The French Open 2020

First topic message reminder :

With the draw about to be made for RG, I thought I would get this topic going.

For me - and I say this every year - Rafa is clear favourite, although the strange nature of all sport this Covid-19 year might mean someone else (Thiem? Djoko?) might have a chance.

Halep stands out as the women's favourite, particularly as some of the top women are not appearing. More on this after the draw.

With rain falling heavily now for the last hour or two and play only possible on the covered Philippe Chatrier court the play schedule is unlikely to be fully completed today. No doubt the scheduled singles matches will take precedence over scheduled doubles matches.

On the outside courts play could be about to resume On Chatrier Garcia and Mertens involved in a real scrap level at one set all and five all.

Garcia wins in three sets. Next up Nadal.

Emotional finish to the Garcia match. She got it on, I think, her SIXTH match point.

Meanwhile, Stan the Man now trails by two sets to one to a French guy who is about 250 in the world.

Still think Stan will come through and will then have the, er, pleasure of facing....Thiem.

Sonego wins in straight sets against Fritz winning a third settie-break 19-17. The match lasting 3 hours 7 minutes.

Wawrinka levels at two sets-all against Gaston.

The Man now in deep trouble - a double break down in the final set.

Stan goes out - 6-0 in the final set.

Winner Gaston will now pay Thiem. Suppose it's about time Thiem had an easy match. Yes, I know he's playing a guy who has just beaten a GS champion, but who do you think he'd rather meet - Wawrinka or a 20-yr-old inexperienced player?

Wawrinka crashes out if five sets to Gaston who looks a real talent. Nadal in control and set for a comfortable straights wins against the game Italian Travaglia.

For sure Thiem will be happier facing Gaston.

Wawrinka loses to an unknown ranked over 230 in the world. WTF!!!???

Only saw the very last part of the Stan the Man match. Stan really didn't look all that interested. He was blazing shots off - some in, quite a few out.

Zverev, already a set up, was broken in the second set but fought back to take it and is now close to victory at 4-1 in the third.

Cecchinato ultimately ran out of steam against Zverev - don't forget he came through qualifying.  Good, solid performance from Zverev though - plenty of good controlled aggression.

Nadal looked v comfortable again today though given the calibre of opponent he's faced it's bit difficult to assess where he's at.

Thiem took a bit to get going today but I do feel he's turned into a v good frontrunner these days - once he took that 1st set there was no looking back.

Some interesting matches today. Can Carreno Busta gut to beat Bautista Agut?

Canadian Leylah Fernandez, just 18, last year's RG junior champ, takes on Kvitova.

Altmaier leads No 7 seed Berrettini 4-1 whilst Bautista Agut leads Carreno Busta 2-1. Rublev has an early break against Kevin Anderson.

Daniel Altmaier takes the first set against Matteo Berrettini but the Italian is a break up in the second. Rublev wins the first set 6-3 against Anderson. Meanwhile, Bautista-Agut and Carreno-Busta are level at 4-4 in the first set.

Carreno Busta takes the first set 6-4 in 52 minutes against Bautista-Agut.

Altmaier now leads 6-2 7-6 on No 7 seed Berrettini. The Italian had his chances in that set and failed to take them. I still feel he is in with a shout though.

Carreno Busta now two sets up on Bautista-Agut. Rublev about will serve for a straights set win over Anderson.

Rublev into the 4th Round with a comfortable win against Kevin Anderson.

Berrettini looks a little heavy around the net and now faces having to go to five if he's to win. Be interesting to see if the German can keep up his so-far good form.

Bit surprised that Carreno really is busting Agut, although Roberto may well fight back.

Altmaier breaks in the third set and he just needs to serve this out to seal a famous win in straight sets.

sirfredperry wrote:
Bit surprised that Carreno really is busting Agut, although Robertdon may well fight back.

Well he is a break up in the third set so there could be mileage left in that match.

I do tend to dip in to this section from time to time even though I might not login or leave a comment.   I find myself learning about the progress of this event (RG 2020) predominantly from the comments of CaledonianCraig, SirFredPerry, as well as notable others.  Nowadays I am only really interested in the men's game as well as the British participation (men and women).  Reading the comments here it gives me some hope that the men's game won't entirely fizzle out when the "top four era" / "top three all time greats" depart the scene.

