OT: French Open

[wire chief]

We have a beginning via the thread on Serena. Here's some non-Serena previews.

Roger at 36 or 37 is skipping the whole clay court season, his least favorite surface. No mystery there as he tunes for the W. A French hope, Jo Willy Tsonga is out with injury. Add Milos Raonic, Juan Del Potro, Andy Murray to the disabled list.

Now odds makers say you must wager 250 bucks on Rafa if you want to win 100. Other favorites, like Zverev and Thiem and Novak are listed at 7-1 or 8-1.

On the women's side there is one significant non-participant, Agnes Radwanska.
There have been 6 different winners this decade, so without Serena, the field is wide open.
In seeding order, there's Halep, The Woz, Muguruza, Svitolina, Ostapenko, Pliskova, Garcia, Kvitová,
Venus and Sloane as the top 10.
All of the 1st 7, except Ostapenko, are in contention for the #1 ranking.

More to come.

 

[wire chief]

Two time winners at Roland Garros, but not for a while. Who? The Sisters are enrolled in doubles, much to meyers delight.

 

[wire chief]

Here's our TV schedule. Ignore the reference to Roger in the preamble. He's not playing.

French Open 2018 schedule: Dates for each round, TV channels, stream, times

 

[wire chief]

The 1st day natch-ups, apparently times are not set, cause everybody is listed at 5 am.

french open draw 2018 - Google Search

 

[wire chief]

The odds on America's female heavyweights:
Serena...10-1
Venus ...40-1
Sloane...40-1
Madison...50-1
Coco...80-1

Halep & Svitolina, on top, are both about 6-1.

 

[wire chief]

correction...
I had Juan del Potro out because of a groin tear. Apparently he's sticking it out.

And my paper says NBC takes over from Tennis Channel at noon tomorrow.

 

[wire chief]

Sloane is now early in her match on Tennis Channel

 

[wire chief]

Serena in straight sets, but they were close. Sharapova has a 28 seeding and needed 3 sets vs. an unranked.

 

[Waquoit]

Jack Sock is an embarrassment.

 

[wire chief]

I just got home and learned that the Sisters won their 1st doubles match. All I can do is hope the Tennis Channel gives us a replay.

 

[wire chief]

Serena is ending the day. She's dropped the first set but leading in set 2.

 

[wire chief]

Serena is ending the day. She's dropped the first set but leading in set 2.

Pulled it out with good serving and firmer stroking in the latter sets. So, still alive for Round 3 and Round 2 in doubles.

 

[wire chief]

The Sisters are on to Round 3, this time without blowing the 1st set.

Also it was a bad day to be a #4 seed. Some thought Svitolina was a good choice to be on top. Nah.
Nobody thought Dimitrov would unseat Rafa, but now he doesn't get the chance.

 

[wire chief]

Sloane had a tough one vs. the Italiana Camilia Giorgi, needing to win 8 games at the end.
#8 Kvitová gone is 2 tiebreakers.

Serena is scheduled vs. #11 Gorges about 11 EDT.

 

[eebmg]

Sloane had a tough one vs. the Italiana Camilia Giorgi, needing to win 8 games at the end.
#8 Kvitová gone is 2 tiebreakers.

Serena is scheduled vs. #11 Gorges about 11 EDT.

Saw the Sloane match. She has every stroke but she plays so defensively at times it drives me insane. I know it is her style to use her defense and wait for her opponent to miss hit but if she wants to be a real major threat, she needs to get more offensive.

Thanks for the heads up for Serena. If she wins, she is up against Sharapova who dominated Pliskova 6-2, 6-1 which would be a great match.

 

[iri10]

Saw the Sloane match. She has every stroke but she plays so defensively at times it drives me insane. I know it is her style to use her defense and wait for her opponent to miss hit but if she wants to be a real major threat, she needs to get more offensive.

Every once in a while she'll open up with some power, but you can tell the mentality doesn't really come naturally to her. Which is funny because she actually has a lot of power when she wants to use it, especially on the forehand.

The inability to confidently take to the offensive is why she has the most trouble with defensive players like Wozniacki, Radwanska, Halep, etc. You can't out defend those players, but Sloane tries and almost inevitably fails.

 

[JordyG]

Saw the Sloane match. She has every stroke but she plays so defensively at times it drives me insane. I know it is her style to use her defense and wait for her opponent to miss hit but if she wants to be a real major threat, she needs to get more offensive.

Thanks for the heads up for Serena. If she wins, she is up against Sharapova who dominated Pliskova 6-2, 6-1 which would be a great match.

Against Williams, Sharapova's lost before she throws a practice toss.

 

[wire chief]

Against Williams, Sharapova's lost before she throws a practice toss.

This time around Serena has installed Maria as the favorite, noting that the Russian is further along in her comeback.
Madison Keys starts the 5am schedule; the Sisters taking the court about 8:30.

 

[wire chief]

The 1st 2 men to earn the quarters are Alexander Zverev and Doninic Thiem. The latter prevailing over veteran Kei Nishikori in 4.
Hard to know what to make of Zverev, needing 5 sets 3 matches in a row. Is he showing high conditioning level and stamina that will serve him well? Or will he be in trouble as opponents presumably get tougher?

The Sisters are now moved from 8:30 to 9:30..

Madison raced through set one, but got in trouble in set 2. Pulled out a 6-4 win, though.

NBC takes over coverage at noon.

 

[JordyG]

This time around Serena has installed Maria as the favorite, noting that the Russian is further along in her comeback.
Madison Keys starts the 5am schedule; the Sisters taking the court about 8:30.

But it hardly matters since Serena has been in Sharapova's head for years. Maria has been Serena's scratching post for so long. Nevertheless,

Serena Williams blasts Maria Sharapova over book ‘hearsay’ as showdown looms

 

[wire chief]

Simona Halep had little trouble with Elise Mertens, yielding a mere 3 games.

Ah, but the suspense was far greater when the Woz and Daria Kasatkina found darkness descending yesterday. Daria needed a tiebreaker to squeeze through set 1 vs. the #2 seed. The slugging continued this am, 30 stroke points became commonplace.
Daria began serve and took her 2 service games and the lone one of Woz's for a 6-3 victory to put her in the quarters for her 1st time in a major.

Serena & Maria were to have begun as I write, but Little Sis has announced a withdrawl due to a pectoral injury.

Rafa is through in straight sets, although he was pushed into a tiebreaker in set 3. Big deal.

 

[Waquoit]

I'm rooting hard for Halep. I love to see her get off the schneid.

 

[Checkmate]

Serena is out, withdraws in singles due to injury in doubles.

Serena Williams Pulls Out of French Open Due to Injury: 'I'm Beyond Disappointed'

 

[wire chief]

Tuesday morning Madison goes up against unseeded Yulia Putintseva, the best player in all of Kazakhstan.
Sloane gets the conqueror of the Woz, Daria Kasatkina Expect tons of loooong rallies.

Muguruza won 2 games and then her opponent retired.

 

[triaddukefan]

Congratulations to Maria Sharapova for her one match winning streak vs Serena.

First victory since 2004 correct?