Officially the tournament starts on 23 May - but the Qualifying rounds are starting tomorrow in which first round there will be 64 matches played - in the second round 32 matches will be played with the third round being 16 matches which implies there will only be 16 qualifiers
The draw is to be done on Tuesday and will be available by Wednesday. I would then provide the full draw of 32 players - as well as the Round 2 players -
The quarterfinals in the qualifying round is continuing today and will be completed with the 32 semifinal matches be played tomorrow.
The main draw is to take place on Thursday evening and full info about the Round 2 matches will be on site by Friday afternoon.
Roland Garros Seeding:-
1 Novak Djokovic
2 Danill Medvedev
3 Alexander Zverev
4 Stefanos Tsitsipas
5 Rafael Nadal
6 Carlos Alcaraz
7 Andrey Rublev
8 Casper Ruud
9 Felix Auger-Aliassime
10 Cameron Norrie
11 Jannik Sinner
12 Hubert Hurkacz
13 Taylor Fritz
14 Denis Shapovalov
15 Diego Schwartzman
16 Pablo Carrero-Busta
17 Reilly Opelka
18 Grigor Dimitrov
19 Alex de Minaur
20 Marin Cilic
21 Karen Khachanov
22 Nikoloz Basilashvili
23 John Isner
24 Frances Tiafoe\
25 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
26 Botic van de Zandschulp
27 Sebastian Korda
28 Miomir Kecmanovic
29 Daniel Evans
30 Tommy Paul
31 Jenson Brooksby
32 Lorenzo Sonego
In Round 1 thus far 7 seeded players have been defeated.in the Top Half of the Draw
In Round 1 thus far 4 seeded players have been defeated in the Bottom Half of the Draw.
In Round 2 thus far 4 seeded players have been defeated in the Top Half of the Draw
In Round 3 thus far 4 seeded players have been defeated
Go the Minotaur.
Go the Seuntjie!
Are you sick in th e ehad about Alcaraz again?
I have done the Round 2 matches - there are 32 matches to be played in that Round. However, it is vey complicated and I will post the draw after all the Round 2 matches are completed.
However, there are some very interesting potential outcomes that could the route to he final very complicated and the following comments are clearly indicative of the players route to the final:-
Top Half of the Draw
All of Djokovic, Zverev, Nadal and Alcaraz are in this part of the Draw. This makes it the most difficult draw to get to the final stages of the tournament. If players survive in the earlier Rounds the following it is likely that -
* Djokovic and Nadal; and
* Zverev and Alcazar
will play each other in the quarterfinals
It is furthermore likely in such an event that Djokovic could run into Alcaraz in the semifinals.
All in all a very difficult Half of the Draw to get through to the final.
Bottom Half of the Draw
This is a much easier Half of the Draw to be involved in. of the draw with the top 8 players involved being Medevede. Tsitsipas, Rublev and Ruud be in this part of the Draw.
Medvedev seems to be not making the quarterfinal as he after his absence from playing for more than 6 weeks is not match-ready, while Rublev seems to go through good performance to poor performance in tournaments.
If they go through to the quarterfinals , which to my mind is unlikely to happen -
* Medvedev will meet Rublev; and
* Tsitispas will be up against Ruud.
All in all I think the tournament winner will come from the Top Half of the Draw.
I will post the Round 2 matches after the Round 1 matches have been completed.
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The first 20 Round 1 matches - all from the top half of the draw was played yesterday and the remining 12 matches is to be played today will complete the Round 1 matches for the Top Half of the draw. Once those matches have been played by tonight it would be possible to provide the details for the Second Round in respect of the said half of the tounament.
