Roland Garros aka The French Open

[jimlosaltos]

Mensik out from up two sets to love vs -- Rocha? Ranks 200, 21 yo, come through qualifiers.

Crazy Bublik comes from two sets to love down to beat De Minaur.


Seeds Fallen in Carlos Alcaraz's Side of Draw before R3

4 Taylor Fritz
7 Casper Ruud
20 Stefanos Tsitsipas
21 Tomas Machac
28 Brandon Nakashima
31 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
32 Alex Michelsen

(12 Tommy Paul barely survived)

Other Seeds out
19 Mensik
9 De Minaur

[stroke]

Young American Ethan Quinn just won a very tough well earned victory over Shevchenko. It was certainly the best win of his career thus far. Here is a good article on him and his road to the ATP.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6289113/2025/04/23/tennis-professional-tour-college-america-ncaa-ethan-quinn/

[stroke]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RxiqU1DijDd25FWs9

Heck of a match by Ethan, embracing the pain on clay.

[jimlosaltos]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RxiqU1DijDd25FWs9

Heck of a match by Ethan, embracing the pain on clay.

Yes! As Futterman's article (thanks for sharing) pointed out, Ethan and many observers thought the jump from college would happen faster than it did.

Looks like he might be turning the corner.

[don_budge]

Man...I miss this guy. Both guys.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/music_videos/federer_fh_not_gone/index_small.html

[neilchok]

He has a huge take back on his forehand, so when people hit it hard at him, he has trouble getting to the ball. It is one of the biggest backswings I have ever seen. He is really talented though. huge power. He plays tough as well. He is partially coached by Brad Stine which doesn't hurt.

[stotty]

I'm about to sign up to watch the second week of Roland Garros, but it feels like the whole world expects sport for free these days: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3n7dx2174o

Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only one still paying to watch live sport. So many people I know are using ‘sticks’ and streaming hacks to get access to everything—sport, films, you name it—for free. This irony here is John Yandell, one of the best tennis technique analysts out there, wasn’t even allowed to film players at tour events — or at least not live in matches. Bonkers.

[stroke]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GsHaQrcCPvZFuYwA6

[don_budge]

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.

The win against Hurcacz was a bit deceptive. Hurkacz being less mobile. His second round was even less impressive against a man twice his age. So the jury is still out on Fonseca but it isn't out with don_budge. The French Open is a tough venue. You have to man up. Fonseca is still pretty wet behind the ears and it showed against Draper. Draper bullied him. Much as he bullied Monfils. Monfils being an experienced veteran was able to absorb a bit more than the young Brazilian. I'm not saying that this young man won't have his day in the sun...but it is going to have to wait. The service motion is pretty choppy. He can deliver speed but the placement is going to be a crap shoot...speaking of gamblers.

He is already getting a big reputation...from tennis fans like stroke. Impressive shock and awe but little in nuance. So far. My mantra as of late is wait and see. Like when Donald Trump took office...I just said wait and see. Patience is a virtue. There is so little real virtue in the world. Just as there is very little nuance left in the modern game of tennis. It's been engineered out of the game. The French Open is dreadfully boring. Has anyone ever been there? I have. They have great coffee there at the venue. Trust me...any true tennis afficianado is going to need a lot of it. Just to stay awake. Mind numbing backcourt play. The occasional drop shot. Whoopee! We'll see.

Jack is bullying his opponents as if he smells blood. Next up...the winner of Roche (a don_budge match of the day pick) and "Knucklehead" Bublik. Bublik some kind of idiot savant...a genius one day and just an idiot the next. He was a genius the other day...we'll see who shows up today. Roche is on a mission.

[stroke]

Draper was the solid betting favorite, and he certainly looked like it. He looked a bit like Nadal lite out there with those heavy hooking forehands. Well done by Jack. Fonseca, he will certainly get better at competing when things are not going his way. As McEnroe pointed out several times after some very average drop shots by Jack, way more effort needed by Fonseca. I certainly did not lose sny money on the match. Those oddmakers are a savvy bunch. Ethan Quinn competed well in a 5 set loss to Griekspoor