French Open 2013

[imdaman99]

Monfils defeated #6 seed Berdych in a 5 set match. Not a huge surprise, everyone knew Berdych had a tough draw.

Nadal gets through his 1st round match in 4 sets, losing the opening set 4-6. I didn't watch the match but it seemed his opponent played a great match.

Ferrer and Federer won their 1st round matches in straight sets yesterday.

very unusual to see nadal lose a set in the french open, especially in the 1st round. makes me worried about whether the competition on clay has caught up to him.

[bdreason]

Nadal gets through his 1st round match in 4 sets, losing the opening set 4-6. I didn't watch the match but it seemed his opponent played a great match.

Guy was up a set and 3-0 in the 2nd set tie-break... then lost 3 sets in a row.

[The_Yearning]

Guy was up a set and 3-0 in the 2nd set tie-break... then lost 3 sets in a row.

Nadal always has the mental edge on players... on any surface... especially clay.

[AintNoSunshine]

How much do you get or betting $100 on Nadal?

[enayes]

How much do you get or betting $100 on Nadal?

At the start of the tourney you had to bet $115 to win an additional $100. So prob 80 something on a $100 bet. It's not really worth it, which is why I placed 50 on Ferrer that pays over $1200.

[enayes]

Djokovic is facing Dimitrov in the 3rd round. Dimitrov defeated Djokovic a few weeks ago.

Ferrer and Federer cruised into the 3rd round yesterday.

[plowking]

With how much they've slowed down all courts in general, its ridiculous with these Clay comps. Only moonballers like Nadal stand a chance. He sits back and waits for his opponent to tire or make a mistake. Shouldn't even be a grand slam event.

Hopefully he gets knocked out in the earlier rounds and one of Fed or Djoker can take it.

[alenleomessi]

i havent watched tennis in years

when was the last time federer won a grand slam? and when was the last time he beat nadal?

[InfiniteBaskets]

i havent watched tennis in years

when was the last time federer won a grand slam? and when was the last time he beat nadal?

Not sure about exact match he beat Nadal, but Federer won last year's Wimbledown. In fact last year's was arguably the most parity the ATP has seen in a long time.

[enayes]

With how much they've slowed down all courts in general, its ridiculous with these Clay comps. Only moonballers like Nadal stand a chance. He sits back and waits for his opponent to tire or make a mistake. Shouldn't even be a grand slam event.

Hopefully he gets knocked out in the earlier rounds and one of Fed or Djoker can take it.

Sounds like you don't watch, play or enjoy tennis in any way.

If by moonballs you mean heavy topspin forehands that would fly by you before you could take your first step, then yes, I agree with you.

[raiderfan19]

The funny thing is, they've actually sped up the clay courts. What they've really done is homogenized the surfaces which does it's goal of getting the top guys deep everywhere but it is sad that it's tough to really have specialists.

[plowking]

Sounds like you don't watch, play or enjoy tennis in any way.

If by moonballs you mean heavy topspin forehands that would fly by you before you could take your first step, then yes, I agree with you.

There is a reason Nadal isn't winning anything apart from Clay tournaments anymore.

He plays like prime Lleyton Hewitt on steroids. Hes got the stamina to keep hitting shots back over and waiting for his opponent to make mistakes. Most boring top 4 player I've seen in a long, long time.

[enayes]

There is a reason Nadal isn't winning anything apart from Clay tournaments anymore.

He plays like prime Lleyton Hewitt on steroids. Hes got the stamina to keep hitting shots back over and waiting for his opponent to make mistakes. Most boring top 4 player I've seen in a long, long time.

Of course his best surface is clay, but are you really going to put down one of the only tennis players with a career grand slam?

Clay court specialists don't win Wimbledon(twice), Aussie Open and the US Open. Before you say those were won a long time ago, look at the results and you'll see that Nadal is almost always in the Quarters/Semis of these events. You say he's a boring player to watch, but coming from someone that doesn't watch tennis, that doesn't mean anything.

[The_Yearning]

Nadal would have over 20 GS if Roger Federer didn't exist... and the same can be said for Federer (Even though he is only 3 off from 20, that's why he is the GOAT).

Nadal would probably have near 15 GS if it weren't for Novak discovering steroids.

[InfiniteBaskets]

There is a reason Nadal isn't winning anything apart from Clay tournaments anymore.

He plays like prime Lleyton Hewitt on steroids. Hes got the stamina to keep hitting shots back over and waiting for his opponent to make mistakes. Most boring top 4 player I've seen in a long, long time.

Gonna have to disagree with you here. Lleyton Hewitt was a great pusher that used his stamina to track down shots until his opponent made an error. His opponent might hit more winners, might score more aces, but overall he'll also make more unforced errors and lose the match.

If you look at some of Nadal's match stats, you'll see he hits way more winners than his opponent. Nadal's topspin isn't just moonball topspin, it's the heaviest topspin by far on tour. The thing darts off the ground after the bounce and is very hard to chase down. On top of that, if you do chase it down, the spin is so heavy already, you'll have a hard time putting much pace on the return ball. You know Nadal is just chilling on his duece side, waiting to run around his forehand and smack a winner.

I am a Federer fan through and through, but over the years I've appreciated Nadal's ability to become more than just a guy with tree trunk legs and monster racquet head speed.