re: Official 2013 French Open Thread

I agree that is a bizarre assumption.

BTW Djokovic is a sore loser. Every time he loses, is the ankle, or the rain, or whatever.

Today the court was too dry and he was slipping. Kind of ridiculous. This is why he will never attain the level of Rafa or Roger. When Roger lost in 2008 at Wimbledon he didn't bitch about poor lighting. Conditions affect both players.

David has a tall order, but chit happens, Rafa is tired, he has been seen limping out of the courts by some reporters. He could lose the final.

He is retired.
Djokovic is the number 1 player right now. Ridiculous to bitch about court conditions after a game like that.

Djokovic quote: "was too slippery. Difficult to change direction. I think that's wrong what they did"

Matt Cronin tweet

They water after every set, but it was a long set, since it was 9-7.

Still poor form to bitch about conditions after a loss. They all do it, but the Joker is notorious for it. I just think after a match like that, is specially in poor taste. It was a great epic match, and you have to bitch because you lost to the best ever in clay because it was dry?

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Bobbyray,

We need to talk. That was a hell of a match. Too bad I missed the last 2 1/2 sets due to work. Both guys have lots of heart.

As my earlier post about Ferrer's comments about Rafa show, you just can't keep up with the tenacity, heavy shots, variable spins, and hustle on clay to beat Rafa in 5 sets. Djoker elevated his game both sets he won when he got down a break. That is the level that is required for the entire match and its almost impossible to maintain that level for 5 sets. Rafa is a boxer that hits you in the ribs and gets stronger as the rounds. At some point, you just don't want to get hit anymore

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I agree with all of this. That's why I love Rafa. He will not let up. He doesn't understand the concept of taking points off. And nobody is as mentally tough as Rafa.

I'll give props to Djoker. When he needs to pull out his A game, he usually pulls it out. If you look at the stats on that match, and Djoker really had no business exteding it out to five sets. He was being thoroughly outplayed. But then he put it together right when he needed to and he forced the fifth.

And the fifth was just great tennis. I haven't seen Rafa attack with the forehand like that....maybe ever. I mean, the guy has always favored his forehand, but yesterday he was essentially saying "frick it, I'm hitting a forehand on every ball I can, and I'm going to absolutely smack the piss out of all of them". And he was. The story of the modern history of Djokovic and Nadal is that Djokovic camps himself three feet inside the baseline, takes control of the point, and makes Rafa do shuttle runs just to stay in the point.

Today, Rafa was firing the first shot with that nasty forehand, and getting Djoke on the run. I was impressed.

The one aspect of Rafa's game that I definitely wasn't impressed with was that he appeared very indecisive on his backhands. Like he couldn't figure out whether he wanted to drive them or slice them.

Drive them, Rafa! Your slice backhand blows monkey dick. It lands inside the service line and Novak gets ready for a tasty feast. Somebody needs to talk to Rafa about that. Why is he scared to swing away with that backhand? It's a good shot.

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Of course I did, it's called an opinion - what do you think I have an encyclopedia that I draw all of my opinions from?

I've never read or heard Nadal or Joker say ONE thing about another tennis player outside of their pre-match interview of the player they are about to face. No, "I love how Kuertan covered the court and used his angles..." or "Borg was incredibly fast on the court and it's something I've tried to achieve." You know some hero, or some respect for anyone before him. Really, no sense of place in the sport is how I feel.

It's an opinion, and maybe the it's the language barrier or lack of exposes. Maybe it's just that tennis used to be more covered in the media. IDK?

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I think you're wrong about that. He gives older players props all the time. What are you expecting from him? A dissertation on their strengths and weaknesses?

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The DVR is definitely set. I'll already know who won, but oh well.

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What a joke. I DVRd the only match I saw on my guide and its Tsonga Ferrer and I dont see Nadal Djoko anywhere. What a fricking joke that you have to pay extra for a tennis package. Here in Hawaii you can't just get that channel so you gotta buy a whole bunch of shite you dont even want. Its only the French Open and you can't even watch it. Pitiful

looks like maria may actually put up a fight today

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Rafa is one of the best sportsmen in the world and is perhaps more beloved around the world than any current athlete.

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I disagree with this statement. He may be better than Federer, but Federer is "more beloved" than Nadal across the world, and its not even close. You are right about feelings about Nadal being mixed around the USA. But the US isn't the only part of the world where they are mixed. The guy owns the French, and he definitely isn't exactly a fan favorite there.

I want both of them in the same room at the same time.. Only one can dream right?