feather_ghyll (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
feather_ghyll) wrote2024-08-01 04:52 pm
feather_ghyll) wrote2024-08-01 04:52 pm
SPORTS: Paris 2024, mainly tennis and gymnastics
I’m sorry, I’ve fallen behind on posting because I’ve been trying to catch up on the gymnastics.
Day three: Philippe Chatrier had a tasty order of play. I got to see Iga Swiatek, who was playing home favourite Diane Perry, who is just outside the top 50 and at an all-time high. This was a second-round match. In a word, Swiatek was relentless. Perry eventually won a game, and so wasn’t bagelled, but Swiatek had all the answers and was just really, really good, as you’d expect a reigning French Open champion to be. I learned she won’t be competing in the mixed doubles, because Hercacz got injured, but that just means all her focus is on the gold medal in the singles.
Next up, the sixtieth match between Nadal and Djokovic, and like everyone, I thought Djokovic was the favourite, but was hoping for yet another clash to remember. The history was laid out – Djokovic has the slight lead in their head to heads, but not at Roland Garros. However, this was a three-set match and much earlier than they have previously come up against each other in tournaments. Nadal had beaten Djokovic in the Olympics before (Beijing, 2008, another reminder of their longevity.) But right now Djokovic was the top seed, fresh off a Wimbledon final, while Nadal had only played in six events all year, and that was following a torrid 2023. He’d played a doubles match and a singles match that had gone to three sets already, while Djokovic had only played the one match and only dropped the one game.
Ans so it began, and although the moves were familiar, it was soon obvious that Djokovic had the edge. He paid Nadal the compliment of being sharp and playing well in all aspects of the game. Nadal was a step too slow and could not win a game until the end of the first set. With the first set under his belt, Djokovic ploughed on and was leading 4-0 when Nadal started playing with a little more fizz and Djokovic played a relatively loose game. Nerves started coming into it, giving Nadal and the crowd (passionately on his side) hope. But Nadal too got tight, and when it reached 4-4, Djokovic steadied himself, broke and then served to win in two. It felt as though the match had come too soon for Nadal, who couldn’t regain the level to trouble Djokovic, although there were some glimpses.
I also learned that Murray and Evans had won their first round match against Nishikori and Daniel, even though the Japanese team had had five match points on them. (I’d heard on the Sunday that they were a set and break up and assumed they’d win.) I do not want to get on that roller-coaster until I have to, as was the case with Murray on the grass court.
In the evening session, we had Alcaraz vs Tallon Griekspoor, who is a top 30 player. As a Dutch player, his t-shirt was orange, clashing with the Spaniard’s red. In the first set, he wasn’t allowed a look in, with Alcaraz flowing, and not trying too much that was flashy, not needing to what with the variety on his forehand and the angles he was finding on his serve.
The second set was a different kettle of fish. Griekspoor, serving first, battled to keep his serve and then started to be able to do more and be more in the rallies, showing off his weight of shot and readiness to come in and ability there. Alcaraz did ask for the trainer and had to get some bandaging for his hip, but it didn’t seem to impair his movement. He faced a set point on his serve, but served his way out of it and won the game, and it went to a tiebreak, where minibreaks were exchanged, but the flowing play came back for the last four or so points and he got through to the third round.
I dipped in and out of the final match, because I was tired, although, as expected, it was very competitive between Jessica Pegula and Elina Svitolina. Pegula, the seed, took the first set, Svitolina fought back and took the second and then the third. IIRC she won a medal for Ukraine either in the last Olympics or the one before. Pegula’s version of the USA kit was more restful to the eye than Gauff’s, while Svitolina had a yellow skirt and blue top. She’ll next face Kreijikova.
I started watching the men’s team gymnastic final on Discovery+ because it was easier to find when catching up. I switched to the BBC’s coverage by the end, because the commentary was better, with two experts and even if he’s Tiggerish, Matt Baker has gymnastics experience, but it meant switching channels. It was worth it, though, although some of the selected turns shown on the international feed were weird.
