French Open QF previews and predictions: Cilic vs. Del Potro, Nadal vs. Schwartzman

It will be a big-hitting affair when Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro battle for the likely right to meet Rafael Nadal in the French Open semifinals. Nadal, meanwhile, has a quarterfinal contest on his hands against Diego Schwartzman.

(3) Marin Cilic vs. (5) Juan Martin Del Potro

Cilic and Del Potro will be squaring off for the 13th time in their careers and for the second time at the French Open when they clash in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Del Potro is dominating the head-to-head series 10-2, including 4-0 on clay after prevailing 6-3, 7-6(7), 6-1 at Roland Garros in 2012. They have since faced each other three times on hard courts, with Del Potro sweeping all three of those encounters to extend his winning streak against Cilic to seven matches.

Although he is ranked two spots better than the Argentine at No. 4 in the world, Cilic may be hard-pressed to turn the tide on Wednesday. Del Potro is an outstanding 27-7 this season with titles in Acapulco and Indian Wells. The 29-year-old is now through to his third French Open quarterfinal–despite missing the tournament in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016–following mostly routine victories over Nicolas Mahut, Julien Benneteau, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and John Isner. Cilic cruised past James Duckworth, Hubert Hurkacz, and Steve Johnson before getting tested by Fabio Fognini, whom he held off 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-3 in the fourth round. The Croat started off slow on clay earlier this spring, but he paved the way for a solid Roland Garros performance by reaching the Rome semifinals. This likely where Cilic’s run comes to an end, as a red-hot Del Potro has his opponent’s number and is simply in superior form at the moment.

Pick: Del Potro in 4

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(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Diego Schwartzman

Simone Bolelli and Maxmilian Marterer probably could not have brought any better tennis to the table in their respective French Open efforts against Nadal. Still, the 10-time champion did not lose a single set en route to another quarterfinal appearance. In between a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(9) victory over Bolelli and a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4) defeat of Marterer, Nadal trounced Guido Pella and Richard Gasquet while dropping a total of 11 games. The top-ranked Spaniard is now 23-1 on clay in 2018 with titles in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Rome.

Up next for Nadal on Wednesday is a sixth career contest against Schwartzman, who trails the head-to-head series 5-0 and 12-1 in total sets. Unsurprisingly, both of their previous clay-court encounters went the way of the 16-time Grand Slam champion in routine fashion; 6-4, 6-4 last spring in Monte-Carlo and 6-3, 6-4 this past month in Madrid. Schwartzman has twice been competitive on hard courts, falling 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 at the 2015 U.S. Open prior to a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 setback at this year’s Australian Open. Schwartzman is 11-2 in his last 13 matches at majors, which is almost as shocking as his Monday win over Kevin Anderson. Although it was just about an even matchup on paper, the 12th-ranked Argentine trailed by two sets and by a break in the third, and he also watched Anderson serve for the match twice before mounting a 1-6, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(0), 6-2 comeback. As if Schwartzman needed any more odds to be a stacked against him, having spent almost four hours on the court will not help his slim hopes of putting a dent in Nadal’s Paris armor.

Pick: Nadal in 3 losing 11-14 games

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417 Comments on French Open QF previews and predictions: Cilic vs. Del Potro, Nadal vs. Schwartzman

  1. Schwartzman, Del Potro, Cechinatto.

    Now things will start getting interesting for Nadal. Although he’s a level above everyone right now, especially on this surface, things will start to get interesting. These are all high quality opponents that are DANGEROUS!

    • Jim Courier, for once I mostly agree with you. The rest of the tournament won’t be a cake walk for Rafa. In order to bite the trophy again, he has to go through three quality opponents – although I doubt that he will meet Cecchinato if he reaches the final for the 11th time. Thiem is the more likely finalist.

      • No kidding, he’s the 1.13 favorite. No reason why he cant do to Theim what he just did to Djokovic, Goffin and Careno Busta.

        • The three players you named aren’t in the same league as Thiem right now.
          I don’t care for the betting odds. The Djoker was the overwhelming favorite, too, lol!

