2018 French Open - Roland Garros

[PhatBoy]

Don’t the French have any past players lol

What’s Rosewell doing there!

Yannick Noah and Mary Pierce are the only ones with any remote modern relevance

 

[pepsi]

Yannick Noah and Mary Pierce are the only ones with any remote modern relevance

That we have had the likes of tsonga, monfils, gasquet and grosjean and the French not getting a single grand slam title out of the lot of them is quite shocking.

 

[JackNah_8]

Soderling:

“Even if you still have to be aggressive, you just have to be careful and go for your shot in the right moment,” Söderling said. “In your head that’s difficult because you have to stay patient but also be very aggressive. I broke him early in the first set and that also helped me a lot because it made me relaxed a little more. I remember after winning the first set, I said to myself ‘OK, I showed myself I could win one set, there’s no reason I can’t win the second or the third one.’”

Just as important: the opponent needs confidence.

“A big thing for me going into that match was to tell myself that I could actually beat him,” Söderling said. “Because nowadays you see so many players, even good, top players, they go on the court against Nadal on clay and after the warm-up they don’t really believe they can win.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-beat-rafael-nadal-at-the-french-open-1528486140

 

[Roobs321]

They've been unlucky.

Leconte. Pioline had the two GS finals. Grosjean. Gasquet, Tsonga and Monfils. Escude, Clement and Simon at their best.

Really should have won a few more Davis Cups since 2001.

 

[PhatBoy]

They've been unlucky.

Leconte. Pioline had the two GS finals. Grosjean. Gasquet, Tsonga and Monfils. Escude, Clement and Simon at their best.

Really should have won a few more Davis Cups since 2001.

Agree with the last part, but I'd say all those players aside from Tsonga and Monfils have over achieved if anything. Even Leconte, talented as he was, only won 9 or 10 titles. Any of them winning a grand slam would have been a bit of a surprise imo. Good solid players the other guys but a step or two below top tier

 

[red+black]

11+ wins of the same Grand Slam title:

13 - Margaret Osborne duPont (US-WD)
12 - Elizabeth Ryan (GB-WD), Thelma Coyne Long (AU-WD)
11 - Margaret Court (AU-WS), Rafael Nadal (FR-MS)

 

[pepsi]

The french second tier players is also very impressive of the last 10 years. Bennateau, pouille, chardy, paire, Mahut, herbert, mannarino.

 

[WCE Wizard]

Nadal is a special player absolutle freak

 

[Mini GF]

All Glory and Honour Goes to The King of Clay

 

[Collingwoodity]

Rafa probably has another four of these in him at least. Pretty sure Nadal at the French is the only reason Federer still plays!

Would be truly interesting if Federer did not skip the last two French Opens.

Very likely to suffer ultra embarrassing losses which would dent his confidence I bet.

Imagine if another of the grand slams were played on a slower surface. Rafa could have had 25!


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[Roobs321]

Agree with the last part, but I'd say all those players aside from Tsonga and Monfils have over achieved if anything. Even Leconte, talented as he was, only won 9 or 10 titles. Any of them winning a grand slam would have been a bit of a surprise imo. Good solid players the other guys but a step or two below top tier

I completely agree, and do recognise that some of them arguably overachieved, but when you have such an accumulation of top 10 worthy players, you would expect that to tip over into a slam win at some point through weight of numbers. I know that sounds a little crappy in terms of analysis, but in an era without the absurdity of big 4 hogging, they would have been unlucky to get to 2018 without a slam win since Yannick.

 

[red+black]

Nadal went R16 at Wimbledon last year. Can Nadal he make the last 8? It’s been 7 years since he has.

 

[Flameboy]

Nadal went R16 at Wimbledon last year. Can Nadal he make the last 8? It’s been 7 years since he has.

Lost 15-13 in the 5th, he was a bees dick away. He’s definitely got another deep run in him.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Lost 15-13 in the 5th, he was a bees dick away. He’s definitely got another deep run in him.

Depends how the surface is and the draw. Seems to draw very dangerous big hitters early and that isn't great for Nadal. He's suspect to a big hitter with a big serve early on at Wimbledon.

He's still one of the favourites though.

 

[red+black]

Unlikely Federer can regain #1 at Wimbledon I’d say.

 

[Bumpswithagrin]

I don't think Federer cares two hoots about the number 1 ranking.

 

[pepsi]

I don't think Federer cares two hoots about the number 1 ranking.

This I agree with. It was a priority for him to return to that position, even if it was only for just 1 week. He achieved that, now it is all about grand slam titles, to keep far enough ahead of Nadal.

 

[Thrawn]

Unlikely Federer can regain #1 at Wimbledon I’d say.

He only needs to make the final of Stuttgart to get it back.

 

[Jack Gun Cyril Stun]

Would be truly interesting if Federer did not skip the last two French Opens.

Very likely to suffer ultra embarrassing losses which would dent his confidence I bet.

Imagine if another of the grand slams were played on a slower surface. Rafa could have had 25!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Imagine if they hadn’t slowed Wimbledon courts and balls down....Fed might have 11 or 12 of those.

 

[Roobs321]

Schwartzman has turned up for the French. Felt his form in recent months was a little underwhelming, not his maximised, beat-everyone-you-should and a little extra self. Still, expect Nadal to beat him with relative ease. Thiem is his only threat I feel, and he might not make the final.

Cilic just made his 12th GS QF, including 4 from his last 5 appearances.

That top half of the women's draw is stacked. For the first time, I'm kind of pulling for Halep, she thoroughly deserves to get that first slam, and the French at that. Long overdue. In fact, let's make this the year of the overdues. Pliskova can win Wimbledon and Svitolina can win the US.

This prospect of 2018 as an "overdue" women's slam year seems to be opening up at Wimbledon for Pliskova.