Going into the final rotation, it looked as though China had the gold medal in their grasp, as their score was high enough for there to be a buffer. The USA, Japan and possibly Ukraine were still in with a chance of medals. And then the Chinese wobbled on the high bar, with one gymnast falling off twice, which gave Hashimoto a chance to make up for falling off one apparatus by doing a clean, high-scoring routine. The Japanese were extremely emotional, the Chinese disappointed with silver, having come in the highest qualifiers and looking for most of the final like they’d win. The Americans improved on qualifying by coming third. As I’ve watched quite a lot of gymnastics between this and the last Olympics and am familiar with a lot of the competitors, I was glad to catch up with it.
Day four: I chose to watch most of Jack Draper vs. Taylor Fritz’s match, although there was no commentary. What I made of it was that Draper was playing better throughout the first set, pressuring Fritz more on his serve while winning his own more easily, and so deserved the tiebreak. They seemed to be playing at the same level at the start of the second set, and Draper had six break points in one game, but could not convert, even though a few of them were on his racquet. Fritz, a top 15 player, did not give him more chances and started to break. Given that Draper seemed to want to clamber into the freezer at sitdowns, I think the heat was getting to him too.
With my unerring failure to spot drama, I chose not to watch the Gauff match (she lost) and instead chose Paolini and Schmeidlova, and it really was about who could hold serve. The Slovakian won the close first set, Paolini remembered she was the seed having the brilliant 2024 in the second and dominated until she faltered and got broken, but still won the second set. But in the third set, no one could hold a service game. Paolini looked the fresher player, her opponent seemed more badly affected by the heat and yet Schmeidlova kept her serve and broke Paolini to get through.
Sooner than I expected, it was time for doubles and Nadal and Alcaraz (now apparently nicknamed Nadalcaraz) were facing Wesley Koolhoff (a very good doubles player) and Tallon Griekspoor. Both in different shades of orange, while I think the Spaniards were in different shades of red, so they’re clearly wearing the kit they’d normally wear according to their country’s guidelines (Paolini’s dress was nice, and Swiatek’s is effective.)
Anyway, the Spanish team were a step up from the last time they’d played, and Alcaraz had just beaten Griekspoor. Although much was made of Alcaraz only having played (senior?) doubles seven times, Griekspoor was perhaps the weak link in the first set, not able to handle the pace at net. The Spaniards had the best of any baseline exchanges and were pressing on the returns, breaking eventually and taking the first set.
But the Dutch pair got it together more in the second set and kept their serve throughout, even though Alcaraz started really pushing at the end of the second set after some flashy volleys. But it was his serve that got under pressure, which he responded well to, taking it to a tiebreak, where Koolhof was inspired and the Dutch players rattled Alcaraz enough to win.
Which led to a champion’s tiebreak (first to 10) and Nadal absolutely stepped up as the more experienced campaigner. He got a mini break, he got an exceptional return winner, he imposed himself, and by the time Alcaraz was serving, they were already in the lead. The Dutch team were completely outclassed in the decider. It was a very enjoyable match.
I worked out how to catch up on the women’s team gymnastics finals on the BBC. The USA, led by Simone Biles, who has to be the star of the Olympics, had qualified first by a country mile. Italy were second and so would be going round with them, although it looked like it could be a scramble for the minor medals. Biles opted for her easier vault, which was still the most difficult vault in the meet, and she and her teammates did what they needed to. The classy Rebeca Andrade led the Brazilian team to a higher position, while the Chinese team had problems on the bars, their strongest apparatus, and the dreaded beam. (So it wasn’t just the Chinese men.) The Brits had had the vault as their second rotation, which meant they were in a flattering position, but Becky Downie pulled off her more difficult routine excellently on the uneven bars, while the Americans continued to excel and the Italians were tense.
They went into the final rotation with the Americans ahead with a buffer, and three or four countries battling for the minor medals. The Americans could celebrate on the floor. The Italians were more sober, tense, even, with their first gymnast missing out on the required forward somersault. The Brazilians were looking to vault their way into the medals, while the Brits had to stay on the beam (and hope someone else would fall.) It was down to the last routines for it to sort itself out, Biles finishing off for Team USA with a flourish and joy, Brazil getting their first team medal and Italy their first in nearly a century. The British gymnasts were only 0.2 away.
