re: 2016 French Open Thread

quote:

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Djoker trying to complete the career grand slam, Rafa and Murray both in good form, and The Stanimal can beat anyone on any given day. The top 4 seeds are very strong indeed.

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A couple things:
1. The Stanimal CAN go full-on GODMODE. We've seen him do that. But we've never seen him go from being in the form that he's currently into and then straight into GODMODE. In other words, imagine GODMODE as Stan's 6th gear. He was at least in 5th gear in the other instances when he's made the upswitch. We have not seen him cruising in 4th gear and then next thing ya know he's in GODMODE. And we won't see it at RG.

2. Rafa and Murray are both in fine form. I agree with that. But I don't think Rafa can beat Novak Djokovic on any surface. It's just an absolute matchup nightmare for him. Even when Rafa was still in his prime and Djokovic had made the switch from talented to great (so 2011-2013), Novak was getting the better of him a sizable chunk of the times they were playing somewhere not named Roland Garros. And while Rafa has improved his form significantly from last year, he's still not 2013 Rafa (or 2010 Rafa or 2008 Rafa, of course).

3. Maybe Murray could surprise Djoker in the final, but to get there he might just have to prevail over The Great Great Rafa Nadal in a five-setter at RG. As noted, I don't see him doing that