All the Bottom Galf macthes will be played today and tomorrow
ROUND 2
Top Half of the Draw
1 Novak Djokovic vs Alex Molcan
Pablo Cuevas vs Aljaz Bedene
18 Grigor Dimitrov vs Borna Coric
16 Diego Schwartzman vs Jaume Munar
9 Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Camilo Ugo-Carabelli
Filip Krajinovic vs Borna Gojo
26 Botic van de Zandschulp vs Fabio Fognini
5 Rafael Nadal vs Corentin Moutet
3 Alexander Zverev vs Sebastian Baez
Tallon Griekspoor vs Brandon Nakashima
23 John Isner vs Gregoire Barrere
13 Taylor Fritz vs Bernabe Zapata-Miralles
10 Cameron Norrie vs Jason Kupler
21 Karen Khachanov vs Hugo Dellien
27 Sebastian Korda vs Richard Gasquet
6 Carlos Alcaraz vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas'
Bottom Half of the Draw
8 Casper Ruud vs Emil Vuusuvuori
32 Lorenzo Sonego vs Joao Sousa
24 Frances Tiafoe vs David Goffin
12 Hubert Hurkacz vs Marco Cecchinato
Holger Rune vs Henri Laaksonen
Hugo Gast vs Pedro Cachin
29 Daniel Evans vs Mikael Ymer
4 Stefanos Tsitsipass vs Zdenek Kolar
7 Andrey Rublev vs Federico Delbonis
Christian Garin vs Ilya Ivashka
22 Nikoloz Basilashvili vs Mackenzie McDonald
11 Jannik Sinner vs Roberto Carballes-Baena
16 Pablo Carrero-Busta vs Steve Johnson
20 Marin Cilic vs Marcos Fucsovics
28 Miomir Kecmanovic vs Alcxander Bublik
2 Danill Mevedev vs Laslo Djere
ROUND 3
Top Half of the Draw
1 Novak Djokovic vs Aljaz Bedene
16 Diego Schwartzman vs 18 Grigor Dimitrov
9 Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Filip Krajinovic
5 Rafael Nadal vs 26 Botic van de Zandschulp
3 Alexander Zverev vs Brandon Nakashima
23 John Isner vs Bernabe Zapata-Mirrales
10 Cameron Norrie vs 21 Karen Khachanov
6 Carlos Alcaraz vs 27 Sebastian Korda
Bottom Half of the Draw
8 Casper Ruud vs 32 Lorenzo Sonegp
12 Hubert Hurkacz vs David Goffin
Holger Rune vs Hugo Gaston
4 Stefanos Tsitsipass vs Mikael Ymer
7 Andrey Rublev vs Christian Garin/
11 Jannik Sinner vs Mackenzie McDonald
20 Marin Cilic vs Gilles Simon
2 Danill Mevedev vs 28 Miomir Kecmanovic
Will be updated as results of Round 2 come in today and tomorrow.
* Although looking at results in the match between Djokovic and Nishioka the result indicates an easy win by Djokovic. However, way to many serves of Djokovic went to 30 each and also to deuce and that leaves a gap for Molcan - a much better player than Nishioka - to make life much more difficult for Djokovic
* Zverev also had a bit of a battle to win in games and he would have a more difficult game against Baez tan he had in Round 1
* The same can be said about Medvedev who still seemingly struggle to get matchfit after huis more than a month injury lay-off. Medvedev will have to improve if he is going to survive to Round 3
* Tsitsipas came within an inch of losing to Mussetti, He is playing a lucky loser in Round 2, but he may end phvaing to play Rune in Roind 4
Upsets aplenty was found in Round 1 - how many will there be in Round 2 It was an agony to see what happened in Round 2. Tsitsipas had a terrible game and had enough break points against his serving and he barely manage to survive by winning 2 of the 3 the three tie-brakers in the match. Sinner also struggled badly - but in the end won. Medvedev seems to be doing better in Round 2 - but what will happen in round 3 when he faces Kecmanovic? Ruud, Rune and Rublev did very well in winning with some ease.
So tell us about how hard life was for the seuntjie, facing a HasBeen who was never was much. Facing a match point. A sobering day for the lad who looked genuinely bewildered much of the time.
Mozart
You obvioudly missed the whole tennis scene at the Rolland Garros tornament. There were poor performances by a long list of seeded players and that definitely included players like Zverev and even Djokovic to name just two player and Alcaraz indeed played like a grade 5 pupil - his worst performance I have ever seen.
It has zero to do with the so-called "seuntjie" BS. I am still certain that the player to beta is Alcaraz.. What is funny is that there were at least 5 of the winners who lost the first two sets and faced numerous break and match points.
Instead I made fun of the situation.. I put R30 bet on beating Zverev and you can cash out on the bet - which in that case I cashed out when the cash out sum was R96. One can also lay bets during the course of the game. Take for instance the case of Schwartzman, At the start of the match involving him the opening odds were was 1,17 - if you lay a bet of R10, you get a profit of R7, But after losing the first two sets badly the odds went up to 5,70 I put at the start of set 3 a R50 bet on him winning R285 and that was indeed a nice profit to make.
I stand to make another good profit today after take a bet involving winning of their matches costing a R100. In this bet the following players had to win:-
Auger Aliassime (who also lost his first two sets), Norrie, a doubles match won by the Ketmanovic an his partner by the name of Monroe (a player I have neve heard about before), Kriajinovic, Alcaraz, Dimitrov and Korda - who all won their matches and of the remaining three players win I will make a profit of over R700. I do not take the bets seriously - it is part of the fun of watching every point carefully.
So I do not sit around and write about "seuntjies" and similar BS I take a careful look at games and see where players come short.
Tennis is a sport in which players have off days - especially in Masters and Major tournaments. There is no tennis player without that being the case. That include players like Djokovic, Medvedev, and Nadal as well. If they survive the off days - and that is a big if in all cases - they can go on and win tournaments. .
