French Open

[stroke]

Alcaraz wins 1st set pretty comfortably. Oddsmakers had him as the favorite of course at an implied winning percentage of 73+%. Certainly 1st set did nothing to make anyone that placed a bet on Zverev feel good about their wager.

[stroke]

Shame for Ruud. His service speed seemed to plummet and he was certainly impaired. So Zverez gets an easy passage. He'll have a tough job on his hands in the final, however.

Carlos looked pretty good today. He hits heights at times like no one else ever has...even greater than Roger.

I still would take a 20's Nadal over him every time at RG.

[stotty]

Shame for Ruud. His service speed seemed to plummet and he was certainly impaired. So Zverez gets an easy passage. He'll have a tough job on his hands in the final, however.

Carlos looked pretty good today. He hits heights at times like no one else ever has...even greater than Roger.

[stroke]

Ruud is suffering from some kind of stomach issue it seems. He is certainly not one for any drama or gamesmanship.

[jimlosaltos]

Carlitos is First Since Pete

Here's a fantastic stat via Jeff Sackman of Tennis Abstract: Carlos Alcaraz is now 10-1 in five-set matches at majors. That makes him only the fifth player in the Open era to win 10 of his first 11 slam five-setters, and the first since Pete Sampras did it 30 years ago.

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[jimlosaltos]

Sorry, stroke, pre-apologizing because I know this one will annoy you

Youngest players to reach Grand Slam finals on ALL THREE surfaces:

Martina Hingis - 16 years old
Carlos Alcaraz - 21 years 1 month
Andre Agassi - 22 years 1 month
Bjorn Borg - 22 years 2 months
Rafael Nadal - 22 years 6 months
Jim Courier - 22 years 10 months

[jimlosaltos]

Alcaraz is just physically stronger than Sinner. Over 5 sets on clay, I would say that is the difference between them.

Seemed like it today but remember that Sinner hasn't practiced much coming in because of his hip injury.
Wasn't even certain he'd play.

[stroke]

Alcaraz is just physically stronger than Sinner. Over 5 sets on clay, I would say that is the difference between them.

[stroke]

Good question. Not many could. Sabalenka, I'd guess could on a good day (which she had none of this fortnight, getting ill. }

The two max speeds here are outliers on the WTA. To get an ace with that velocity on the ATP, a player would also need good location or spin or both.

She would lose 0 and 0 to any ATP player.

[jimlosaltos]

I just wonder if these women would ace any of the men on the ATP? The serve speeds say yes but I am not so sure.

Good question. Not many could. Sabalenka, I'd guess could on a good day (which she had none of this fortnight, getting ill. }

The two max speeds here are outliers on the WTA. To get an ace with that velocity on the ATP, a player would also need good location or spin or both.

[stotty]

Iga vs Coco was as lopsided as their record.

Coco tried to be aggressive, but every error got punished.

Here's a factoid that likely wasn't anticipated. It was a final between the two biggest serves on tour.
Coco had a max serve speed of 125 MPH, which is not surprising because Coco reached that region at, what was it, 14 years old? vs --- and this is the surprise -- Iga reaching 123 MPH. That's faster than anything I could find from Rybakina and Sabalenka, the two purported biggest servers of the high ranked players on the WTA. {exluding likes of Hadid-Maria etc}.

Iga's only major, relative "weakness" has been her serve. If she serves like this what hopes remain for the rest of the tour?

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I just wonder if these women would ace any of the men on the ATP? The serve speeds say yes but I am not so sure.

[stotty]

TheAthletic reports that Djokovic has already had meniscus surgery and will miss Wimbledon.

While rankings are far less important to Djokovic at this point than major titles, seeding at events is important in draws -- such as defending his title at the US Open.
Djokovic will lose 2,000 points from Wimbledon and, in the "Live Ranking" has already lost some points from Roland Garros.
Djokovic is at 10th in the "Live Ranking" and will fall further when other gain points in England. It is highly unlikely that Djokovic will be able to qualify for the year-end Tour Final in Turin.

I haven't seen anything about Djokovic's likelihood of playing next year, but if he does he could face the issues Rafa did in playing Zverev in the first round in Paris.

It's not good for Novak. He is still playing well, though, and in better nick than Rafa and Roger were...so it might not be the end yet.

[jimlosaltos]

TheAthletic reports that Djokovic has already had meniscus surgery and will miss Wimbledon.

While rankings are far less important to Djokovic at this point than major titles, seeding at events is important in draws -- such as defending his title at the US Open.
Djokovic will lose 2,000 points from Wimbledon and, in the "Live Ranking" has already lost some points from Roland Garros.
Djokovic is at 10th in the "Live Ranking" and will fall further when other gain points in England. It is highly unlikely that Djokovic will be able to qualify for the year-end Tour Final in Turin.

I haven't seen anything about Djokovic's likelihood of playing next year, but if he does he could face the issues Rafa did in playing Zverev in the first round in Paris.

[jimlosaltos]

Iga vs Coco was as lopsided as their record.

Coco tried to be aggressive, but every error got punished.

Here's a factoid that likely wasn't anticipated. It was a final between the two biggest serves on tour.
Coco had a max serve speed of 125 MPH, which is not surprising because Coco reached that region at, what was it, 14 years old? vs --- and this is the surprise -- Iga reaching 123 MPH. That's faster than anything I could find from Rybakina and Sabalenka, the two purported biggest servers of the high ranked players on the WTA. {exluding likes of Hadid-Maria etc}.

Iga's only major, relative "weakness" has been her serve. If she serves like this what hopes remain for the rest of the tour?

filedata/fetch?id=104594&d=1717692234&type=thumb

[stotty]

I too was a bit disappointed that demon could not stress Zverev a little. That being said, oddsmakers have Zverev and Ruud at pretty much pick 'em. I like Ruud.

Zverez has been playing well of late. He's winning close matches and learned the art of making himself tough to beat. After a dire start in the tiebreak against de Minaur, he locked down and played really solid. I'd just like him to be more aggressive at times because that's when he's at his best.