Roland Garros aka The French Open

[jimlosaltos]

Long to do in Busta vs Khachanov. Both players upset with the "quality of the balls". Pablo hits one into the stands to get a new one (and a penalty).
Jim Courier "Many players are complaining about the quality of the balls. Khachanov has lowered the tension on his strings substantially to get the same power he used get."

[don_budge]

Fonseca is not sneaking up on anyone. I would not even call him a dark horse contender, just a serious contender. The oddsmakers certainly are giving him a lot of respect also. Other than Sinner, Alcaraz, Djokovic, I am not certain there is any other player the other players would rather not see in their queue. Fonseca seems to enjoy the battle, and all the Brazilian crowd support he gets just adds to the situation.

He's a dark horse...at best. He doesn't have the resume...yet. The question is...is this where he begins to write one? His next round appears to be a little soft. But then it's Draper...possibly. If he gets by Draper, he starts to be taken more seriously. He looked great against a possibly injured Hurkacz. Wait and see...my "new" mantra. It goes for everything at this point.

[jimlosaltos]

Between Rafa's tears at his farewell, to Naomi's tears in loss, to Caroline Garcia's retirement tears, the clay is turning to mud.

La Monf continues to entertain. At 38 yo, crashed into the center court boards, the crowd goes silent -- so he comes back 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-1

Ruud lost disappointingly, but that's trivial compared to news he was playing with a knee injury. Hope that's not severe.

We should change Medvedev's nickname from "The Octopus" to "The heartbreak Kid". Come back from two sets down to serve for the match in the fifth -- and loses to someone that had never beaten him in Cam Norrie

From memory, Medy has lost two major finals from up two sets. Rafa and Sinner ( or was Sinner a semi?).

[stroke]

https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/article/rg2025-the-joao-fonseca-experience-debuts-in-paris

[stroke]

Yeah...no kidding that was something. I saw a handful of points. Maybe a couple of games. Some very impressive shots. Hurcacz was hurtin' for certain. He was at a loss to come up with something to slow it down. To slow down the pummeling. He wasn't able and it speaks to his opponent. I wonder if he is gearing up for a run. At eighteen he is feeling his oats and it just might be about time.

Fonseca is not sneaking up on anyone. I would not even call him a dark horse contender, just a serious contender. The oddsmakers certainly are giving him a lot of respect also. Other than Sinner, Alcaraz, Djokovic, I am not certain there is any other player the other players would rather not see in their queue. Fonseca seems to enjoy the battle, and all the Brazilian crowd support he gets just adds to the situation.

[don_budge]

Yeah...no kidding that was something. I saw a handful of points. Maybe a couple of games. Some very impressive shots. Hurcatz was hurtin' for certain. He was at a loss to come up with something to slow it down. To slow down the pummeling. He wasn't able and it speaks to his opponent. I wonder if he is gearing up for a run. At eighteen he is feeling his oats and it just might be about time.

Hurkacz may have been hindered as he was wearing a rather noticeable brace on his knee.

[don_budge]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5a1rfExAdSw7AG6o9

Fonseca pummeled Hurcatz. That was something.

Yeah...no kidding that was something. I saw a handful of points. Maybe a couple of games. Some very impressive shots. Hurcacz was hurtin' for certain. He was at a loss to come up with something to slow it down. To slow down the pummeling. He wasn't able and it speaks to his opponent. I wonder if he is gearing up for a run. At eighteen he is feeling his oats and it just might be about time.

[don_budge]

Match of the Day...1st Round Roland Garros

Nikiloz (Bash) Basilashvili vs. Henrique Rocha...the tale of two qualifiers. Rocha 1-0 head to head. Winner in the finals of the Costa C?lida Region de Murcia Challenger finals last year. Some serious fire power on the court.

Basilashvili was bashed in five.

[stroke]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5a1rfExAdSw7AG6o9

Fonseca pummeled Hurcatz. That was something.

[jimlosaltos]

That is where winners vs errors, and winning vs losing, comes into play(I am thinking Shot Quality is the tell here). I do not watch much women's tennis, but of what I have seen, I have never seen Shot Quality numbers revealed.

The WTA has few stats beyond matches/ serves won. Sadly.

One can get more stats on the women's play from the majors, than from the WTA itself. The ATP is investing $1 Billion in its data program. I don't know over what period, and that is mainly driven by seeking gambling revenues, as I understand it. No such effort on WTA side.

Let's see if I can paste these on serving I'll grab from the RG site. Signifiant disclaimers: From one match each only, and Saby's fastest recorded serve was 133 MPH at the 2018 WTA Elite Trophy round robin, so we can call her the fastest WTA server, even if she's not done it here yet. Note how 18 yo Andreeva, whose serve doesn't get that much attention, is among the top.

So, WTA peak is roughly the ATP average, although lots of ATP players have never reached Aryna's 133 MPH in 2018.


Max Ave 2nd
Andreeva 120 MPH 112 MPH 88 MPH
Badosa 119 MPH 107 MPH 88 MPH
Coco 114 MPH 101 MPH 88 MPH
Osaka 118 MPH 105 MPH 86 MPH
Swiatek 118 MPH 106 MPH 82 MPH
Keys 119 MPH 98 MPH 72 MPH
Sabalenka 117 MPH 108 MPH 85 MPH

[stroke]

https://www.thetennisgazette.com/new...his-opponents/

[don_budge]

Match of the Day...1st Round Roland Garros

Nikiloz (Bash) Basilashvili vs. Henrique Rocha...the tale of two qualifiers. Rocha 1-0 head to head. Winner in the finals of the Costa C?lida Region de Murcia Challenger finals last year. Some serious fire power on the court.

[stroke]

Match of the day, Fonseca vs Hurcatz. Fonseca is the favorite. https://photos.app.goo.gl/7pPjMiNBBgV3h9Ku6

[stroke]

Agreed. And averages can deceive. You can have two players one of which has a higher maximum speed, but plays within him/herself and another that redlines. Madi hits pretty flat and constantly hard. But it's still impressive.

That is where winners vs errors, and winning vs losing, comes into play(I am thinking Shot Quality is the tell here). I do not watch much women's tennis, but of what I have seen, I have never seen Shot Quality numbers revealed.

[jimlosaltos]

Jannik Sinner just came back from down a double break to win the third set, and match vs Rinderknech.

How many ATP players would have blown that third set off, gone on a walkabout, and regrouped in the fourth?