        • As a rafafan I won’t mind at all if he meets Cecchinato instead of Thiem in the final, since Thiem is the only player who has beaten Rafa on clay twice in the last two seasons. But I think that Marco is a highly unlikely finalist.
          I will happily eat crow if I’m wrong…

  2. Cilic v Delpo has potential to be a great contest. Personally I had Cilic prevailing to face Nadal in the semi’s pre-tournament, but I’m now not strongly convinced this mach will go one way or another. Delpo’s form this year has been good overall, yet there are always the injury problems which tend to pop up regularly and make things difficult. For a guy who has been injured so much it’s amazing how strong he is mentally. That mental strength gives him an advantage here, and the H2H is pretty convincing, but there’s always that chance of physical issues popping up, especially if it’s a long match. I’m gonna stick with Cilic, he’s performed well at recent slams, and I think he can get it done in 5. I’m guessing Nadal would rather face him than Delpo, simply because Delpo has a better ability to close out matches and his FH is more of a weapon, but he may not have a strong preference either way. They’re similar types of players and I’m sure he would back himself to handle either of them. Probably the biggest thing that would help either of them (besides this match not being grueling) is rain, although even then…

    For the other match, I like Shwartzman, but I think Nadal will just be too much for him. I hope Diego at least puts in a good performance, he looked good until he faced Anderson, although his run had been pretty easy. It’s interesting that he took a set off Rafa at the AO, yet clay is his best surface. Unfortunately, given Rafa’s clay level, being on this surface is unlikely to help him in this match-up. In that HC meeting I think Rafa was too defensive, he probably won’t make the same mistake twice, which will mean some grueling running for Diego. Diego’s going to need Rafa to have a bad serving day, because his own serve isn’t his best attribute. He’s likely to offer up quite a few BP’s, as he did against Anderson. Ultimately, either way, I think Nadal will play better on the big points if it does get tight. Nadal in 3, losing about 12 games.

    • I haven’t the foggiest idea who will win – Delpo or Cilic. Delpo is probably the better clay courter, and if he isn’t hampered again by an injury I would favor him slightly, especially since the rotten weather might compromise Cilic’s serving power. Both players will be dangerous opponents for Rafa if he passes the Schwartzman test today. But if he reaches the semis, the weather might actually be favorable again for Rafa.

  3. Del Potro is Cilic’s nemesis.

    H2H is 10:2, Del Potro has won the last 7 only dropping 2 sets and is 4:0 on clay. It will be a big upset if Cilic wins especially given Del Potro’s current form. If Del Potro wins, he’s a big danger to Nadal.

  4. Del Potro has never lost a set to Clic on clay. Total games won is 55 vs 21.

    Del Potro in 4 is the likely result.

  5. I would love to see Diego win or at least give Rafa a tough match, but I don’t see any chance of it happening unless Nadal somehow plays awful. Nadal in 3, maybe one tight set.

    Cilic has really performed well at slams recently, and it’s clear he brings his best for the big matches. But Delpo has his number, and I think the same result will happen here. Delpo in 4.

  6. Schwartzman should start strong today after letting Anderson completely dominate for 2 sets…and he’ll have nothing to lose. We may see the best of him today.

  7. Rafa seems to have lost some of his power, his shots landed short so often that his opponent could simply step in to attack them.

    He’s always hitting right back at Diego when Diego could just change direction at will, don’t understand why.

    • Exactly. I don’t understand his strategy, why always hitting CC to Diego’s BH when it’s his stronger wing? And why serves out wide to his BH at the ad court? It seems that Rafa just couldn’t break away from his usual pattern of play, sad.

  8. Rafa is always running after balls, why not step inside the court more often to dictate instead? He’s relying on Diego making mistakes.

    • Exactly, and I don’t understand how come Rafa can’t come to terms with that, and is still playing his old clay court tennis. I thought last year he turned over a new leaf and played short point aggressive tennis even at the FO, don’t understand why he’s reverting back to old ways now.

      His serve really needs fixing badly, with his kind of serve right now, maybe he can’t go aggressive with his shots!

  9. Nadal could be physically compromised. Nothing else explains his game today and frankly all tournament. Worried Fan

  10. I can’t believe Rafa let Diego bossing him around like a puppy!!URGH!!….Another day of hell for us fans!!… play aggressively my foot!!

  11. Rafa is hitting every shot right back at Diego, even the drop shot returns; I mean why not to the open court??? Really dumb play by Rafa, it’s as if he feared Diego!

  12. This match reminds me of the Madrid match vs Thiem, when Rafa hit all the UEs, things not looking good for Rafa, I’m afraid. Very disappointing.

  13. He’s fortunate Diego serves poorly to lose serve!

    Finally a FH DTL winner, why so stingy with that shot?
    Another break for Diego! Can’t imagine Rafa not holding serve and gets broken three times in a set!

  14. Has rafa ever played so badly at rg??!
    This is what I was saying yesterday about how being the favourite can kill you!

  15. Rafa is keen to follow Djoko out of the tournament it seems. Wrong strategy by the Rafa team.

    Oh dear, Rafa having wrist problem?? Not looking good.

  16. Yes everytime Nadal loses everyone says he has health issue rather than an off day or the other guy is out playing him. Blame health problems all the time.

  17. Simon halep always wrap up her leg same way Nadal wraps up his wrist when she is losing and almost every time she winds up winning the match or continues playing many days no problem.