Somehow turned Roberto into Robertdon - sorry about that.

Bit of a horror show by Berrettini. Difficult to know what to make of the German, given he was gifted so many points.

That's not to take away from a terrific performance by Altmaeir.

Jamie Murray and Skupski have just beaten the number two seeds in three sets. Good win.

Altmaier wins in straights sets and Berrettini bows out very tamely. Bautista-Agut was a break up in the third set but back on serve now at 5-5.

Bautista-Agut breaks in a msrathon 12 minutes long game to lead 6-5 in the third set.

And Bautista-Agut does take the third set.

Bautista-Agut now on the march and breaks early in the 4th as they move past the 3 hour mark.

I guess most people would expect RBA to fight and from being two points from defeat at the end of the third he's now a break up in the fourth.

Ram and Salisbury - the US/GB pairing - won in straight sets today.

Carreno Busta breaks back and now leads 5-4 in the fourth set. Bautista-Agut to serve to stay in the match.

And Carreno Busta wins in four sets in 3 hours 22 minutes. The No 10 seed Bautista-Agut ousted by the No 17 seed.

Rather a tame ending to a good match, with RBA getting broken twice to give CB victory.

Kenin dropped the first two games of her match but then won the next six. 8th seed Sabalenka is a set down.

Tsitsipas about to begin his match against Alijaz Bedene.

Bedene is a naturalised British citizen and lives in Welwyn Garden City, England.  Unfortunately the International Tennis Federation didn't accept his British citizenship and refused to let him represent Britain in the Davis Cup.  I am not sure what the legal connotations are in terms of human rights.  They say it is their competition and their rules but it doesn't seem to fit the modern day progressive society.

Tsitsipas made short work of Bedene in the first set, taking it 6-1.

Sabalenka is out, beaten in three by Jabeur, who will now, probably, have to face Muguruza.

Kenin won 12 games in a row to reach the 4th round.

Very straight-forward for Tsitsipas. He now leads 6-1 6-2.

Bedene retires in the third set with an ankle injury when the writing was well and truly on the wall. Tsitsipas rolls on.

I know Inverdale isn't to everyone's taste but he does have some good interviews. Petchey and Keothavong have been appearing with him in some good insights on Ch24 (ITV4).

This is the benefit of a sports programme introduced by a journalist rather than an ex-player.

Wow Leylah Fernanandes the Canadian teenager leads Petra Kvitova and is serving for the first set.

Kvitova breaks to stay afloat but trails 5-2.

The wheels came off for Fernandez. Kvitova storms back to win the first set 7-5. Kvitova dug deep and clawed her way back into the set whilst Fernandez began to be a little less consistent. An hour and 7 minutes of fluctuating tennis in that first set

Terrific tennis in the Kvitova match with the young girl playing some splendid stuff.

The two-time Wimbledon champion had to really pull out all the stops to come back from 5-1.

Ostapenko, who I thought might make a big impact, is on the brink of defeat.

Kvitova had a double break in the second set having taken nine games in a row. But Fernandez got one of the breaks back but is still 4-2 down.

Djokovic off and running leads Galan 5-0 whilst Kvitova completes a 7-5 6-3 win over teenager Fernandez.

Djokovic dishing out the bakery products. He wins the first set 6-0.

Fernandez was mighty impressive and it took a GS champion playing at, or pretty much near, her best to beat her.

Fernandez people should, however, get her out of the habit of bouncing up and down between points. Isn't it exhausting enough playing?

The Rafa and Djoko matches so far have been ridiculously easy. Is this really the best preparation for harder battles to come or will the energy preserved be of use?

Credit to Novak there. Galan was unhappy he was playing on the wetter half of the court as the roof slowly closed. Umpire had a look and told him to play on. The next point Galan's left leg slid from under him and Djokovic walked to his seat and called a halt to play until the roof has fully closed and the court dry.

Lovely seeing Novak chilled having a laugh and a smile with the crowd and helping the court staff brush on new clay.

Djokovic all but home and hosed. He leads 6-0 6-3 3-0.

Djokovic wins 6-0 6-3 6-2. Minimum fuss.