TENNIS: Back end of the French Open
Jun. 12th, 2023 08:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllFirst half of the QFs: Muchova (who I’d heard had been winning a lot this year) won through, Sabalenka just had more power, under control, than Svitolina (and it was so hard to describe it without recourse to warfare metaphors, which is unfortunate because one is Belarussian and the other Ukraninan.) Khachenov did get a set off Djokovic, which is respectable given his seeding, but apparently the Russian was playing towards his best, and the Serb Great One wasn’t until it came to the second set tiebreak, when he turned the match around. I listened to a bit of Alcaraz v Tsitsipas, and the young world no. 1 was thrashing the Greek, who is top 5 and highly rated on clay. The third set was more competitive, but that sounded as if it had more to do with Alcaraz’s nerves than Tsitsipas raising his game, although some of it was the latter. The Spaniard took his sixth match point, the first on his serve, and I longed to actually see some of these amazing shots the commentators were describing. Djokovic v Alcaraz is on in the semis.
In the rest of the women’s QFs, Jabeur proved that she was the better player than Haddad Maia, but she hasn’t been able to play enough tennis recently, and the Brazilian had enough resilience to come back, while Jabeur collapsed (metaphorically) in the third. So, Haddad Maia has backed up a good year that started on grass. People talked up Gauff, and I doubted that her forehand had magically improved here in Paris, and then I learned her head to head with Swiatek is 0-6. Now it is 0-7.
I did not follow the rest of the men’s quarters, but apparently Zverev and Ruud won. I was expecting the latter, because of the way Ruud has played at this tournament, although I read someone saying they thought Rune had a better chance of beating Djokovic or Alcaraz, and I tend to agree, but maybe not yet (maybe not ever) and certainly not if he couldn’t win the quarter final on the way to get there.
As for the women’s semi finals, it sounds as though Muchova v Sabalenka was a classic, three close sets, different styles/mentalities, and Muchova found a way to get through to her first Grand Slam after a lot of injuries recently. Good on her, and even as we’re inching towards a Big Three (all of whom are quite young), it’s typical that women’s tennis remains women’s tennis, with a woman ranked in the 40s getting through to the final.
In the other semi final, Haddad Maia has started to stage a comeback in the second set before in this tournament, but Swiatek was on the other side of the court, and won in two again. This sounded like the most she’d been tested, but the two-time winner hasn’t dropped a set on her way. These two results mean that Swiatek retains the no. 1 spot.
Men’s semi-finals: first up, the one we’d all been waiting for, and experienced 36-year-old Djokovic started better, and won the first set, despite some shots and rallies living up to the billing. Alcaraz improved and won the second set, and then, early on in the third set, the 20-year-old started cramping, and lost rather tamely by the end. I kept hearing the commentators on radio talk about the emotional energy. Basically, he’s not ready yet to compete for five sets against one of the best – and if you recall, Djokovic wasn’t ready at that age. It doesn’t look as though Alcaraz is going to have a Federer or Nadal to hone himself against, although I personally think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to talk to Nadal about how to get ready for this level.
Djokovic would be facing Ruud in the final, the latter having beaten Zverev in three and made it to the French Open final for the second year running. It was the Serbian’s to lose, and ‘it’ meant surpassing the others in Grand Slams.
In the final, Swiatek won, after dropping her first set this tournament in what became a close final, for the third time (three times in the last four years! When was the last time a female player was so dominant at a slam?) Well done her, and well done, Muchova, for fighting back.
Although I could have watched Murray in the Surbiton final, apparently, you can’t pretend the Surbiton challenger is the same as the French Open. I did listen to a bit of the radio coverage of the men’s final, which was when Djokovic was still not quite himself, but doing enough to claw back the deficit in the first set, when Ruud had started off better. But if you can’t beat Djokovic when he is so unusually off-balance – by the time they were at a tiebreak, Djokovic was playing better and won the set – how much hope have you, really? Ruud had no answer – although the scoreline for the third set was closer than the second set. Apparently, the Norwegian has never won a set against Djokovic, and that’s the third slam final he’s lost.