  18. Schwartzman is giving it to him. Unlike Guilermo Coria, this guy has the power to do damage against Nadal.

  19. Nadal wrist is not causing him to lose. The kid is hitting the ball cross court and Nadal can’t even get to it.

  20. Rafa is not moving his legs when he’s hitting his shots; he’s going CC all the time, hitting right back to Diego and gets burnt! Rafa is playing horrible tennis at the moment, while Diego is hitting as hard as possible and gladly accepts Rafa’s CC shots with open arms!

    Rafa is going to lose here, I’m afraid. There’s something wrong with him, even though Diego is playing well here. His serve is the biggest issue; I think he should skip the gras season and work on his serve. He’s going to be badly beaten on grass serving this way.

    Rain again, more sorrow and worry for Rafa now.

    • Don’t overreact yet, Lucky, he’s only down a set and a break and the tennis god’s have given him a rain delay to collect himself, so this match is FAR from over. He has been taken 5 sets before at RG, so this is not necessarily a sign that he’s going to lose.

    • Lucky, Rafa probably will find a way to win this match. Don’t worry. Now Thiem in the finals on the other hand….now that will be a tough one to pull out if he doesn’t pick up his form soon.

  21. Roland Garros thought by giving Nadal and easy draw they would get max coverage for the tournament and final but its not working as planned right now!

  22. A rain delay will benefit Nadal greatly right now. I don’t think he is injured. He might not be feeling well in general due to a slight cold or fatigue, humans gets these days when u wake up and just don’t feel good. But his so called injury has nothing to do with him losing.

    • Well, they also stopped the Cilic/Delpo match so where’s the unfairness? When it rains it rains, nobody human can stop the rain!

    • Yep, Nadal will have a good think about how this will help him and how to capitalise on the unfair and unjust favour he’s been given.

      • Where’s the unfairness when rain stopped all matches? You expect play to go on at PC so that your Diego could have a chance to win whilst play stopped at the other courts? Who’s the unfair one here? Im afraid its you for selfish reasons, not the RG organisers.

  23. I feel like everyone is disrespecting del potro and cilic because not one talk about that game. Everyone only cares about Nadal here.

  24. Breakathon, I cant imagine Rafa can play so poorly at RG, i mean he got broken five times in two sets and the second set hasnt even ended yet.

    Rafa lost out in his court position and he’s hitting his shots very short so Diego could move in to attack the ball. Rafa is also not moving his legs quick enough to get into position.

    A rainy gloomy day like this, if Rafa continues to play such crappy tennis, hes going to suffer his third loss here. He looks so out of sort, so lacking in energy, age finally catch up with him, especially facing a young energetic guy like Diego?

    Everyone of Rafa’s opponent is hitting hard against him, yet in this match, Rafa chooses to defend and defend and hoping for Diego to make errors. Where’s that Rafa who played against Pella?

    Maybe its a wrong strategy by Moya, thinking that Rafa could grind and outlast Diego after Diego’s five set match vs Anderson? Rafa wasnt even moving inside the court, just contented staying behind the baseline to rally all day, it proved a poor strategy when Rafa looked the lethargic one, not Diego.

    • This was what I was saying during Rome Masters, this year I could sense Nadal wasnt going to win it. There’s much certainty he was going to win it and age is an important consideraton, especially on clay. Young newcomers have always done well on this surface, not veterans.

      • Nonsense, when Rafa, Stan and Djoko are/were the veterans who won in 2015 to 2017!

        Its more of Rafa’s serving woes thats the cause of his problems.

        • Wawrinka won it at 31 yrs and Djokovic 29, thats a bit different to 34.

          29-31 is not really veteran, its still within a standard devitation of the peak mean age of 28

    • amy,

      I understand now why VR left the site. It’s been invaded by trash. People who just want to bet on matches and don’t know crap about tennis. Then they post garbage trying to incite and inflame.

      It’s a shame to see such low lifes stinking up this site. It makes me feel like leaving, too.

  25. Rafa clearly hampered and Diego is taking advantage of it! Rafa’s hitting short, mistimed a lot and is not moving well. His serve works against him. Diego hitting hard and aggressive knowing Rafa’ s top spin makes no damage in humid conditions.

    I would hope it’s not an injury -that way Rafa could still find his way to win this match! But I fear it’s more than just an off day…

    Vamos Champ!

  26. Jim, Rafa can’t control the weather. Isn’t it raining pretty hard at RG right now? I heard something about thunderstorms in the forecast on here from somebody yesterday. Rafa may be a little bit fortunate to have gotten this break as he did in Rome final but I don’t think it’s unfair or anything.

    • Nah, hes unfortunate to have such weather in the first place when his half of the draw play second and rain delay now may mean they have to complete their matches on the following day.

