Ricky Dimon of The Grandstand and Pete Ziebron of Tennis Acumen preview and pick two of the men’s singles matches on Monday at the French Open. Fourth-round action includes Rafael Nadal vs. Jack Sock and David Ferrer vs. Marin Cilic.
Jack Sock vs. (6) Rafael Nadal
Ricky: This is tennis’ Revolutions Per Minute on the Forehand Bowl. Sock is the only player on tour who hits with more RPMs on his forehand than Nadal. Unfortunately for the 22-year-old American, a place in a Grand Slam quarterfinal is not decided by RPMs. That being said, he should be able to make this one competitive. Sock is playing the best tennis of his life–by far–with a fourth-round showing in Indian Wells, a title on the red clay of Houston, and French Open victories over Grigor Dimitrov, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Borna Coric. The world No. 37 has never faced Nadal and he has played only one member of the “Big 4” (lost to Roger Federer 6-3, 6-2 earlier this year in Indian Wells). He has also never been to the fourth round of slam. Nadal, of course, is a nine-time champion of this event and he is playing like it after a slow start to the season. The Spaniard has not come close to dropping a set while taking out Quentin Halys, Nicolas Almagro, and Andrey Kuznetsov. Sock’s rise has already reached new heights this fortnight; asking him to go even higher against this particular opponent on this particular surface is too much. Nadal 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3.
Pete: Despite winning the U.S. Clay Court Championship earlier this spring, Sock stumbled into Roland Garros with a 1-3 mark on European clay. So how exactly is Sock in the fourth round of the French Open facing a nine-time champion in Nadal? Impressive wins over Dimitrov, Carreno Busta, and Coric have propelled Sock into the second week. Meanwhile, all sorts of questions have followed Nadal into Paris after sub-par clay Masters 1000 results. However, his play on Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen thus far has been impeccable. Expect the heavy conditions that are forecasted to give Sock an early advantage before Nadal finds his way into the match late in the second set. Nadal 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4.
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(9) Marin Cilic vs. (7) David Ferrer
Ricky: Somehow Ferrer and Cilic have not gone head-to-head in more than five years. They both play a ton of tournaments and go deep in many of them, yet they have still not met since the 2010 Madrid Masters. Cilic has done especially well to set up what will be their fifth career encounter (Ferrer leads the series 3-1, including 1-0 on clay). The 2009 U.S. Open champion is finally rounding into form with dominant wins in Paris over Robin Haase, Andrea Arnaboldi, and Leonardo Mayer. He had been a mere 4-6 on the season prior to this event. Ferrer, on the other hand, has been a model of consistency. But the veteran Spaniard is looking just a little bit vulnerable having cooled off just a bit since January and February and he needed five sets to get past Simone Bolelli on Saturday. Still, a long match (and it wasn’t even that long) will have little impact on Ferrer and it will not hurt that he is battle-tested. This a steep step up in competition for Cilic, who has not defeated anyone better than 14th in the world since the U.S. Open. Ferrer 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Pete: Entering Roland Garros, Cilic had just an 11-11 record on the ATP Tour since his U.S. Open title. However, the Croat has now won 10 consecutive matches in Grand Slam play, including 19 straight sets. Unfortunately for Cilic, up next is Ferrer–the 2013 Roland Garros runner-up who can exhale for a moment after surviving a scare in the last round from Bolelli. Expect Ferrer to get into his business as usual mode against Cilic, as the 33 year-old Spaniard lives up to his “little beast” moniker to advance to the quarterfinals for the sixth time. Ferrer 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(4).
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What worries me is that Novak’s best is now better than Rafa’s best. I mean at this point in time (not if they were both completely at 100 %)
“I think I played great first two sets – very, very happy,” said Nadal. “My serve today was the worst thing. I didn’t start enough points with advantage, and that’s why he had the chance to break me. But I’m happy. I am enjoying again on court because I’m able to play more days with calm. I don’t have this problem of nerves I suffered from at the start of the year, and that gives you the possibility to compete well.
“Against Novak, it is the toughest quarterfinal in my career here in Roland Garros, without a doubt. But the winner of that match will not be the Roland Garros champion. Will be semifinalist. That’s makes a big difference. Even if it’s a special match, you know, is a quarter-final.
“He’s by far the best player in the world. He’s brimming with confidence; he has exceptional form. He’s won almost all the matches since the start of the year. He has only two defeats. I love Roland Garros. I love the tournament. I love the courts. I will pull out all the stops to win the match. I feel competitive. I will fight to the bitter end. I don’t know if it will be enough. I don’t read a crystal ball. So if I play well and if my opponent plays better than me, I will shake hands and congratulate and then I will move on.”
Rafas serve I think is the biggest weak point especially when you take at Novaks outstanding ROS
I posted the same on another thread ! haha… I agree that rafa’s first serve will decide the match.
Here is something Novak said “Playing him here and playing him in any other tournament is completely different. But the conditions are very suited to his style of game. He loves playing on Court Philippe Chatrier.”
Not sure if he is saying this out of respect or does he actually ‘fear’ rafa on PC 😛 He said said multiple times how PC benefits rafa so there must be something!
PC has 32 feet of space length wise behind the baseline and that is HUGE. As federer said, there is always a tendency on PC to stay back because it is so big. You almost have to remind yourself to stay closer to the baseline. Rafa thinks the bigger court makes it difficult for his opponents to hit winners from a mental point of view. Rafa’s defensive play surely gets elevated on PC.