Conversely, it’s the twenty-third slam Djokovic has won, putting him ahead of Nadal (and Federer and Graff), meaning that he’s equal to Serena Williams and probably eyeing Margaret Court’s record/the calendar Slam – even the golden Slam, perhaps. Congratulations to him (and I thought he already had the edge on grass over Alcaraz before the young Spaniard proved he wasn’t ready. Well, different players are at the top on grass than clay, and possibly the recovery from the French will challenge Djokovic’s 36-year-old body, but he is probably the fittest 36 year old.) Oh, and he’s back to being world no. 1.
In the rest of the women’s QFs, Jabeur proved that she was the better player than Haddad Maia, but she hasn’t been able to play enough tennis recently, and the Brazilian had enough resilience to come back, while Jabeur collapsed (metaphorically) in the third. So, Haddad Maia has backed up a good year that started on grass. People talked up Gauff, and I doubted that her forehand had magically improved here in Paris, and then I learned her head to head with Swiatek is 0-6. Now it is 0-7.
I did not follow the rest of the men’s quarters, but apparently Zverev and Ruud won. I was expecting the latter, because of the way Ruud has played at this tournament, although I read someone saying they thought Rune had a better chance of beating Djokovic or Alcaraz, and I tend to agree, but maybe not yet (maybe not ever) and certainly not if he couldn’t win the quarter final on the way to get there.
As for the women’s semi finals, it sounds as though Muchova v Sabalenka was a classic, three close sets, different styles/mentalities, and Muchova found a way to get through to her first Grand Slam after a lot of injuries recently. Good on her, and even as we’re inching towards a Big Three (all of whom are quite young), it’s typical that women’s tennis remains women’s tennis, with a woman ranked in the 40s getting through to the final.
In the other semi final, Haddad Maia has started to stage a comeback in the second set before in this tournament, but Swiatek was on the other side of the court, and won in two again. This sounded like the most she’d been tested, but the two-time winner hasn’t dropped a set on her way. These two results mean that Swiatek retains the no. 1 spot.
Men’s semi-finals: first up, the one we’d all been waiting for, and experienced 36-year-old Djokovic started better, and won the first set, despite some shots and rallies living up to the billing. Alcaraz improved and won the second set, and then, early on in the third set, the 20-year-old started cramping, and lost rather tamely by the end. I kept hearing the commentators on radio talk about the emotional energy. Basically, he’s not ready yet to compete for five sets against one of the best – and if you recall, Djokovic wasn’t ready at that age. It doesn’t look as though Alcaraz is going to have a Federer or Nadal to hone himself against, although I personally think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to talk to Nadal about how to get ready for this level.
Djokovic would be facing Ruud in the final, the latter having beaten Zverev in three and made it to the French Open final for the second year running. It was the Serbian’s to lose, and ‘it’ meant surpassing the others in Grand Slams.
In the final, Swiatek won, after dropping her first set this tournament in what became a close final, for the third time (three times in the last four years! When was the last time a female player was so dominant at a slam?) Well done her, and well done, Muchova, for fighting back.
Although I could have watched Murray in the Surbiton final, apparently, you can’t pretend the Surbiton challenger is the same as the French Open. I did listen to a bit of the radio coverage of the men’s final, which was when Djokovic was still not quite himself, but doing enough to claw back the deficit in the first set, when Ruud had started off better. But if you can’t beat Djokovic when he is so unusually off-balance – by the time they were at a tiebreak, Djokovic was playing better and won the set – how much hope have you, really? Ruud had no answer – although the scoreline for the third set was closer than the second set. Apparently, the Norwegian has never won a set against Djokovic, and that’s the third slam final he’s lost.
Conversely, it’s the twenty-third slam Djokovic has won, putting him ahead of Nadal (and Federer and Graff), meaning that he’s equal to Serena Williams and probably eyeing Margaret Court’s record/the calendar Slam – even the golden Slam, perhaps. Congratulations to him (and I thought he already had the edge on grass over Alcaraz before the young Spaniard proved he wasn’t ready. Well, different players are at the top on grass than clay, and possibly the recovery from the French will challenge Djokovic’s 36-year-old body, but he is probably the fittest 36 year old.) Oh, and he’s back to being world no. 1.