      Why people say/said that Rafa is/was lucky because of the rain break? He was unlucky to have to play in rainy conditions to start with! Do people think that the players should play in the rain, slipping and sliding and injuring themselves so that there’s no rain delays?

      If Rafa can regroup better than anyone else after the rain then thats his asset, others cant so thats their problems!

      • Lets be honest here. First set was played in the sun and Rafa lost that set. Its not only playing in damp conditions, Rafa is tired playing all those warup tourneys where he looked fresh especially in Monte Carlo. Shots have lost zip and depth.

        I dont think the rain delay and playing matches without delay would be a problem till the finals as DelPo and Cilic will go thru the same fate.

      • I just meant for momentum purposes, lucky. Schwartzman clearly had the momentum and now it’s been halted, which helps Rafa. Either way, whether there was a delay or not, I think Rafa wins this match.

        • In the first place rain is forecasted, so stops and starts are expected. If Rafa is leading and the match is stopped because of rain, will people think that Rafa is lucky?

  27. I think I know why Rafa is playing so poorly before the rain; it’s the humidity. The players had ice towels around their necks, I think the humidity made Rafa tired more easily. Now after the rain, the temperature is lower now, more cooling so Rafa feels better.

    • Because Schwartzman is serving to stay in the set and Nadal will most likely break again and serve first in the 3rd. It upsets Sman’s rythmn more than Nadal. Nadal is much more opportunistic and thinks about how its going to help him.

  28. word is out that the wrist tape was to protect sweat from falling into the racket handle. No injuries it seems

    • I told ya there was no injuries. When Nadal seems to be in trouble that’s the first thing people blame is injury.

      • What blame?? Did you not see Rafa playing poorly by his standard? And that’s not exactly due to Diego’s play, when players like Bolelli and Marterer were also playing aggressive tennis and even served better than Diego but Rafa still won his sets and matches.

  29. Bloody downpour. Just when Rafa was gaining some momentum.

    Lucky
    Why do you think he is not using his classic DTLFH more? I know he messed up on a couple but normally it is lethally effective.

    • ed, I think he’s tired due to the humidity so he’s hitting short; he’s not feeling confident so not taking risk with DTL shots. He just stayed in the rallies and hoped for Diego to go for too much and made errors.

      To be fair to him, he tried to be aggressive with his CC BH but the ball flew over the line(s) often. I think his tiring legs were not moving well enough so he mistimed his shots.

      Rafa hates to play in humid conditions esp now that he’s getting older, it’s energy zapping playing in humid conditions. In his younger days Rafa had no problem with humidity but his body changes as he gets older.

      At least is not injury concerns so Rafa (or we) still can hope that he wins this match, in four sets.

  30. There are 2 facts here, and that’s it:

    1.) Diego was leading by a set and a break, had all the momentum, and Rafa was struggling. Then it rained, and Diego’s momentum was haulted, even if only momentarily. That was an advantage for Rafa.

    2.) Rain delays are a part of tennis! That’s a fact. The best players are players who are mentally and physically prepared for their momentum potentially being stopped by rain. Or they are players who know how to take advantage of the lucky rain break if the OTHER player has the momentum. Rain delays are part of tennis. Rafa handled this one better than Diego. End of story.

  31. Ya know the rain benefits mostly thiem. This rain delay is going to make everyone on the court today get less rest. Thiem is gonna have a huge physical edge.

  32. Thank God Rafa is not injured! I have only one more wish: no more rain! If the match is gonna be played tomorrow then please let it be sunny out there! And then may the best player win!

    Vamos Rafa!

  33. Nothing on the RG site to indicate the play being cancelled for the day. They usually post the news if they expect rain to last. I guess the chances are they will soon resume playing…

  34. Their twitter feed is woeful. At 19:25 hours they are posting that there would be no play till 19:30.

    Should have started early given the bad forecast.

  35. The match may start at 1230 PM tomorrow I think as both matches scheduled tomorrow on Phillip chartier..they have to complete Rafas match on Phillip chartier right?

    • I mean both womens semis on PC tomorrow so if Rafas match has to be played on PC, it has to start earlier around 230

      BTW it seems full rain and thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday

    • Thunderstorms? I’m more worried about this QF match than to worry about thunderstorms during Fri, Sat and Sunday. Rafa must win this match first, before we worry about thunderstorms later.

    • That means he has to play in the heat of the midday sun – IF it happens to come outl. Even if it doesn’t the humidity will be punishingly high

      # As Noel Coward used to sing: ‘Only mad dogs and Englishman go out in the midday sun’

      • The humidity level will drop during the day according to weather forecast. I think with the sun, the moisture level in the air won’t be high. Today, it’s more cloudy than sunny so more humid before the rain. Better for Rafa to start early and finish the job soon; he has to serve better and no reason he can’t play like he did vs Pella or Marterer, ie stepping inside the court more often to hit his shots with more depth.