Day five: I caught bits of a lot of tennis matches. First, there was Tommy Paul against a Frenchman and thus the crowd. Then I saw that Djokovic had won his third round match to set up a quarter final against Tsitsipas. Then I watched a women’s quarter-final match: Schmeidlova was back on court against Kreijikova, and it was the Slovakian, not the Czech, who started better. Schmeidlova was serving well and hitting with power. There were breaks, but just as Kreijikova seemed to have played her way back into the set, Schmeidlova upped it a bit. Kreijikova started the second set more strongly, but Schmeidlova responded well and was soon breaking (with some costly double faults from the reigning Wimbledon champion.) Schmeidlova seems to be of the composed nature, but has made her way through to the semis after two good wins against in form players.
I started watching the third-round match between Felix A-A and Danil ‘Sweary’ Medvedev, where Medvedev looked like the higher ranked player, although it was going by serve, until it started to rain. I switched to the end of the Angelique Kerber v Qinwen Zheng match, which was all about the drama. Kerber’s moonballs helped her keep a lead in the third, but from behind, Zheng started playing more freely and broke back. Kerber was more physically spent and though the drama continued in the final-set tiebreak, Zheng got it done eventually.
I switched over again to the second set between Swiatek and Collins. Swiatek had dominated in the first, but Collins was hitting huge in the second and dominating in turn. Predictably, Swiatek went off at the end of the set and took ages and ages. It all got tetchy, with Swiatek being frustrated about line calls, Collins being frustrated that Swiatek wouldn’t play at her pace, although when a ball of hers hit Swiatek and the Pole seemed winded, it put everything into perspective. But Swiatek was okay and dominating in the third, when Collins called for the trainer, got taken off the court, and although she was still competing, Swiatek was in the lead. A few points after a conversation with the trainer at the change of ends, Collins conceded, meaning Swiatek will face Zheng in the semis.
And then the big match of the day for me – in the build-up I learned that Alcaraz had already played a singles match against Safiullin that day and beaten him handlily. ‘Nadalcaraz’ were facing two former world no. 1s in doubles, Rajeev Ram and Austin Kraijek, for the USA. They don’t normally play together, but had more matches as a team under their belt than the Spanish pairing, and from the off, they were on it. They broke in the first game, and were like a wall at net, giving the Spaniards little. Their first serve percentage was higher, they always seemed to know where to go and Kraijek was the best player on the court.
The Spaniards seemed constrained, and although they started the second set clearly wanting to up their game, they just couldn’t. The Americans’ first serve percentage was much higher, and you mostly couldn’t fault their placement. They broke Alcaraz to love, and although Kraijek showed nerves when serving for the match – and the atmosphere boiled over rather, with people cheering between serves and holding up points, hoping that Nadal or Alcaraz could pull off a miracle – an ace on the line ended it.
I wonder how much doubles will play a part in Alcaraz’s future. Speaking of doubles, Murray and Evans faced down more match points and were through to the third round.
Back to trying to follow the BBC’s coverage of the men’s individual all-round gymnastics final (an Olympics task in itself), with two Chinese gymnasts, two Japanese gymnasts and two British gymnasts in the top rotation – so the international feed kept showing us randos who often scored less. They started on the floor, where Jake Jarman excelled, but the highest scoring qualifier had a fall. In the second rotation, defending champion Hashimoto fell off the pommel, giving the second-place Japanese and Chinese gymnasts hope, and Jarman, having done a clean routine on the pommel, was in second place.
Felix Dolci of Canada had a horror show on the high bar, his hand guard snapping. He was allowed to try again because it was an apparatus failure, but fell. The Ukranians started pushing through, and Jake Jarman’s rings score pushed him down, but his vault score pushed him back up into the top 10, while Joe Fraser was working to the top of his abilities.
It came down to the final rotation, with most of the contenders in the top group, but Illya Koftan of Ukraine delivered a great performance on the floor. Hashimoto could not make up the ground he’d lost, only getting to the top 10, while Fraser was briefly in the top 3, but the Chinese gymnast who’d got silver last time, the young Japanese gymnast who hadn’t faltered and the Chinese top qualifier all did good routines, meaning that it came down to tenths of points, meaning that the drama continued until the very end. It was Japan who won (the fourth Olympics running with three different gymnasts.) China pushed Koftan out (fourth is always hardest.) But Fraser improved on his position in the last Olympics, and, like Jarman, did not look too out of place in the top group.
