French Open

[jimlosaltos]

Yes I heard McEnroe say that during his commentary. Chatter aside, I have questioned the partnership for quite a while because there has been little development in Carlos's game for a long while now. You get the impression Carlitos is an extremely nice bloke who just loves playing tennis. He's great at pulling the trigger on a tennis court but I suspect he'll find it very uncomfortably difficult to pull the trigger on his coach.

A data point of one, but when Ferrero had to stay home after, I think it was knee surgery, at the Australian Open, Carlos looked lost. Really uncertain what to do.

I haven't seen much of what Ferrero was doing during Carlos' matches this week, but previously it has been less chatter and more "calling every play" as if Ferrero was an NFL coach on the mike in his QB's headset. It's move back on the return. Serve wide. On and on. I think it was Drysdale that said that literally, "Is tennis going to be like the NFL with the coach calling every play?"

[jimlosaltos]

Great point between Ruud and Etch. Short vid on The Web Site Formerly Known as Twitter (TWSFKW)

https://x.com/rolandgarros/status/1797022167235719310

[jimlosaltos]

I just got off the courts. Not those clay ones, my own. Matches are still going in Paris on Sunday morning.

Why do they even stop play? Just bring in the next wave and keep going 24 hours until they're caught up

Somewhere Craig O'Shannessy is shaking his head. Musetti has won more points than Djokovic on 0-4 rallies but Djoko is winning longer ones - and the match.

[jimlosaltos]

Just saw this result Navarro tops Keys in a pair of tiebreaks! Great win for player on the up curve.

Earlier, when i was watching, Carillo said that Keys still averaged 77 MPH on her forehand last year, which would tie with the likes of Zverev on the ATP. Such an athlete.

Meera Andreeva, the 17 yo no flag, is into the fourth round. Has another unseeded opponent so great chance for the quarters

[stotty]

Musetti levels to make it one set each. Strange second set. Going to be a long night...though not for Stotty as he's off to bed.

[stroke]

Musetti thank goodness wins the second set tiebreaker. It is very interesting now at one set each. Musetti no doubt has a beautiful game, great technique on everything, and he is totally engaged. Novak is bringing the drama now. Big surprise. Musetti to me very reminiscent of Gasquet, his backhand not as good, his forehand better, about the same size and movement, and he tends to drift too far back, not holding the baseline.

[stroke]

Match of the day tomorrow, Tsitsipas vs Armaldi. I have had my eye on Armaldi for a bit. He is a real threat.

[stroke]

Musetti levels to make it one set each. Strange second set. Going to be a long night...though not for Stotty as he's off to bed.

It is only 7:30 Atlanta time. Good to go here ha.

[stroke]

Drama Novak seemed to pull the rip cord on the 3rd set. Lorenzo up 2 sets to 1.

[stroke]

Tsitsipas in trouble out there vs dark house Armaldi. Down a set and 2-4 in 2nd. Tennis Channel showed a "forced errors" stat, Tsitsipas at 17, Armaldi at 5.

[stroke]

Stef weathered the storm fighting through 4 set points that would have put him down 2 sets. He has taken over now. The disappointment of proceedings was a bit too much for young Armaldi it seems.

[stotty]

Alcaraz goes 2 sets up. FAA is looking rather impaired.

As McEnroe said, the tournament is wide open to be won. Hasn't been this open for 15 years, he said.

[stroke]

Alcaraz goes 2 sets up. FAA is looking rather impaired.

As McEnroe said, the tournament is wide open to be won. Hasn't been this open for 15 years, he said.

Thanks for that great insight Mac. Nadal has been the favorite since 2005, until this year. It certainly was not open.

[jimlosaltos]

From stat guru Jeff Sackman at Tennis Abstract, Iga's double bagel was extraordinary, even for her; "Iga Swiatek lost ten points today. Total. That matches the most dominant tour-level performance--any tournament, any round--since 2010. (WTA match stats are spotty before then.) ... The most famous French Open beatdown is the 1988 final, when Steffi Graf double-bageled Natalia Zvereva in just 34 minutes (counting a rain delay!). Even Zvereva won 13 points."

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[jimlosaltos]

What a comeback by Stef Tsitsipas against a hot Mateo Arnold. Next up -- only Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.

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