      • ed251137 AT 6:21 PM,

        It will be sunny but not too hot on Thursday. Temperature (according to AccuWeather):
        at 12pm: 21 degrees C
        at 1pm: 21 degrees C
        at 2pm: 22 degrees C
        at 3pm: 22 degrees C

  36. I like how, assuming that Rafa serves out the second set, it’s going to essentially be a Best-of-3 set match to make the Semis!

    • Delpo vs Cilic are locked at 5-5 in the first set TB; they may have to play two or three sets more, assuming no five setter.

      I hope Rafa can serve out the second set and wins the next two sets ASAP.

    • No guarantee humidity won’t be at the same level tomorrow! It’s like in that FO2014 final when both Rafa and Djoko suffered physically due to the humidity, Rafa struggled to the finish line in four sets and said that had it gone five sets he didn’t know whether he could win.

  37. If only they could start the QF matches at 12 noon today! They probably could finish all matches within the day, even before the rain came.

  38. If there’s no impending rain so not much moisture in the air, then I guess the weather will be warm and dry which is good for Rafa.

    Going forward, I think Team Rafa has to solve the serving problem for Rafa; if not he has to work so hard to win points and in humid conditions Rafa will suffer and gets tired easily, not good for his tennis.

      • Just like Fed is always old when he loses, or the courts are slow, that Fed couldn’t win on them! I heard plenty of ‘excuses’ too when Fed lost! Fed can only win on one type of courts, ie fast courts!

        • You said a few months ago he never won Slams on fast courts !
          I’m disappointed reading your posts here,wheres the objectivity you accuse Joe and others of lacking?

          • Huh? Did you get it wrong???? Or Fed is so bad now that he couldn’t win on fast courts anymore??

      • I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of excuses in your life, about why the ‘Goat’ couldn’t win here or there!

  39. Just arrived home and checked the scoreboard,good God,what a tough day at the office for Rafa!
    His groundstrokes really lose their sting with the heavy conditions/rain and he struggles big time out there. With the current weather,I think that the right approach should be to go out agressive and hit flatter from the baseline. From what I read here he let Diego dictate way to much on the baseline exchanges once again…
    Well,if the weather keeps on going like this until Sunday,maybe Thiem’s gonna win the whole thing,and,guess what,I’ll be good with that.

  40. Just finished watching the match so far. The comments on this site from Rafa fans are slightly hilarious. As I’ve been saying for awhile, Nadal’s level is not what it was last year, and this is the first opponent he’s played who has really taken it to him consistently and been able to execute.

    For those who don’t know much about tennis: before the rain delay, Schwartzman was playing a sensational match, apart from his serve, which is mostly due to being 5’7”. If he had an actual serve, he would have won that set easily.

    A big part of Nadal’s problem is that his serve might have been worse than Diego’s. He basically had no advantage in his service games, which is why he faced so many break points.

    However, from the baseline Nadal was simply getting beat, at least before the rain delay. Diego stayed aggressive and converted enough winners to have a clear advantage in the first set.

    All the complaining about the weather, humidity, tape on Nadal’s wrists, Nadal somehow not knowing to hit to Diego’s BH, etc. are just the typical excuses from fans who can’t accept the fact that some days, the other guy is just better -even if his opponent is Nadal and the match is played at RG. Obviously, the match isn’t over, but I like Diego’s chances if he can recapture the level he had in the first set.

    • Nah, Joe, don’t think you get it right! You forget Bolelli who had a bigger serve and playing more aggressive than Diego and hardly missing anything unlike Diego who overhits or hits to the net. Rafa was still able to beat Bolelli in straight sets! How do you explain that?

      Rafa wasn’t serving well too at that match, below 60% his first serve! Diego isn’t the first player who hits hard and aggressive and takes it to Rafa; Bolelli, Pella, Marterer all hit as hard as possible to try and blow Rafa off the court but they failed. They’re not playing any worse than Diego; it’s all about Rafa’s level.

      Rafa was tentative from the get go, serving poorly, playing defensive tennis and hardly stepping inside the court. He mishit so many of his shots and looked tired out there. It’s all because of the humidity. After the rain delay, he was playing well and hitting with depth and that’s why he broke Diego’s serve and won three games in a row. Without the humidity, Rafa was playing fine!

      So, go figure!

      • No, it’s not all about Rafa. Certainly he wasn’t playing his best, but he didn’t play poorly apart from more mis-hits than usual. But he also played many good points where Diego simply out-played him.