Day three: Philippe Chatrier had a tasty order of play. I got to see Iga Swiatek, who was playing home favourite Diane Perry, who is just outside the top 50 and at an all-time high. This was a second-round match. In a word, Swiatek was relentless. Perry eventually won a game, and so wasn’t bagelled, but Swiatek had all the answers and was just really, really good, as you’d expect a reigning French Open champion to be. I learned she won’t be competing in the mixed doubles, because Hercacz got injured, but that just means all her focus is on the gold medal in the singles.
Next up, the sixtieth match between Nadal and Djokovic, and like everyone, I thought Djokovic was the favourite, but was hoping for yet another clash to remember. The history was laid out – Djokovic has the slight lead in their head to heads, but not at Roland Garros. However, this was a three-set match and much earlier than they have previously come up against each other in tournaments. Nadal had beaten Djokovic in the Olympics before (Beijing, 2008, another reminder of their longevity.) But right now Djokovic was the top seed, fresh off a Wimbledon final, while Nadal had only played in six events all year, and that was following a torrid 2023. He’d played a doubles match and a singles match that had gone to three sets already, while Djokovic had only played the one match and only dropped the one game.
Ans so it began, and although the moves were familiar, it was soon obvious that Djokovic had the edge. He paid Nadal the compliment of being sharp and playing well in all aspects of the game. Nadal was a step too slow and could not win a game until the end of the first set. With the first set under his belt, Djokovic ploughed on and was leading 4-0 when Nadal started playing with a little more fizz and Djokovic played a relatively loose game. Nerves started coming into it, giving Nadal and the crowd (passionately on his side) hope. But Nadal too got tight, and when it reached 4-4, Djokovic steadied himself, broke and then served to win in two. It felt as though the match had come too soon for Nadal, who couldn’t regain the level to trouble Djokovic, although there were some glimpses.
I also learned that Murray and Evans had won their first round match against Nishikori and Daniel, even though the Japanese team had had five match points on them. (I’d heard on the Sunday that they were a set and break up and assumed they’d win.) I do not want to get on that roller-coaster until I have to, as was the case with Murray on the grass court.
In the evening session, we had Alcaraz vs Tallon Griekspoor, who is a top 30 player. As a Dutch player, his t-shirt was orange, clashing with the Spaniard’s red. In the first set, he wasn’t allowed a look in, with Alcaraz flowing, and not trying too much that was flashy, not needing to what with the variety on his forehand and the angles he was finding on his serve.
The second set was a different kettle of fish. Griekspoor, serving first, battled to keep his serve and then started to be able to do more and be more in the rallies, showing off his weight of shot and readiness to come in and ability there. Alcaraz did ask for the trainer and had to get some bandaging for his hip, but it didn’t seem to impair his movement. He faced a set point on his serve, but served his way out of it and won the game, and it went to a tiebreak, where minibreaks were exchanged, but the flowing play came back for the last four or so points and he got through to the third round.
I dipped in and out of the final match, because I was tired, although, as expected, it was very competitive between Jessica Pegula and Elina Svitolina. Pegula, the seed, took the first set, Svitolina fought back and took the second and then the third. IIRC she won a medal for Ukraine either in the last Olympics or the one before. Pegula’s version of the USA kit was more restful to the eye than Gauff’s, while Svitolina had a yellow skirt and blue top. She’ll next face Kreijikova.
I started watching the men’s team gymnastic final on Discovery+ because it was easier to find when catching up. I switched to the BBC’s coverage by the end, because the commentary was better, with two experts and even if he’s Tiggerish, Matt Baker has gymnastics experience, but it meant switching channels. It was worth it, though, although some of the selected turns shown on the international feed were weird.
Going into the final rotation, it looked as though China had the gold medal in their grasp, as their score was high enough for there to be a buffer. The USA, Japan and possibly Ukraine were still in with a chance of medals. And then the Chinese wobbled on the high bar, with one gymnast falling off twice, which gave Hashimoto a chance to make up for falling off one apparatus by doing a clean, high-scoring routine. The Japanese were extremely emotional, the Chinese disappointed with silver, having come in the highest qualifiers and looking for most of the final like they’d win. The Americans improved on qualifying by coming third. As I’ve watched quite a lot of gymnastics between this and the last Olympics and am familiar with a lot of the competitors, I was glad to catch up with it.
