Tout le monde va a Roland Garros!

[Schnerres]

Kerber is already out, losing in straight sets to Makarova. Based on her recent form, you had to expect it. That´s your No.1...
Petra Kvitova is back from injury (hand injury after being robbed at her home door and injured by knife) and won the match and everybody´s hearts.
Didn´t see much else. Djokovic seems to be gaining steam (losing to Zverev in last weeks final at Rome) and is coming with Agassi as his coach. Zverev reached the Top10 in the process and has a tough 1st round match with Fernando Verdasco ahead.
Venus(10) is trailing chinese Wang 2-3 in the first set. Takes a while to get going.

Predicted last 8:
Del Potro(29) vs Zverev(9)
Wawrinka (3) vs Tsonga(12)
Dimitrov(11) vs. Nadal(4)
Thiem(6) vs Djokovic(2)

Girls:
Good luck guessing that...

 

[InstaFace]

On the ladies' side, this is Halep's major to win (which would actually win her the #1 ranking). Seeded 3rd, her only risks are Carla Suarez Navarro (Halep leads 6-4) in R16, then Keys (5-1) or Svitolina (who won their only matchup, the finals of Rome a few weeks ago) in the QF. Venus reaching the QFs wouldn't be a surprise, and she'd face Muguruza then, who despite being the defending champ has looked out of form in clay-court season.

Nadal vs Djokovic in the semis rather than the final would just be a shame. Although their 2013 semifinal was one of the best matches I've seen on clay, the two of them deserve a final.

 

[InstaFace]

Andrey Kuznetsov is giving Murray all he can handle in round 1, about to level at 1 set each. Shots that would normally be winners are getting returned with interest, and they're both hitting insane tight-angle shots and volleys.

 

[InstaFace]

Murray in trouble again with the hard-hitting Klizan, dropped the first set in a tiebreak, though he now is up a break in the 2nd (edit: and just took it, 1 set apiece now).

Elsewhere, John Isner is into the 3rd round in straight sets, his best performance at the FO is 4R / R16 last year. Bouchard gets a chance to prove she's actually a top-10 player, now that she's facing #17 Sevastova of Latvia. American women are, generally, kicking ass - led by Venus who's easily into the 3rd round - although 16-year-old Cici Bellis has to face Wozniacki tomorrow. Halep plays a little later this morning.

 

[InstaFace]

Well, Murray turned that around. Kinda crushed in the 3rd set. Klizan stepped up in the 4th, was hitting some great cross-courts and forehands and fought off a murray break point at 5-5 to go to a tiebreak, but Murray hit top gear in the tiebreak and took it handily, along with the match. He was out on a very hot court for a long time, and better recover quick because up next is Del Potro, who is a terror when healthy.

In other news, Kyrgios is getting pegged by Kevin Anderson, who took the 3rd set 6-1 and is up 2 breaks in the 4th.

It didn't go so well for the USA ladies today. Lepchenko took the first set against the 14 seed, but lost the last two handily including getting bageled in the 3rd. Taylor Townsend had a very winnable match against Hsieh, but she got bageled in the first, took the second 6-2, and then lost a tight 3rd. Then, to top it all off, our top ladies prospect #12 Madison Keys fell in 3 sets to a qualifier. Injury was apparently a factor, with Keys reputedly in tears at the start of the 3rd set (which she lost 6-1)

Tomorrow in the 3rd round you've got some US underdogs - Bethanie Mattek-Sands facing Stosur, Cici Bellis vs Wozniacki, Shelby Rogers vs #13 Mladenovic - and Venus vs a scrub as the last day match on Chatrier, so you'll be able to watch her from work in the morning if you want. And Steve Johnson, somehow seeded 25th, has the unfortunate draw of having to play Dominic Thiem, the fast-rising young superstar Austrian who's ranked #7.

 

[Mr. Wednesday]

On seed, that's pretty much exactly the right draw for Johnson (if exactly bracketed, I think the 25 would match up with the 8). It's only particularly unlucky in the sense that Thiem never got upset, and to the extent (if any) that Thiem is underseeded.

 

[InstaFace]

Yes, I suppose it's not unfortunate in the sense that he deserved better, just unfortunate in that there are lots of rolls of the dice that would have seen him drawn against a far easier opponent. He could have drawn any seed 1-16 (or whoever beat them), and the way he's playing now, I would have liked his chances against a fair few of them.

On the ladies' side, here are the grand slam titles held by players still in contention:

Stosur: 1 (out in R16)
Kuznetsova: 2 (out in R16)
Muguruza: 1
Venus: 7

The entire bottom half of the draw has zero grand slam titles (and only 3 finals appearances - Halep, Radwanska and Pliskova). The tournament is bereft of the big names, to a truly unusual degree.

 

[jon abbey]

The top 8 men are all into the round of 16, so one more win apiece and we should have a very high quality final week.