        Saying it’s all about the humidity is about the lamest excuse you can make. The weather conditions affect both players, and part of the game is learning how to adapt. Nadal has won the huge percentage of his matches on clay, especially at RG, in a variety of weather conditions. If the humidity is that hard for him then he’s not as good as everyone thinks he is on clay.

        So quit blaming the weather and give his opponent some respect!

        • Nah, it’s the weather! Rafa is more affected by humidity as he gets older, this is not an excuse but that’s what Rafa said himself, that he doesn’t like humidity.

          Diego wasn’t affected by humidity that much, same when Rafa was younger! To say that Rafa didn’t play badly is simply BS; Rafa did play badly and those who are not blind with biase could see this wasn’t the usual Rafa.

          Diego didn’t play any differently from the way he played at MC, AO or Madrid against Rafa; it’s more about Rafa’s level of play than Diego’s.

          Rafa was playing at a level not unlike his Madrid match vs Thiem, when he served poorly and mishit so many of his shots, not difficult to see that!

        • Excuse me, you’re the one not giving Diego due respect in the first place, saying the rafafans prefer Diego to Anderson as Rafa’s QF opponent! All Rafa fans know that Diego >> Anderson on clay and is a bigger threat to Rafa, only Joe doesn’t know that!

          • I said what everyone recognizes: Anderson has more weapons than Diego, and is the sort of big-hitting player who has been able to upset Nadal, even on clay, in the past. Players like Schwartzman almost never beat Nadal on clay, unless you count Djokovic as a Diego-type player. That’s the sense in which I think Anderson is a bigger threat to Nadal on clay than Diego is.

            Had Anderson played the way he did in the first two sets against Nadal at the level the latter was today, he would have won those sets convincingly.

            To be clear: none of this implies that Anderson >> Diego on clay overall. What I say above concerns a certain type of possibility. So there’s nothing there that you “know” than I don’t where the comparative question of Diego vs. Anderson is concerned.

          • Nah, how many big hitters or big servers have beaten Rafa on clay??

            Rafa was beaten by the clay courters on clay – Thiem, Foggy, Gaudio, Coria, Ferrer, Cuevas, Stan, Almagro and by big four Djoko, Fed and Murray, none of them are big servers or big hitters.

            It’s only Sod, who beat him once only, where are the big servers who beat Rafa on clay?? Rafa beat Cilic, Sasha, Delpo, Anderson, Isner, Raonic, etc and etc the big hitters/servers on clay, always!

          • Thiem, Foggy, Stan and even Almagro count as big hitters, though they’re obviously not as big as Anderson. All of them hit the ball fairly flat and hard.

            Ferrer has only beaten Nadal once on clay; same with Cuevas, who only beat him in 2016 when he was bad. And Gaudio and Coria were a long time ago.

            I think my point stands: the players with the best chance of upsetting Nadal on clay are big hitters.

          • Nope, Thiem, Almagro and Stan don’t hit flat shots, they hit with plenty of spins, and they’re the clay court specialists, as Ive mentioned; Anderson isn’t! Did you actually watched them play? They certainly hit with plenty of topspins, just not as much as Rafa’s and that’s why they’re so successful on clay. And Stan and Almagro beat Rafa when Rafa was playing his worse tennis during European clay season of 2014/2015, and they had never beaten Rafa on clay prior to and after that!

            Thiem capitalized when Rafa was playing poorly, and was badly beaten by Rafa at the FO. The same could be said of Foggy, who took advantage when Rafa was playing poorly in 2015! And Foggy isn’t exactly a big hitter, he occasionally hit big, not like those who hit hard all the time!

            The one who has beaten Rafa multiple times on clay isn’t a big hitter or a big server. My point still stands: non of the big hitters had beaten Rafa on clay, those that serve big and hit hard, flat shots. Those who beat Rafa on clay are the clay court specialists, with the exception of the big four and Sod.

          • Thiem’s backhand his super flat. His forehand has tons of spin. That’s one of the reasons why it’s tough to get into a rhythm against him.

          • I said those four hit the ball “fairly flat.” Obviously they hit some top spin on most drives. The important point is that they hit it hard. On average, their hardest shots are harder than, say, Djokovic, who, at his best, is the only player who can consistently beat Nadal at his own game. Pace is what Nadal struggles with most (he’s hardly alone in that), and of course he has even more problems with hard hitters off clay.

          • See, Ricky also knows that Thiem hits tons of topspin on his FH, Stan and Almagro too as they’re the true clay courters and know that topspin works well on clay.

            And yeah, the one who beats Rafa on clay multiple times is NOT a hard hitter. This myth that hard hitters can beat Rafa on clay is really just a myth, because how often they beat Rafa on clay? Hard hitters always give any player troubles, Fed and Djoko too got blown off the court by them, so why single out Rafa and on clay?