Day four: I chose to watch most of Jack Draper vs. Taylor Fritz’s match, although there was no commentary. What I made of it was that Draper was playing better throughout the first set, pressuring Fritz more on his serve while winning his own more easily, and so deserved the tiebreak. They seemed to be playing at the same level at the start of the second set, and Draper had six break points in one game, but could not convert, even though a few of them were on his racquet. Fritz, a top 15 player, did not give him more chances and started to break. Given that Draper seemed to want to clamber into the freezer at sitdowns, I think the heat was getting to him too.
With my unerring failure to spot drama, I chose not to watch the Gauff match (she lost) and instead chose Paolini and Schmeidlova, and it really was about who could hold serve. The Slovakian won the close first set, Paolini remembered she was the seed having the brilliant 2024 in the second and dominated until she faltered and got broken, but still won the second set. But in the third set, no one could hold a service game. Paolini looked the fresher player, her opponent seemed more badly affected by the heat and yet Schmeidlova kept her serve and broke Paolini to get through.
Sooner than I expected, it was time for doubles and Nadal and Alcaraz (now apparently nicknamed Nadalcaraz) were facing Wesley Koolhoff (a very good doubles player) and Tallon Griekspoor. Both in different shades of orange, while I think the Spaniards were in different shades of red, so they’re clearly wearing the kit they’d normally wear according to their country’s guidelines (Paolini’s dress was nice, and Swiatek’s is effective.)
Anyway, the Spanish team were a step up from the last time they’d played, and Alcaraz had just beaten Griekspoor. Although much was made of Alcaraz only having played (senior?) doubles seven times, Griekspoor was perhaps the weak link in the first set, not able to handle the pace at net. The Spaniards had the best of any baseline exchanges and were pressing on the returns, breaking eventually and taking the first set.
But the Dutch pair got it together more in the second set and kept their serve throughout, even though Alcaraz started really pushing at the end of the second set after some flashy volleys. But it was his serve that got under pressure, which he responded well to, taking it to a tiebreak, where Koolhof was inspired and the Dutch players rattled Alcaraz enough to win.
Which led to a champion’s tiebreak (first to 10) and Nadal absolutely stepped up as the more experienced campaigner. He got a mini break, he got an exceptional return winner, he imposed himself, and by the time Alcaraz was serving, they were already in the lead. The Dutch team were completely outclassed in the decider. It was a very enjoyable match.
I worked out how to catch up on the women’s team gymnastics finals on the BBC. The USA, led by Simone Biles, who has to be the star of the Olympics, had qualified first by a country mile. Italy were second and so would be going round with them, although it looked like it could be a scramble for the minor medals. Biles opted for her easier vault, which was still the most difficult vault in the meet, and she and her teammates did what they needed to. The classy Rebeca Andrade led the Brazilian team to a higher position, while the Chinese team had problems on the bars, their strongest apparatus, and the dreaded beam. (So it wasn’t just the Chinese men.) The Brits had had the vault as their second rotation, which meant they were in a flattering position, but Becky Downie pulled off her more difficult routine excellently on the uneven bars, while the Americans continued to excel and the Italians were tense.
They went into the final rotation with the Americans ahead with a buffer, and three or four countries battling for the minor medals. The Americans could celebrate on the floor. The Italians were more sober, tense, even, with their first gymnast missing out on the required forward somersault. The Brazilians were looking to vault their way into the medals, while the Brits had to stay on the beam (and hope someone else would fall.) It was down to the last routines for it to sort itself out, Biles finishing off for Team USA with a flourish and joy, Brazil getting their first team medal and Italy their first in nearly a century. The British gymnasts were only 0.2 away.
