Roland Garros - June 8

Things are getting serious in Paris. At the time of writing there are only a handful of players still in the game and today two of them will have to say good bye to the tournament and head home.

Yesterday was Alexander Zverev's turn to show Alejandro Davidovich Fokina what he's capable of and he did. The outcome wasn't a surprise to anyone and the match was a good one. The Spanish Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is a good player, he has show a lot of strength this year but unfortunately he's not at the level where he can defeat a top level player like the German Zverev, who's basically one of the best at the moment. I still have a great respect for Fokina and can see him advancing on the list in time. I think a couple of years are needed for him to gain more experience, but he's getting there, he's on the right track.

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Daniil Medvedev

This was the match I was afraid of but excited about in the same time. Mixed feelings are on I think, especially when two of the best players meet and you only like one.

We know the Greek is almost unbeatable, there are only a couple of players who are capable of winning against them. The Russian Medvedev is one of them, but not on clay. Medvedev is an exceptional (and disrespectful) player, but he can only dominate on hard. He hates clay and even though this year he made a lot of progress, he has learned how to control his anger and frustration, there's still a long way to go till he can compete with those who are good on clay. Tsitsipas is one of them.

The first set was quite easy for the Greek. Medvedev was running for the ball, made some mistakes and just could not find the rhythm. Tsitsipas knew who he is facing and used this advantage to quickly get the first set. The second set was more balanced, it looked like the Greek let his guard down a bit as Medvedev managed to send the game into a tie-break, which he then lost.

The third set was eventful as well as at some point it looked like Medvedev could win it and force another set, but at the end the Greek was able to control the game and win.

I'm not sure how Medvedev felt during and after the game, but it's clear that he has a handicap, a huge one. If you want to be the best of the best, you have to be the best on every surface, not just on one. Losing every time on clay can hurt his statistics and can give room to another player to take his place. Something tells me he's going to work on improving his skills on clay as that's the only option, there's no other one, if he wants to be No. 1. He already has at least two defeats on clay this year already. Wimbledon is coming, which means he has no time to practice as a couple of weeks won't change anything, but mentally he at least knows what needs to be done.

The Press

There's a lot of noise right now regarding the Novak Djokovic vs
Lorenzo Musetti match. As I said in my previous post, Musettin had an outstanding performance in the first two sets, then his performance took a 180 degree turn and the match ended with a walkover. He justified his decision with accusing some pain but he never actually asked for medical assistance during the game.

The official version is that his withdrawal was due to medical reasons, but many think he just gave up, when he saw he can't win and accuse him of not having personality, namely by Boris Becker. I'm not sure what's really happened and we may never know as we only know what he said. But if he indeed withdraw because he saw no chance to win, then it's a huge problem.

I hope this will blow off soon and the press wont harass him as it can damage his reputation pretty badly. He's still a teenager with a promising career, who has a lot to learn and I hope his team will have a chat with him to clarify things.

Naomi Osaka is also under fire from the press for withdrawing from the competition. She's called a hypocrite for not talking to the press, but wearing sponsors outfit to make money.

Federer is also criticized for withdrawing as the press think he shouldn't have. This is actually sheer stupid. He's the only one who knows what's good for him and what's not, so the press has no say in this. It's a miracle he got this far, specially after all the surgeries and recovery he had to go through.

The truth is, no matter what one does, someone is always unsatisfied and there's always a reason to criticize. If there isn't, the press will find one anyway.

Today's Matches

Today Rafael Nadal meet Diego Schwartzman and as much as I like and admire the Argentinian for what he has been able to achieve, unfortunately he will not be able to beat Nadal. I wish though.

The other match will be between Novak Djokovic and Matteo Berrettini. I expect to be a 5 set match, full of wonderful situations, but then again, who knows.

If I were to make a prediction, I'd say Nadal and Djokovic will be the winners today.

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The First Semifinal

So far the balance is in favor of Tsitsipas, I'm sure it will be a hell of a fight and I hope the Greek can win. But in the meantime I can't neglect the fact that Zverev is also very good, so he has some chance to win, especially if Tsitsipas will be still tired. 🤞

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