TENNIS: French Open - 4rth round to QFs
Jun. 6th, 2012 08:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllI should try to be more diligent about posting the day after, as, like footprints obliterate the marks left by the balls on the clay, the memory of one day's tennis covers the previous day's.
The Women
Sam Smith is wise in predicting that it's anyone's championship still. You look at the draw, you favour the seeds who have more experience and weight of shot or game...and on Monday, Sharapova faced a determined competitor and unfriendly conditions and couldn't put it away. Predicting the length of a women's match is as dangerous as predicting the winner (did anyone outside of Italy plump for Errani?)
It was nice to actually see Sam Stosur play - I've heard she'd been doing well this tournament, but only glimpsed her results in passing. She was mostly playing well within herself, and although the commentators pointed to a predictable serve, her strength and solidity beat dimunutive Dominika. How quickly people forget, though, all the chatter was about how extraordinary her short opponent was in this era of giantesses - Henin, anyone? It's not that long ago. Moreover, in all the build up and during the match, no-one mentioned the fact that Stosur won the US Open last year, to the point where I thought I imagined the whole thing and had to double check. With all the fuss over Azarenka and Li Na being out, while Kvitova is 'the Wimbledon champion', no mention of that? It seemed like a huge gap, especially when they mentioned that Stosur was a French Open finalist. With Sam through and two Grand Slam champions playing today, yes, the women's side is full of upsets (but the top eight getting through would have been unexpected, surely?) but that's still a quality line-up. Potentially.
The Men
Murray vs. Gasquet was, as I'd hoped, attractive to watch in terms of shots. Gasquet came on and his play flowed. Murray in the first set was weird, he wasn't absent exactly and he didn't look as lost as Djokovic had done against Seppi, but he wasn't getting anywhere much. I think the post-match interview was telling. He wasn't worried worried about losing the first set given his past encounters with Gasquet. And then in the second set, he got a little angry, Gasquet and the crowd got upset over something Murray apparently does even when he hasn't back injuries and Murray relished the fight. It was as if he was thinking 'if I exert some pressure here...', but did he really expect Gasquet to go 'Pop' mentally so thoroughly? Suddenly, Murray was the one who pulled off amazing shots, showing off his athleticism and mastery of the court. Ouf. Classic example of the mental toughness a top 4 player has and a player with some top 4 qualities doesn't.
Meanwhile, Nadal crushed his opponent, and the score line spoke for itself.
Were I in charge of scheduling, I'd have aired Federer vs. Del Potro over the other match. Jim Courier said he thought Federer had Del Potro's number, which made me raise an eyebrow. I also have to own that I find Federer's brand of tennis more interesting than Djokovic's, whose movement and placement I admire tremendously, but Federer is more likely to make me gasp. And I know that at his best, Del Potro troubles the best (although he still hasn't made the breakthrough of beating them.)
And with Djokovic controlling the first set and up a break in the second, while Del Potro had won the first set from Federer, I was feeling pretty self-satisfied. And then it came together for Tsonga, who was playing as brilliantly as he can play, getting the lines and winning at the end of set after set (I may have rested my eyes at this point, which tells you how much I cared)...But Djokovic wasn't playing badly and was pretty close to it, so I was expecting a fourth set 'jeu decisif'.
Was I expecting Djokovic to face four match points so nervlessly? Indeed not. It was brilliant, and he won the match there, you felt. Tsonga didn't lose. In fact, he came so so close. And surpassed my expectations, although its French ones and his own that he'll have to deal with.
So, Djokovic and Federer are through, but not easily. They'll need that extra day's rest. I know all the attention is going to be on Murray, and if he wins, it'll be a tough match - Ferrer might win more easily, but there's one word I'd associate with their most likely semi-final opponent, Nadal: ominous.
The Women
Sam Smith is wise in predicting that it's anyone's championship still. You look at the draw, you favour the seeds who have more experience and weight of shot or game...and on Monday, Sharapova faced a determined competitor and unfriendly conditions and couldn't put it away. Predicting the length of a women's match is as dangerous as predicting the winner (did anyone outside of Italy plump for Errani?)
It was nice to actually see Sam Stosur play - I've heard she'd been doing well this tournament, but only glimpsed her results in passing. She was mostly playing well within herself, and although the commentators pointed to a predictable serve, her strength and solidity beat dimunutive Dominika. How quickly people forget, though, all the chatter was about how extraordinary her short opponent was in this era of giantesses - Henin, anyone? It's not that long ago. Moreover, in all the build up and during the match, no-one mentioned the fact that Stosur won the US Open last year, to the point where I thought I imagined the whole thing and had to double check. With all the fuss over Azarenka and Li Na being out, while Kvitova is 'the Wimbledon champion', no mention of that? It seemed like a huge gap, especially when they mentioned that Stosur was a French Open finalist. With Sam through and two Grand Slam champions playing today, yes, the women's side is full of upsets (but the top eight getting through would have been unexpected, surely?) but that's still a quality line-up. Potentially.
The Men
Murray vs. Gasquet was, as I'd hoped, attractive to watch in terms of shots. Gasquet came on and his play flowed. Murray in the first set was weird, he wasn't absent exactly and he didn't look as lost as Djokovic had done against Seppi, but he wasn't getting anywhere much. I think the post-match interview was telling. He wasn't worried worried about losing the first set given his past encounters with Gasquet. And then in the second set, he got a little angry, Gasquet and the crowd got upset over something Murray apparently does even when he hasn't back injuries and Murray relished the fight. It was as if he was thinking 'if I exert some pressure here...', but did he really expect Gasquet to go 'Pop' mentally so thoroughly? Suddenly, Murray was the one who pulled off amazing shots, showing off his athleticism and mastery of the court. Ouf. Classic example of the mental toughness a top 4 player has and a player with some top 4 qualities doesn't.
Meanwhile, Nadal crushed his opponent, and the score line spoke for itself.
Were I in charge of scheduling, I'd have aired Federer vs. Del Potro over the other match. Jim Courier said he thought Federer had Del Potro's number, which made me raise an eyebrow. I also have to own that I find Federer's brand of tennis more interesting than Djokovic's, whose movement and placement I admire tremendously, but Federer is more likely to make me gasp. And I know that at his best, Del Potro troubles the best (although he still hasn't made the breakthrough of beating them.)
And with Djokovic controlling the first set and up a break in the second, while Del Potro had won the first set from Federer, I was feeling pretty self-satisfied. And then it came together for Tsonga, who was playing as brilliantly as he can play, getting the lines and winning at the end of set after set (I may have rested my eyes at this point, which tells you how much I cared)...But Djokovic wasn't playing badly and was pretty close to it, so I was expecting a fourth set 'jeu decisif'.
Was I expecting Djokovic to face four match points so nervlessly? Indeed not. It was brilliant, and he won the match there, you felt. Tsonga didn't lose. In fact, he came so so close. And surpassed my expectations, although its French ones and his own that he'll have to deal with.
So, Djokovic and Federer are through, but not easily. They'll need that extra day's rest. I know all the attention is going to be on Murray, and if he wins, it'll be a tough match - Ferrer might win more easily, but there's one word I'd associate with their most likely semi-final opponent, Nadal: ominous.