Potential ROUND 4 matchups
ROUND 4
Top Half of the Draw
1 Novak Djokovic vs 16 Diego Schwartzman
5 Rafael Nadal vs 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime
3 Alexander Zverev vs Bernabe Zapata-Mirrales
6 Carlos Alcaraz vs 21 Karen Khachanov
Bottom Half of the Draw
8 Casper Ruud vs 12 Hubert Hurkacz
4 Stefanos Tsitsipass vs Holger Rune
7 Andrey Rublev vs 11 Jannik Sinner
2 Danill Mevedev vs 20 Marin Cilic
My money is on th following playes winning in Round:-
* Djokovic, Augur Aliassime, Nadal, Alcaraz, in the Top Half of the draw and
* Ruud, Rublev, Rune and Sinner in the Bottom Half of the Draw
I also think Norrie has a good chance of winning - but I have a double with Rublev and him - so no further money to spend in his case.
QUARTERFINALS
Top Half of the Draw
1 Novak Djokovic vs 5 Rafael Nadal
3 Alexander Zverev vs 6 Carlos Alcaraz
Bottom Half of the Draw
8 Casper Ruud vs Holger Rune
7 Andrey Rublev vs 20 Marin Cilic
Who will be in the quarterfinals? Frankly do not know - but my guess is the following:-
* Top Half of the Draw - Djokovic, Zverev and Alcaraz
* Bottom Half of the Draw - Medvedev,- the rest are toss-ups
To be quite frank - none of the players have been overly impressive in winning - even against weak opposition.
Biggest upset of the Tournament thus far - Holger Run beating Tsitsipas. Mozart were right about that youngster. I was wrong the biggest upset was Cilic beating Medvedev. With the departure of both Medvedev and Tsitsipas gone from the bottom half of the Draw Rblev at 7 and Ruud at 8 are the highest seeded players in the Bottom Half of the Draw.
SEMIFIALS
3 Alexander Zverev vs Racfael Nadal
8 Casper Ruud/Holger Rune vs 20 Maren Cilic
Who will go through the semifinals. Looking at Nadal vs Auger-Aliassime it was clear that he is not back to top form yet after a month absence - so I think thta Djokovic will win that one. Alcaraz is the fom player and he should beat Zverev.
Medvedev yesterday was pathetic - but I think it was part ly due to his injury absence and particularly to the fact that clay is not his favorite pitch to play on. I think that Rublev his year is an entirely different player from what he was last year and his victory against Djokovic three weeks ago in Belgrade showed that very clearly. It was not the victory only that has to be borne in mind - it as the way he won that showed he is better than he was last year. So to my mind Rublev should beat Cilic. As to Ruud and Rune I think that Ruud has gone off the boil a bit and that the likely winner is going to be Rune - but I nonetheless consider this match as a toss-up.
FINAL
3 Racfael Nadal vs 8 Casper Ruud.
So Mike you got the wrong result for every Quarter Final match. Hell if you just flipped a coin you would only be that wrong 1 time in every 16 predictions. Time to let others carry this predicting burden.
No Mozart
As p[er normal I study the form of the players and their strengths and weaknesses in games. That is why the results was indeed surprising,. Same as the case was with the first semi. It was called a no result because of the injury to Zverev by the bookmakers.
Fact is where the outsiders did win it was a narrow margin wins - bar in the case of Djokovic. Nobody really gave Nadal a chance because of his extremely lucky 5 set win against Auger-Aliassime. Neither he nor Djokovic was really match-fit and it shows again today.
You never make any prediction about potential winners - all you do is being wise after the fact and then you even bugger that up by false accounts as to what happened in matches. .
The point of studying is to get things right. As for nobody giving Nadal a chance ….you’re right, a nobody gave Nadal no chance. That nobody was you.
You now have all the Quarters wrong and the Nadal semi wrong. Chance of that happening randomly is 1 in 32. Ignorance appears to be playing a role.
Mozart - the Nadal performance in the semi was not up to standard and the bookmakers called it a "No result" decision since the serious injury to Zverev caused the ending of the match. You enjoyed that one did you not?. Crazy but true.
Nadal played a fabulous tie breaker when the chips were down. Hit three of the best forehands you’ll ever see. Got behind in the second set and then pulled back like the first set. He was running Zverev into the ground when Zverev got hurt in another scramble.
I like Zverev but he has to fix his second serve. Nadal was going to win that match in straight sets.
You were wrong yet again….just deal with it.
BS as per normal - the problem in the firsts et was that Zverev broke the serving of Nadal early in the match in the first set and then in a later game made two double faults to allow Nadal back in the game. Double faults are not showing good play by Nadal - it was poor play by Zverev. The same happened in the second set and the fact is that there are no reason to accept that Nadal would have won the second set at all - There is no indication that Nadal would have won the second set at all. So since the result was tat there was NO RESULT declared and Nadal was going to the final because of an injury indicates that you are living in a dream world.
Are you hoping for another injury of Ruud as well?
Congrats to Nadal in winning the French Open - indeed a licky win of eve there was one - but a win is a win.
Congrats to Nadal in winning the French Open - indeed a licky win of eve there was one - but a win is a win.