French Open

[stotty]

Two five setters had pretty much blown his chances anyway in my view with still so much to do to win the tournament. I wonder what his prognosis is? It's usually a couple a month for that kind of thing. Is it similar to the type of injury that ended up finishing Roger?

[jimlosaltos]

Djokovic withdraws from the French Open!... https://tennistemple.com/r/news_dyOP

Well I am certainly surprised. What a break for my pick to win the tournament, Ruud.

Novak Djokovic has been forced to withdraw from Roland-Garros after MRI scans revealed "a torn medial meniscus in his right knee."

That means Jannik Sinner is guaranteed to become the world number one on Monday. Sinner's uber-coach Darren Cahill has now taken four players to world No 1. Hewitt, Agassi, Halep and now Sinner.

[stroke]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/K75AZpYF7ZmTsmvG9

Updated odds to win the tournament.

[stroke]

Djokovic withdraws from the French Open!... https://tennistemple.com/r/news_dyOP

Well I am certainly surprised. What a break for my pick to win the tournament, Ruud.

[stroke]

Djokovic in doubt: "Not sure I'll be able to play my quarter-final".... https://tennistemple.com/r/news_QhD9

Oh the drama......

[stroke]

Sinner vs Grigor and Alcaraz vs Tsitsipas today. Sinner and Alcaraz are both big favorites, both with an implied winning probability of just over 80%.

[stroke]

Good point.

Since I doubt that would happen, perhaps simply a limit of 1 time out per player, per match, for any use?

Perhaps not

[stotty]

What does this mean for Djokovic's chances for the title? Per Jeff Sackmann of Tennis Abstract, In the last 30+ years (and probably ever, though we don't have the data), no man has won a major title after spending more than 12:16 on their first four matches. Djokovic is up to 13:48. Most time spent on court before the QFs, slam winners since 1991:

filedata/fetch?id=104540&d=1717451102&type=thumb

Tend to agree with Jeff. Even Novak will struggle from here. The only chance is if his next opponent defaults early in the quarter final...thus handing him a significant timeframe to recoup.

[jimlosaltos]

What does this mean for Djokovic's chances for the title? Per Jeff Sackmann of Tennis Abstract, In the last 30+ years (and probably ever, though we don't have the data), no man has won a major title after spending more than 12:16 on their first four matches. Djokovic is up to 13:48. Most time spent on court before the QFs, slam winners since 1991:

filedata/fetch?id=104540&d=1717451102&type=thumb

[jimlosaltos]

Ah, you prompted me to check. Yes, Zverev appears to have righted the ship, 6-1 in the second.

His average first serve is way down - to a "mere" 129 MPH. Must be the night air.

If I'm reading this right, then their match is the last to settle the quarterfinalists.

Men's Quarters Still Forming
Djokovic vs Ruud
De Minaur vs Rune or Zverev
Tsitsipas vs Alcaraz
Dimitrov vs Sinner


Women's Quarters Set
Swiatek vs Vondrousova
Gauff vs Jabeur
Paolni vs Rybakina
Andreeva vs Sabalenka

[jimlosaltos]

I hadn't heard about the MTO's. That's what I liked most about Roger. He never reached for those.

Still think it will be tough for Novak. Everyone left in the draw moves so well and can't be punched through. The only cheap points on offer are well executed drop shots.

Meanwhile Zverev and Rune are having a good old ding dong...Zverez 3-0 up in the second as I write.

To be clear, I did not see Novak take an MTO in this match, as i intermittently ducked in and out. Instead, the trainer was on a revolving dolly to his bench. Very disruptive for Cerundolo, I'm sure, but not remotely in the category of the examples I posted.

[jimlosaltos]

All of what you say is true. To me, at this point, the only fix is totally discontinuing the medical/injury time outs. The situation is too far gone, in my opinion. Sometimes, things just can no longer be fixed.

Good point.

Since I doubt that would happen, perhaps simply a limit of 1 time out per player, per match, for any use?

[stotty]

I hadn't heard about the MTO's. That's what I liked most about Roger. He never reached for those.

Still think it will be tough for Novak. Everyone left in the draw moves so well and can't be punched through. The only cheap points on offer are well executed drop shots.

Meanwhile Zverev and Rune are having a good old ding dong...Zverez 3-0 up in the second as I write.

[stroke]

Being in the minority is not, by itself, a sign of poor judgement.

How much of it is that the rules need to be changed and how much of the problem is lack of enforcement of the existing rules?

When did the 3 minute medical time out become "unlimited time for diagnosis"?

When did cramps, which aren't supposed to be treated, start getting 10 minute rub downs?

I'm still smarting from the Wimbledon match where Rafa's stubbed toe, on grass, required a 17 minute time out while del Potro, waiting to serve in their tiebreak, stood at the net post staring at the chair umpire the entire time.

Then, there was the match where Kim Clijsters was about to serve for the match in a final at Stanford. Serena took a time out for some foot injury. The medic decided to look at her other foot, thereby making it two, consecutive injury time outs, taking 13 minutes.

Finally, there were two matches circa 2008 where Fed was serving for the set vs Rafa (Madrid and Hamburg) and Rafa, looking perfectly healthy, need a thigh rug down for 10 minutes. I want to find this masseuse since he can apparently heal injuries.

All worked. Froze the server, turned each match around.

Rant over. Sorry

All of what you say is true. To me, at this point, the only fix is totally discontinuing the medical/injury time outs. The situation is too far gone, in my opinion. Sometimes, things just can no longer be fixed.

[jimlosaltos]

I personally once again, lone wolf/minority opinion, think medical/injury timeouts should be discontinued. I also acknowledge that my take on most things is minority opinion.

Being in the minority is not, by itself, a sign of poor judgement

How much of it is that the rules need to be changed and how much of the problem is lack of enforcement of the existing rules?

When did the 3 minute medical time out become "unlimited time for diagnosis"?

When did cramps, which aren't supposed to be treated, start getting 10 minute rub downs?

I'm still smarting from the Wimbledon match where Rafa's stubbed toe, on grass, required a, what was it, 14 minute time out while del Potro, waiting to serve in their tiebreak, stood at the net post staring at the chair umpire the entire time.

Then, there was the match where Kim Clijsters was about to serve for the match in a final at Stanford. Serena took a time out for some foot injury. The medic decided to look at her other foot, thereby making it two, consecutive injury time outs, taking 13 minutes.

Finally, there were two matches circa 2008 where Fed was serving for the set in a final vs Rafa (Madrid and Hamburg) and Rafa, looking perfectly healthy up until that moment, needed a thigh rug down for 10 minutes. I want to find this masseuse since he can apparently heal injuries.

All worked. Froze the server, turned each match around.

Rant over. Sorry