            Rafa has/had lost to clay courters like Ferrero, Gonzo, Ferrer, Gaudio and Coria during his younger days; he hardly lost to anyone during his peak on clay except Sod when Rafa had a bad day, and to Djoko. Those he lost to during 2014/2015 when he was playing poorly on clay were clay courters – Cuevas, Foggy, Almagro, Ferrer, Stan, Thiem – in addition to the big four. How many of them were big hitters?

      • About Bolleli, Pella, and Marterer: Go and look at their rankings before you big them up too much. None of them played better than Schwartzman did in the first set; and Diego wasn’t as good against Rafa as Anderson was against him in the first two sets in R4. That’s why I said Anderson would have won both those sets against Nadal, given the way the latter has been playing in this tournament.

        • You make the mistake of looking at rankings, you know who’s Cecchinato?

          Diego wasn’t playing any better than Bolelli, he’s just capitalising on Rafa’s poor serving; Diego mishit his shots when Rafa was able to hit with depth (though Rafa didn’t do that often in set one). You also made the mistake of comparing how Anderson played against Diego to how he would play against Rafa. Anderson basically doesn’t have the ground strokes of Diego so Rafa would make him rally more, and Rafa’s ROS > Diego’s so he’s able to neutralise Anderson’s big serves.

          Diego likes rhythm so he prefers rallying than returning big serves of Anderson. He’s not as experienced or as versatile as Rafa who could deal with any kind of players esp on clay, so big serves won’t bother Rafa that much the way they would Diego.

          • More excuses. You think Diego can’t rally? He tried that against Anderson but Kevin just hit winners. When Schwartzman hit it hard, Anderson simply hit it harder and right by him.

            Would Anderson have done that against Nadal? Obviously no one can know for sure, but it seems like a reasonable inference that if he was at that level, he would have done much the same to Rafa, who has a similar game to Diego in many respects.

          • Excuse me Joe, do read more carefully! When did I say Diego can’t rally!??????

            I said he couldnt return serve as well as Rafa, so how could he get into a rally when not given a chance??????? Isn’t that a simple logic????

          • And you’re trying to compare Diego to Rafa on clay? That shows how little you know of Rafa’s game!

            Diego can never hit the type of topspin that Rafa could, he hit his shots rather flat by comparison and so it’s more comfortable for Anderson who also hit flatter shots. Diego is short so he practically has to jump up to hit his shots against a tall guy like Anderson.

            Have you watched Rafa vs Anderson matches? Anderson could never rally with Rafa and most times he ended the rallies with errors.

          • You said that because Anderson doesn’t have the groundstrokes of Diego, that Rafa would make him rally more. That suggests that Diego wasn’t trying make Anderson rally more, perhaps because Diego can’t rally as well as Nadal could. Which is false.

            In any case, what those first two Diego-Anderson sets showed, imo, is that when a big guy is absolutely on his game, there isn’t much the less powerful player can do, even on clay. As I said (and you would have seen if you watched the match), Anderson simply hit winners by Diego, including on serve. Yes, Nadal is a better returner than Schwartzman, but he can’t return a well-placed, hard hit serve by a guy who is 6’8”.

          • Who said so? Rafa could return Isner’s bigger serves, even when he’s playing poorly in 2015 at MC. I’ve explained why Diego had problems with Anderson’s serve and why he couldn’t win the rallies vs Anderson the way Rafa could, please read my previous comment.

    • Joe Smith,

      I am fed up with your patronizing and condescending attitude towards the Rafa fans on this site. You give yourself airs as though you know more than the rest of us. I have been watching tennis longer than you have been alive and you are the last person who is going to tell me anything.

      The hysteria from Fed fans and excuses and biased take on his matches, could also be considered hilarious by Rafa fans. So please don’t put yourself in a position to ridicule anyone.

      I could see for myself what was happening. I certainly don’t need your take on it. Rafa fans do get worried about injury with good reason. So when Rafa got his wrists taped, it was cause for concern.

      Guess what! I know that Rafa hasn’t looked as good as he did last year. I also was expecting him to drop a set along the way. Diego came out aggressive. He’s done it before in case you forgot about their match at the AO. So I know what he is capable of.

      I can deal with anything except your omposity and boorish attitude.

      • Well said NNY. I really can’t stand Joe, I’ll wait for Fed at Wimbledon and start my revenge at Joe, he he!

        He’s really condescending, as if we’re so ignorant about tennis! I’ve watch so many of Rafa’s matches and all of Rafa’s vs Diego’s, as if we don’t know how Diego plays!

        Who’s the one who said Anderson was a bigger threat than Diego to Rafa, and was saying the Rafa fans preferred Diego than Anderson as opponent?? That shows how much (little of course) Joe knows about tennis! Anderson is never a threat to Rafa, esp on clay!

