pile-up.
   Wonder if R-Vinolas can cause any problems for Djoko? The Mug-Mlad match in the women's looks interesting as does Kuz-Wozni.

Nishikori fights back to beat Chung in five sets. Isner was on the brink of defeat but has taken the third set tie-breaker against Khachanov as they go into the fourth set.

Khachanov beats Isner in four sets and will play Andy Murray in the fourth round.

That's a tough one for Murray - I was hoping Isner would come through that. Khachanov is the real deal. Could be tricky.

Nadal looking very impressive against RBA.

Carreno Busto beats Raonic in five sets in a match lasting almost 4 hours 20 minutes. Next up he will play Rafa.

Once again, I have not seen Rafa's match, but it is another brutal scoreline.  Through the first three rounds, five players have not dropped a set:

Nadal (lost 15 games)
Cilic (23 games)
Thiem (25 games)
Zeballos (32)
Wawrinka (34)

That was before today's results where Rafa dropped only five more games, so he will likely pad this particular lead some more.

Zeballos probably made the list only through luck.  He was down 4:5 in the first set when Goffin retired while serving for the set.  Hopefully Zeballos drops three sets today.

Rafa looked supreme SB. Unless his level drops dramatically I can't see anyone taking a set off him.

I've always been a Djokovic fan, but actually want him to lose here. Can't stand to watch all the ball bouncing...him and Nadal will play a ten hour semi final...9 hours being taken between points. Ridiculous and cheating.

Sad to see Djokovic this poor too.

There are others who have a more subtle approach.. look at Raonic he strolls around the back of the court like a walk in the park takes three balls from one ball girl and tosses two away takes another couple from another ball girl before he selects just one.. he then bounces the ball at least 8/9 times.. before taking an age to serve... he's boring enough to watch as it is

Born Slippy wrote:Rafa looked supreme SB. Unless his level drops dramatically I can't see anyone taking a set off him.

That is no good

Carreno Busta should be as easy as Bautista Agut but hopefully he will meet at least some resistance in SF/F.  Thiem has been progressing quite smoothly also, but, when I am honest with myself, I do not really see him beating Rafa at Bo5 (the match he won everything went his way, and Rafa was not playing that well).  Djokovic in top form could trouble Rafa, but not in his current form.  Oh well, will keep hoping...

Poor enough first set but I have to say some vintage Djokovic in sets 2 and 3 against a tough opponent who was playing well. If only Djokovic could bring his level fromsets 2 and 3 to the rest of the tournament.

Him and theim is the match of the last 8. I hope it's in late enough to get back from work

If Rafa maintains his current form, the second week could well be little more than a formality. Perhaps they should give him his 10th trophy right now and save time ?

Let's hope Murray's improvement continues. Is he the only hope ?

Lags72, Murray the only hope? Somehow I don't think so, Murray has a horrendous record against nadal overall and when they met in previous french open matches, he was destroyed. Don't think he ever even took a set at french against nadal.

Nadal almost guaranteed to win now but the only player that can make him sweat now is surely Djokovic. However That is only if Novak makes it past thiem. If Novak did get his A game back (unlikely) he could definitely take it to nadal.

Difference is Nadal is not being pushed 10ft behind the baseline where Novak likes him.. in fact he is more likely to turn the tables.. and is playing HIS A game.. saying that it would be interesting however

I guess any player can have a really 'on' day or a really 'off' day. That's what keeps things interesting I suppose. Nothing's a formality, but some things appear to be very likely, the way things are currently looking.

summerblues wrote:Once again, I have not seen Rafa's match, but it is another brutal scoreline.  Through the first three rounds, five players have not dropped a set:

Nadal (lost 15 games)
Cilic (23 games)
Thiem (25 games)
Zeballos (32)
Wawrinka (34)

That was before today's results where Rafa dropped only five more games, so he will likely pad this particular lead some more.

Zeballos probably made the list only through luck.  He was down 4:5 in the first set when Goffin retired while serving for the set.  Hopefully Zeballos drops three sets today.

Good stat. Haven't watched any yet. Seems to be playing like a machine. 15 games in 3 matches!

Henman Bill wrote:Seems to be playing like a machine. 15 games in 3 matches!

Yes.  And now with 20 dropped games through four rounds he is apparently just one game short of his most dominant start here (2012, 19 games through Rd4).

temporary21 wrote:Him and theim is the match of the last 8.

They have probably been the second and third best players this clay court season (Zverev won Rome, but that felt to me a little more like a one-off).

I would expect Thiem to put up much better fight than in Rome.

More than that 
I fancy theim this time. If he can put the squeeze on Novak we've seen first hand how he can fall to bits from nowhere