Topic: French Open 2012 - Final Pre-tournament Take

[sid]

Alex your now top of the tree mate,so get use to talk about defending points,it goes with the turf.Nole lost in Dubai & IW what happens if Djokovic gets beat @ Miami,when is it ok to talk then

[Alex]

this roland garros is the most anticipated slam in recent years......

couldn't agree more. I wish we can skip all other tournaments and move to Paris now 

[Alex]

Alex your now top of the tree mate,so get use to talk about defending points,it goes with the turf.Nole lost in Dubai & IW what happens if Djokovic gets beat @ Miami,when is it ok to talk then

mate, again he can pick up points he lost in Dubai and IW at MC. easy, peasy... not a big deal. he still has a very healthy lead over Nadal, Fed and Murray. I'm not worried at all. 

[pawan89]

this roland garros is the most anticipated slam in recent years......

couldn't agree more. I wish we can skip all other tournaments and move to Paris now 

What makes this more anticipated than last year? Last year Djokovic was on an undefeated streak, having beaten Nadal on hards twice and clay twice leading up to the French open and it would have been the grand battle of Novak vs. the King of clay. This year, Nadal's apparently been off form and yet he had the AO on the strings of his racquet and Novak has been solid and a dominant world number 1 but his records aren't nearly as impressive as it was last year.

The only way I see this getting more interesting is if Novak wins Miami and re-establishes his dominance over Nadal and then Nadal defeats Djokovic in 2 clay finals before the Roland Garros showing everyone that Djokovic is good but not as good as last year, then it'll be a dog fight between the two at the French Open. Most other results will only make things less interesting than last year. For me at least.

[sid]

Pawan,Djokovic will probably have to get past Roger.Nadal will probably have to get past Murray.Either way if these are the SF's,any of these 4 tennis players can win.Out of the top 4 the only tennis player not to have won here is Nadal.Clay I'm looking forward to this year,i don't think it will be all Nadal & Djokovic.Roger can play on Clay,Murray will have Lendl with him.Thinking on this,2012 could be a very different year than others,in Slams.Djokovic could feel down if he does not win Miami,will that affect him with the up & coming Slams?

[pawan89]

Pawan,Djokovic will probably have to get past Roger.Nadal will probably have to get past Murray.Either way if these are the SF's,any of these 4 tennis players can win.Out of the top 4 the only tennis player not to have won here is Nadal.Clay I'm looking forward to this year,i don't think it will be all Nadal & Djokovic.Roger can play on Clay,Murray will have Lendl with him.Thinking on this,2012 could be a very different year than others,in Slams.Djokovic could feel down if he does not win Miami,will that affect him with the up & coming Slams?

I agree. I know the Djokovic and Nadal fans might get a laugh out of this but Murray I think has a great chance to do some serious damage. His counter-punching game with the addition of some more power and a kill shot is a great recipe for clay court success, and he gave Djokovic and Nadal quite a few close matches last year. My only worry is he doesn't burn himself out in the early rounds of slams.

[swish]

Murray's only been with Lendl a short time but I think improvements are in the works.
 
I just loved his fight at the AO and his mannerisms there.
 
 

[sid]

Pawan,Djokovic will probably have to get past Roger.Nadal will probably have to get past Murray.Either way if these are the SF's,any of these 4 tennis players can win.Out of the top 4 the only tennis player not to have won here is Nadal.Clay I'm looking forward to this year,i don't think it will be all Nadal & Djokovic.Roger can play on Clay,Murray will have Lendl with him.Thinking on this,2012 could be a very different year than others,in Slams.Djokovic could feel down if he does not win Miami,will that affect him with the up & coming Slams?

I agree. I know the Djokovic and Nadal fans might get a laugh out of this but Murray I think has a great chance to do some serious damage. His counter-punching game with the addition of some more power and a kill shot is a great recipe for clay court success, and he gave Djokovic and Nadal quite a few close matches last year. My only worry is he doesn't burn himself out in the early rounds of slams.

That might happen in Slams,i hope he does not burn out(fingers crossed).Last year Murray improved a lot on Clay,with Lendl i think he get's better still on this surface.Near all are talking only Djokovic and Nadal,Roger & Murray have been locked away out of sight,do thay play tennis?some think thay are here only to make up the numbers.Roger has been hot this year,if he does play Djokovic,he might win.In 2012 so far Djokovic does not look the force of 2011.

[hercules]

memo to all adversaries of the great clay warrior king at RG:
 
 

pray for death.

[Start da Game]

memo to all adversaries of the great clay warrior king at RG:
 
 

pray for death.

sparta!

[Alex]

memo to all adversaries of the great clay warrior king at RG:
 
 

pray for death.

sparta!

too funny, when I hear Sparta I always laugh. I think the guy who came up with it posted something on MTF where he actually glorified Nadal and Djokovic as Spartans, and he called Rog a ballerina, lol. You guys know who I'm talking about but I will not bring his nick here. he is hilarious, people hated him on MTF but he is really funny. to give you a hint, he started the Nole, Nole thread.

[Alex]

on the other hand, I really believe that Murray's game is suited for clay, and I'm not sure why he hasn't done better on clay ... at the end, he was training in Barcelona on clay when he was a junior .... I wouldn't underestimate him on red dirt ... I mean, remember Rome last year... he almost took Djokovic to hell there

[Start da Game]

din't know that he started a thread here.......we should get him to post here.......

murray has the clay game but he needs to be more penetrating that that on clay.......he can still cause troubles to top players if he keeps up that high level of endurance.......

[hercules]

din't know that he started a thread here.......we should get him to post here.......

murray has the clay game but he needs to be more penetrating that that on clay.......he can still cause troubles to top players if he keeps up that high level of endurance.......

murray will always be limited general shanks. he does not have a finishing shot off his forehand wing. you simply must have a dominating forehand in the modern game if you want to challenge the best of the best.

[swish]

There's been some talk of Nadal's knees acting up and with clay coming it could effect his preparation.
 
During the Nadal-/Tsonga match Brad Gilbert mentioned that they were treating the area above his knee and probably is a thigh problem. That would be much less serious as muscles can heal quickly.
 
Hopefully that is the case for Nadal, he has to be on top shape for the clay season as Djokovic will be there ready to take what he can.
 
 

[hercules]

he was not able to practice today at all general swish. he did not even bother going to the courts.

[Start da Game]

so......who's winning roland garros now? we need more votes......

[Djokovic Champion]

Any player in the top four can win Roland Garros.

[Alex]

so......who's winning roland garros now? we need more votes......

Nadal probably ... although Djokovic will be there too... after this defeat in MC I'm not so sure that Nole can win RG. Sure, anything is possible, but I don't see it. I'd be very happy to see both Nole and Rafa in the final.

[Djokovic Champion]

so......who's winning roland garros now? we need more votes......

Nadal probably ... although Djokovic will be there too... after this defeat in MC I'm not so sure that Nole can win RG. Sure, anything is possible, but I don't see it. I'd be very happy to see both Nole and Rafa in the final.

It is more likely to end. I think this match between Djokovic and Nadal in MC will not make much difference in the morale of the two players.