French Open

[stroke]

I go away for a lunch meeting, and Djokovic pulls off the comeback.

Astonishing! Simply astonishing.

I missed the ending, but stats confirm what I felt in the fourth, Djokovic amped up his service. At the end of a 5 set match, he was serving his average about 4 mph faster, and his max went up to 130 MPH.

So, in 3 days Djokovic comes from behind 1-2 twice to win two five set matches totaling ~9 hours and 6 minutes. I believe the likelihood of winning a 5 setter from 1-2 are about 15% overall. Crude guess. And about 90 % of players that win a 5 set match, lose the next match, assuming it's not for the title.

Kudos.

If one is a Djokovic fan, another amazing display of determination.

If one is less of a fan, yet agin - when his opponent was on a roll -- Djokovic looked as if he was on his last leg (literally this time) taking break after break -- then miraculously recovers! His magical Tao patch unleashes waves of red light to regenerate him.

Cerdundolo started out the aggressor with far more winners, but in the end Djoko won more of both the short points and the longest ones.

Djoko won 6/11 break points, Cerdundolo left a bunch on the table in the first four sets - 4/19.

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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.

[stotty]

I missed the match but heard it was a good one. The odds on Novak winning RG are looking slim after two five setters. All the matches look brutal going forwards and Novak has probably physically expended too much to now go all the way.

[stroke]

I missed the match but heard it was a good one. The odds on Novak winning RG are looking slim after two five setters. All the matches look brutal going forwards and Novak has probably physically expended too much to now go all the way.

I see a lot of medical/injury time outs on tap for him until the bitter end.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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?

[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]

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]

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:

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[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.

[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

[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]

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

Oh the drama......

[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.