Roland Garros aka The French Open

[jimlosaltos]

The Roland Garros aka French Open draw is in. Let the speculation begin.

Questions abound:

Will Jannik and Carolos meet in the men's singles final? Thanks to Carlos' strong performance in Rome he recaptured the second seed and has by some observers, the easiest quarter.

Does Djokovic Have One Big Push Left? In a bit of a parallel to Iga, Djokovic won the Olympic gold on this same, crushed brick. But hasn't won a title since, going out meekly Madrid then skipping Rome. He is in this weekend's Geneva ATP250 final vs Hubi Hurkacz.

Does Sinner Have His "Tournament Legs" back enough for five-setters? Only has one event under his belt, Rome, where he went from god-mode one day to can't get a serve in the final.

Will Zverev Be Healthy? The German has been one of the top clay courters for years. But he made a last minute entry into hometown Hamburg and got sick. He reportedly threw up 37 times before his only match {which must be yet another tennis record!) but gamely tried to play for his home crowd and couldn't finish. And, assuming this is food poisoning, why does pro tennis have so much trouble with food poisoning?

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[jimlosaltos]

Women's side has it's own questions but with Iga looking vulnerable seems wider open than the men's

Can Iga get back her mojo? Iga won her fourth of the last five Roland Garros women's singles titles last summer, but hasn't won a solitary title since. One interpretation is that her beat down by Quinwen Zheng, eventual gold medalist, on those same courts shook her confidence.

Is teen Mirra a legit contender? Has arguably the weakest quarter, opposite Jessica Pegula. Lost both Madrid and Rome to Coco. Last year Andreeva, who just turned 18, beat Aryna Sabalenka, now world number one, in the French quarterfinals.

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[jimlosaltos]

How To Watch:

I don't see a worldwide, broadcast info page on the Roland Garros site, but here is the domestic US plan.

Sunday June 8

TNT aka Warner Brothers, outbid the usual suspects for the right to the French Open. They promise "innovations" like interviews midmatch and cutting back-and-forth between matches. Since they're bringing back the McChuckles bros' how different can it be? The detailed schedule is at this link. I'll put only the final day's schedule here:

Final Day:

TNT
5:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Live coverage (women's doubles final, men's singles final)
HBO Max
5:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. All courts
Live coverage and replays, 24/7
truTV

5:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Live coverage (women's doubles final, men's singles final))


Tennis Channel

• 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Paris in Primetime (TC Live at Roland Garros)
• 11:00 p.m. - 5:00 a.m. Re-air coverage (men's singles final, women's doubles final)
• Replays of every match available nightly at 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET (Tennis Channel App only)

[jimlosaltos]

Roland Garros Betting Odds on Womens Singles

(MGB/Bet)

• Aryna Sabalenka (+275)
• Iga Swiatek (+350)
• Coco Gauff (+500)
• Mirra Andreeva (+600)
• Jasmine Paolini (12-1)
• Qinwen Zheng (18-1)
• Elena Rybakina (28-1)
• Elina Svitolina (33-1)
• Jelena Ostapenko (33-1)
• Madison Keys (40-1)

[jimlosaltos]

Roland Garros Betting Odds on Men's Singles
(Racing Post/ with Hills)

Carlos Alcaraz 11-10 with Hills
Jannik Sinner 7-4 with Hills
Novak Djokovic 12-1 with Hills
Alexander Zverev 14-1 with Hills
Lorenzo Musetti 22-1 with Hills
Casper Ruud 25-1 with Hills
Stefanos Tsitsipas 33-1 with Hills
Holger Rune 33-1 with Hills
Jack Draper 33-1 with Hills
Francisco Cerundolo 50-1 with Hills

[stroke]

Fonseca 66/1.

[glacierguy]

How To Watch:

I don't see a worldwide, broadcast info page on the Roland Garros site, but here is the domestic US plan.

Sunday June 8

TNT aka Warner Brothers, outbid the usual suspects for the right to the French Open. They promise "innovations" like interviews midmatch and cutting back-and-forth between matches. Since they're bringing back the McChuckles bros' how different can it be? The detailed schedule is at this link. I'll put only the final day's schedule here:

Final Day:

TNT
5:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Live coverage (women's doubles final, men's singles final)
HBO Max
5:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. All courts
Live coverage and replays, 24/7
truTV

5:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Live coverage (women's doubles final, men's singles final))


Tennis Channel

• 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Paris in Primetime (TC Live at Roland Garros)
• 11:00 p.m. - 5:00 a.m. Re-air coverage (men's singles final, women's doubles final)
• Replays of every match available nightly at 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET (Tennis Channel App only)

In previous years I used to pay GBP6.99 for one month of Discovery+ to watch Roland Garros. This year it's GBP30.99 for one month of TNT. So I'm setting my VPN to France and watching for free on France.tv (you have to google a French postcode to set up an account).