Day five: I caught bits of a lot of tennis matches. First, there was Tommy Paul against a Frenchman and thus the crowd. Then I saw that Djokovic had won his third round match to set up a quarter final against Tsitsipas. Then I watched a women’s quarter-final match: Schmeidlova was back on court against Kreijikova, and it was the Slovakian, not the Czech, who started better. Schmeidlova was serving well and hitting with power. There were breaks, but just as Kreijikova seemed to have played her way back into the set, Schmeidlova upped it a bit. Kreijikova started the second set more strongly, but Schmeidlova responded well and was soon breaking (with some costly double faults from the reigning Wimbledon champion.) Schmeidlova seems to be of the composed nature, but has made her way through to the semis after two good wins against in form players.
I started watching the third-round match between Felix A-A and Danil ‘Sweary’ Medvedev, where Medvedev looked like the higher ranked player, although it was going by serve, until it started to rain. I switched to the end of the Angelique Kerber v Qinwen Zheng match, which was all about the drama. Kerber’s moonballs helped her keep a lead in the third, but from behind, Zheng started playing more freely and broke back. Kerber was more physically spent and though the drama continued in the final-set tiebreak, Zheng got it done eventually.
I switched over again to the second set between Swiatek and Collins. Swiatek had dominated in the first, but Collins was hitting huge in the second and dominating in turn. Predictably, Swiatek went off at the end of the set and took ages and ages. It all got tetchy, with Swiatek being frustrated about line calls, Collins being frustrated that Swiatek wouldn’t play at her pace, although when a ball of hers hit Swiatek and the Pole seemed winded, it put everything into perspective. But Swiatek was okay and dominating in the third, when Collins called for the trainer, got taken off the court, and although she was still competing, Swiatek was in the lead. A few points after a conversation with the trainer at the change of ends, Collins conceded, meaning Swiatek will face Zheng in the semis.
And then the big match of the day for me – in the build-up I learned that Alcaraz had already played a singles match against Safiullin that day and beaten him handlily. ‘Nadalcaraz’ were facing two former world no. 1s in doubles, Rajeev Ram and Austin Kraijek, for the USA. They don’t normally play together, but had more matches as a team under their belt than the Spanish pairing, and from the off, they were on it. They broke in the first game, and were like a wall at net, giving the Spaniards little. Their first serve percentage was higher, they always seemed to know where to go and Kraijek was the best player on the court.
The Spaniards seemed constrained, and although they started the second set clearly wanting to up their game, they just couldn’t. The Americans’ first serve percentage was much higher, and you mostly couldn’t fault their placement. They broke Alcaraz to love, and although Kraijek showed nerves when serving for the match – and the atmosphere boiled over rather, with people cheering between serves and holding up points, hoping that Nadal or Alcaraz could pull off a miracle – an ace on the line ended it.
I wonder how much doubles will play a part in Alcaraz’s future. Speaking of doubles, Murray and Evans faced down more match points and were through to the third round.
Back to trying to follow the BBC’s coverage of the men’s individual all-round gymnastics final (an Olympics task in itself), with two Chinese gymnasts, two Japanese gymnasts and two British gymnasts in the top rotation – so the international feed kept showing us randos who often scored less. They started on the floor, where Jake Jarman excelled, but the highest scoring qualifier had a fall. In the second rotation, defending champion Hashimoto fell off the pommel, giving the second-place Japanese and Chinese gymnasts hope, and Jarman, having done a clean routine on the pommel, was in second place.
Felix Dolci of Canada had a horror show on the high bar, his hand guard snapping. He was allowed to try again because it was an apparatus failure, but fell. The Ukranians started pushing through, and Jake Jarman’s rings score pushed him down, but his vault score pushed him back up into the top 10, while Joe Fraser was working to the top of his abilities.
It came down to the final rotation, with most of the contenders in the top group, but Illya Koftan of Ukraine delivered a great performance on the floor. Hashimoto could not make up the ground he’d lost, only getting to the top 10, while Fraser was briefly in the top 3, but the Chinese gymnast who’d got silver last time, the young Japanese gymnast who hadn’t faltered and the Chinese top qualifier all did good routines, meaning that it came down to tenths of points, meaning that the drama continued until the very end. It was Japan who won (the fourth Olympics running with three different gymnasts.) China pushed Koftan out (fourth is always hardest.) But Fraser improved on his position in the last Olympics, and, like Jarman, did not look too out of place in the top group.