 

[InstaFace]

John Isner fell to Khachanov in 4 sets. Being Isner, he got to 3 tiebreaks - except, he lost two of them. With Bellis going down to Wozniacki in 3, the lone American is now Venus Williams (who is currently playing, down a break to Bacsinsky). Other than defending champ Garbi Muguruza, whom she might meet in the QF, she's the only grand slam champion left in the draw.

edit: both of them lost. 12 players are left the draw, none have any GS titles, and one of them will get their first.

 

[InstaFace]

The top 8 men are all into the round of 16, so one more win apiece and we should have a very high quality final week.

Raonic is about to lose. Not that I'd think that changes your viewpoint, as Raonic's game is not very clay-friendly.

 

[InstaFace]

The stands at Court Philippe Chatrier, the beating heart of snobbery inside the snobbiest city in the world, are doing the mexican wave, during this Wawrinka-Monfils match.

Is nothing sacred?

 

[BigMike]

Thiem crushes the Djoker in straight sets

 

[InstaFace]

Thiem crushes the Djoker in straight sets

Wow. It's too bad I don't have a source to watch a replay - that would be a hell of a watch. When's the last time Djokovic got bageled?! In a grand slam, maybe never?

In other news, Nadal's countryman didn't even make him play 3 sets to beat him - retired a few games into the second set. And Halep is currently in trouble - dropped the first set in her QF vs Svitolina, about to go to tiebreak in the 2nd.

 

[Apisith]

Halep has gone well to take it to a breaker since she was down by two breaks this set. Great comeback.

 

[InstaFace]

Murray-Nishikori and Wawrinka-Cilic quarterfinals underway. Nishikori took the first set 6-2, but Murray is up a break in the 2nd. Worth tuning in if you can, this is probably Nishikori's best surface.

 

[Mr. Wednesday]

The semifinal between Nadal and Thiem will be the rubber match, as they split two matches in the lead up to the French Open. I think it was Madrid where Nadal won in the final, then Thiem beat him in an earlier round match in Rome.

 

[InstaFace]

In what should be the ladies' match of the tournament, Halep-Pliskova semifinal is coming up in a few mins. It should be really entertaining, though maybe not quite to the level of Nadal-Thiem or Murray-Wawrinka.

In the other semi, a 20yo unseeded Latvian girl, Jelena Ostapenko, beat last year's semifinalist Bacsinsky to reach the final. Last year she lost all her first-round GS matches, but she made R3 in Melbourne and now this incredible run. She won Wimbledon juniors 3 years ago, so she's not totally out of nowhere, but she's clearly on the rise in the WTA, perhaps on the Garbi Muguruza career plan.

 

[InstaFace]

Murray-Wawrinka is on and midway through the 3rd right now. Murray took a well-played first-set tiebreak, but Wawrinka more or less blew him off the court in the 2nd, and was very nearly up a break early in the 3rd. Murray's hitting a lot of errors when he goes for more power to hit a winner. Meanwhile, Wawrinka's forehand has been on point.

Murray's not as snakebit at the French as he is at the Australian, but I'm definitely rooting for him here.

edit: Murray goes down a break 2-4, but then stages a furious rally to take the 3rd 7-5.

edit2: Twelve holds in the 4th, most of them comfortable, and they're gearing up for a 4th-set tiebreak. Murray's wheels are still in 5th gear. ...and Wawrinka takes the tiebreak comfortable. Going to a 5th-set decider. This is great f'ing tennis.

 

[Dim13]

This 3rd set of the women's final is some fun tennis to watch.

 

[semsox]

This is like watching the Warriors. Not even enjoying it

 

[Schnerres]

Rafa is up 6-3, 2-0. Wawrinka isn´t playing bad, but Nadal is absolutely dominating.

 

[Infield Infidel]

That was the craziest running flat-shot winner in the corner for Rafa

 

[InstaFace]

Even Wawrinka applauded it. 90% of players don't even get to it and everyone who does hits a wild attempt at a return. Maybe Djokovic has a shot at getting it in-bounds.

 

[Infield Infidel]

Even Wawrinka applauded it. 90% of players don't even get to it and everyone who does hits a wild attempt at a return. Maybe Djokovic has a shot at getting it in-bounds.

The main reason no one gets to it is it would be on the backhand side, but even if it was a lefty, they'd hit it out trying to loop it over the highest part of the net with topspin. Hitting it flat there probably wouldn't cross their mind, but it's a quicker swing on a dead run. Part of Rafa's genius on the court is he never makes things too complicated

 

[InstaFace]

What a dominant display. I guess the 5-setter vs Murray took more than a little out of Wawrinka.

 

[Infield Infidel]

Great trophy presentation for Rafa's 10th.

 

[Mr. Wednesday]

If I'm not mistaken, Rafa didn't drop a set the entire tournament. Absolutely mind-boggling.

 

[jsinger121]

If I'm not mistaken, Rafa didn't drop a set the entire tournament. Absolutely mind-boggling.

Pretty amazing return to glory for him as well in 2017. Prior to this year dealt with injuries and hadn't made a grand slam final since winning the French in 2014. Now was the runner up at the Aussie Open and wins in his 10th French Open title. I wonder how much the move from Uncle Toni to Carlos Moya as his coach has helped.