I quite like it because the commentary in French is less irritating than the English. I have already learnt the exclamation "sublime la!"

I'm in UK.

[jimlosaltos]

Here are a two of comparisons of the top contenders per ATP's / Tennis Insight / TDi

1 of 3 Let's start with TI's most obscure one "Steals vs Conversion", my more concise explanations -- Steals are when a player turns a losing position into a winner (Stealing a point) at which Alcaraz is a category of one. "Convesion" is success rate at "closing" a point from an attacking position. {That's my interpretation of their jargon.

Rune, Shelton, Tiafoe all at the bottom (of this excellent group) have the weapons to set up winners but lack something when it comes to closing the deal.

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2 of 3 Serve for X, Return on Y axis. No surprise that Zverev excels on both wings, but Draper is a relative newcomer, particularly on clay where he had a mediocre recored BEFORE this clay season.

Rune dismal return figures (by comparison to contenders) is a big change from how highly his return used to rank.
This also makes clear Djokovic's "conversion" at the end of his career, making big improvements in his serve and forehand to compensate for the decline in his return and backhand.

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3 of 3 Groundstroke quality during clay court play only apparently -- Sinner all alone atop the "Golden Quadrant"
Small samples for Sinner and Djoko, tho

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[stroke]

https://open.substack.com/pub/hughclarke/p/roland-garros-draw-preview?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1t7zzc

[jimlosaltos]

https://open.substack.com/pub/hughcl...droid&r=1t7zzc

Good analysis by Hugh. Would love to Musetti's aesthetically-pleasing game in later rounders.

I paused at Cerdunolo in quarters (the older Argentinian brother) over Zverev for a moment, then realized he has a 3-0 H2H with Zverev. All on clay.

[jimlosaltos]

Early results of some interest: Gio wins from down 0-5 in a tiebreak.

Favorite Sabalenka rolls, so perhaps has form back after brief dip.

Hard to overlook Zheng who won Olympic gold on these courts. Beat 2021 finalist Pavy in straights out of the gate.

Is Tommy Paul an upset threat here. I don't think about him on clay but his game seems to have come together.

[stroke]

Early results of some interest: Gio wins from down 0-5 in a tiebreak.

Favorite Sabalenka rolls, so perhaps has form back after brief dip.

Hard to overlook Zheng who won Olympic gold on these courts. Beat 2021 finalist Pavy in straights out of the gate.

Is Tommy Paul an upset threat here. I don't think about him on clay but his game seems to have come together.

Tommy Paul has the game and the disposition to to go deep it seems to me. I would say among the Americans, Fritz, Tiafoe, Sheldon, Korda, Tien, all very good players, he has the best chance.

[jimlosaltos]

Bill Simons of Inside Tennis has a great piece of Roland Garros and the fans good-bye to Rafael Nadal.

Excerpt: "No other athlete has done in one venue what Nadal has done at Roland Garros. And, we believe, no other farewell, not Andre Agassi’s touching farewell address, not Serena Williams’ boisterous New York goodbye, not Andy Murray’s poignant departure last summer at Wimbledon, not even Roger Federer’s lofty, teary exit at the 2023 Laver Cup can really match today’s heartrending farewell to a man who inspired so many for so long.

Photo: Getty

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[jimlosaltos]

More from Bill Simons, " We’ll Always Have Paris: French Open Moments and Memories"

Two items/ excerpts:


THE LOOK OF LOVE: After Gustavo Kuerten scored a miraculous comeback win over Michael Russell in 2001, the beloved Brazilian drew a heart in Roland Garros’ precious clay, and then, in relief and ecstasy, collapsed in the middle of it. No wonder Yannick Noah said, “Guga has this look in his eyes. There’s love there. It’s almost religious. He’s not like, ‘I win, I’m the best.’ It’s not an ego trip. It’s, ‘Oh, my God, I won. I’m so happy for my people.’”

ROGER’S REDEMPTION: Literary students know that Captain Ahab obsessively pursued Moby Dick. And your local tennis nerd can tell you that for 11 baffling seasons, Roger Federer sought to gain the French Open title. Then, at last, in 2009, the man from the high mountains finally dropped low to his knees. As he beat Robin Soderling to win his first and only Roland Garros trophy, his face was flushed with astonishment and relief – tears flowed.

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[jimlosaltos]

Here's a link to photos of Rafa Ceremony on Court Phillippe-Chatrier