Roland Garros/French Open
Image courtesy of Yann Caradec's Flickr page - Roland Garros 2008: https://www.flickr.com/photos/la_bretagne_a_paris/2548469251/in/photolist-4Tcz82-6tZnxV-87P6sX-ey7ZS4-4Th8wE-eiptGP-6uaRCZ-87vLZp-86G6Ka-ey9ecr-c7XVQu-nCzATg-eBzLQm-nCAVGe-nWRDSg-nT31do-dGmT28-nCzje4-nCzR2q-nT2Xd5-nV4Xqn-nT2ASf-eZKnLF-6urJ2w-nUM8dD-nCzJ2p-nUWDeU-caonqS-nCzGrQ-nUWRpA-nCzE6t-ewJaxS-ekA48R-nWRBFT-nULZA4-nCAKKF-nUWLLs-9T16gt-nT2zmu-nCALjX-ezweD2-9T15Lr-nULZgB-ewEXSc-nUMjfi-ewJ9fS-6qwFaz-ezzoMd-9LRAp8-ewJ9S1
There were rain delays yesterday and today, making this almost marathon match between DOminic Thiem and Novak Djokovic even longer. Indeed, this one started on Friday afternoon in Paris, and it ended earlier today, after yet another lengthy rain delay.
It was a back and forth match. Thiem took the first set easily, and it seemed that Djokovic essentially lost his composure and allowed Thiem to take that one a bit too easily.
But Djokovic is one of the all-time great champions, and he responded like a champion, bouncing back to take the second set convincingly.
Dominic Thiem came storming back to take a sizable lead in the third set, but then there was a very long rain delay, forcing the two players to pack it up yesterday. They resumed play earlier today.
Djokovic looked like the long delay benefited him, as he bounced back with three straight game wins to draw back even in the third set. But Thiem then finally regained his composure to take the third set.
However, Djokovic was far from done. He played quite well again in the fourth, taking it to force a fifth and deciding set. It was the first time that Diem had been forced into a five-set match here at Rolland Garros.
Early in the fifth set, it looked like Djokovic was psyched out and playing sloppily. He looked mentally unfocused, and was on the verge of getting knocked out with seemingly little major resistance, which is more characteristic of such a great champion.
Then, however, came another rain delay. Djokovic did not hesitate, and headed off the court even before play was officially suspended by the umpire. He needed the break, down 4-1, and serving at 40-40 in the fifth and final set.
When the two players took the court again, Djokovic seemed back in top form. He held serve, and then broke Thiem. But Thiem broke him right back, immediately applying tremendous pressure on Djokovic once again. Strangely, Djokovic also broke Thiem right back, and it was suddenly a virtually sudden death match. The first player to get broken would likely be done for the day.
That came surprisingly quickly, and surprisingly easily, as Thiem managed to break Djokovic again, and then held serve to end the match and reach another French Open final, his second in a row.
Up next for Thiem is the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, who probably felt lucky to see the two other tennis greats battling not only each other, but the hostile elements. While they exhausted themselves, Nadal got to relax, and should be well-rested heading into this final, as he seeks his 12th French Open title, and his 18th Grand Slam championship overall.
The match will be played tomorrow at 3pm Paris time, which means 9am New York time.
This should be a great and highly intriguing match! Either the 4th ranked Thiem will break through to win his first ever Grand Slam title, or Nadal will figuratively hold serve once again, and win to hoist La Coupe des Mousquetaires for an astonishing 12th time!
Djokovic looked like the long delay benefited him, as he bounced back with three straight game wins to draw back even in the third set. But Thiem then finally regained his composure to take the third set.
However, Djokovic was far from done. He played quite well again in the fourth, taking it to force a fifth and deciding set. It was the first time that Diem had been forced into a five-set match here at Rolland Garros.
Early in the fifth set, it looked like Djokovic was psyched out and playing sloppily. He looked mentally unfocused, and was on the verge of getting knocked out with seemingly little major resistance, which is more characteristic of such a great champion.
Then, however, came another rain delay. Djokovic did not hesitate, and headed off the court even before play was officially suspended by the umpire. He needed the break, down 4-1, and serving at 40-40 in the fifth and final set.
When the two players took the court again, Djokovic seemed back in top form. He held serve, and then broke Thiem. But Thiem broke him right back, immediately applying tremendous pressure on Djokovic once again. Strangely, Djokovic also broke Thiem right back, and it was suddenly a virtually sudden death match. The first player to get broken would likely be done for the day.
That came surprisingly quickly, and surprisingly easily, as Thiem managed to break Djokovic again, and then held serve to end the match and reach another French Open final, his second in a row.
Up next for Thiem is the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, who probably felt lucky to see the two other tennis greats battling not only each other, but the hostile elements. While they exhausted themselves, Nadal got to relax, and should be well-rested heading into this final, as he seeks his 12th French Open title, and his 18th Grand Slam championship overall.
The match will be played tomorrow at 3pm Paris time, which means 9am New York time.
This should be a great and highly intriguing match! Either the 4th ranked Thiem will break through to win his first ever Grand Slam title, or Nadal will figuratively hold serve once again, and win to hoist La Coupe des Mousquetaires for an astonishing 12th time!
Although I don't know much about Dominic Thiem, and despite my having to give him props for managing to defeat Djokovic in such a high-stakes match, I have to assume Rafael Nadal is going to win the final. I don't need to tell you that it's unwise to bet against him on clay. He's no slouch on other services either of course, but on clay he's damned near unstoppable. In other sports news, I'm a bit bummed out that Les Bleus suffered a rare loss today. Turkey beat them 2-0 in Konya (a city which according to Google is about three hours south of Ankara). I figured this would be by far the toughest match for them in the qualifying round, and sure enough that's been confirmed. Now it's the Red Bulls' turn to bum me out - they were leading 2-0 at the half in Philly, and are trailing 3-2 as I write this. Same old story with them: they're not bad at finding the back of the net, but the defending is a joke.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I suspect that most anyone who knew anything about tennis predicted a Nadal win. He has won it 11 times before, and Thiem had never taken a set from Nadal, prior to this match. Also, Thiem had finished a marathon match, a tough back and forth affair against Djokovic, and was likely spent. It looked that way in the final two sets, which he lost, 6-1, 6-1. But in truth, I suspect that Nadal would have won, anyway. Too bad about Les Bleus, but they can bounce back. Sorry to hear about how the Red Bulls are still struggling. They are a bit like the Jets of the MLS. But at least Toronto looks like they will win the NBA trophy.
ReplyDeleteThe Jets of the MLS... I hadn't really thought of it that way, but you may be on to something. Aside from Les Bleus, the teams I root for tend not to reward my patience, so much as punish me for it. As for the NBA finals, if there's a team that can come back from a 3-1 deficit against a tough Raptors team, its Golden State. But this may be too tough an assignment even for them, at least without Kevin Durant, and from what I gather with Klay Thompson playing hurt.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, let's just hope that Toronto wins.
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