        • Sour grapes from Rafa fans , I came to the same conclusions as Joe without even reading any of his posts.Why does Rafa struggle with conditions or anything else on his favourite court, why cant his fans accept he will get beat some time, and yes Federer has been beaten often enough when he simply got outplayed .
          Amazing the reaction to Rafa losing just one set!

          • Why can’t Rafa struggle on his favorite court? Didn’t Fed struggle too on his favorite Wimbledon court? Didn’t Rafa lose a set in each of his first three rounds at FO2013 before winning the title that year?

            It’s not a matter of him struggling, if he struggled from R1 onwards like in 2013, we knew he wasn’t playing well right from the beginnng. But, other the the first match here, he was playing better and better and suddenly, he was mishitting his shots, losing serves and facing BPs in practically all his service games and Diego wasn’t exactly a Djoko in his ROS! Of course, his fans were alarmed and tried to find out why. I think that’s normal reactions from fans. I don’t see why it bothered non fans so much!

            It’s not like Diego was playing lights out tennis either, for he’s playing this way all along when facing Rafa on any surface but Rafa got the better of him each time without having to face rain delays!

          • I dont think it is a normal reaction by his fans, he’s won ten Roland Garros titles , a blip now and again as he gets older is to be expected.Sure Federer has had plenty of them , no excuses here , like the times he lost from two sets up against Tsonga and Djokovic. Full credit to his opponents.

          • It’s normal reaction, because Rafa has all his injuries and that’s why when something doesn’t seem right, his fans become worried. Only Rafa fans understand why. When Rafa called for the trainer and got his wrists wrapped up, we were worried, given his wrist injury history. It’s never easy being a Rafa fan these days!

          • Big AL,

            As a Rafa fan I don’t like anyone generalizing about us as a group. Even Rafa fans do not always agree among ourselves. So we do not always see things the same.

            As for myself, I thought that Rafa would drop at least a set along the way. I did not know if it would be against Diego or either Delpo or Cilic. But I did think it would happen. I also expected this match to be tough.

            As far as excuses, it’s not an excuse when you see Rafa getting his wrists taped. He’s been injured enough that it would cause concern among his fans. Also if the speed on his serves has gone down and on his groundstrokes, that is not an excuse. It’s a fact. So what is behind it? We don’t know for sure. Something wasn’t right.

            Ricky was right and I am glad he said it – this is not a Rafa fan site! I like having fans of other players here because it adds to the discussion. But if Rafa gets attacked, then his fans will defend him. Just like Fed fans defend their guy.

            Rafa fans don’t think alike or post the same thing all the time.

          • NNY, I don’t see you complaining when someone refers to “Fed fans,” as many do, including yourself. Just like Rafa fans, there are differences amongst Fed fans -but so also are there similarities.

            Regarding the injuries/taping: Did you see Schwarztman’s right hand? Virtually every finger is taped. Should we make excuses for him based on his likely (minor) injury?

            I thought it was a bit of gamesmanship on Rafa’s part when he called for a trainer just as Diego was about to serve for the set. He could have waited until the set was over.

      • NNY, I’ll focus on what we agree on: Rafa hasn’t played as well in this tournament as he did last year, he was bound to lose a set along the way. Not too surprising, perhaps, that it was to Diego.

          • And here I was trying to take the high road, accentuate the positive, turn the other cheek and all that!

            Nevertheless, that “oooohh” makes me feel genuine fondness for you, NNY. First time for everything, I guess.

        • Joe, did you see Rafa’s fingers? His fingers are taped up all the time! How about that?

          What gamesmanship when Rafa called the trainer during changeover? If not then when? Until they finished the set? Why, when it’s hindering him? It’s not like there’s no changeover and Rafa called the trainer just before Diego was going to serve! What’s all these fuss about?

    • Diego’s first set wasn’t any better than the way he played at NC last year, or at AO this year, still Rafa beat him! Go figure!

      It’s more of Rafa’s level than Diego’s. If Rafa comes out to play like the way he played after the rain delay today, whether Diego plays at his set one level or not, it won’t matter, Rafa will win.

  41. Ben Rothenberg
    “Schwartzman playing well today, but not out of his mind.This is about Nadal being very,very off.”
    Unlike some people Rothenberg knows about tennis, has eyes and a brain and doesn’t make a career out of demeaning Rafa.
    Way to go Ben!!

    • amy,

      Thanks! I just weighed in with my thoughts as you will see. Thanks for posting those thoughts from Rothenberg!

      They always come out and start trolling when Rafa is struggling and they hope he loses. Nothing better to do!

        • Amy,

          I don’t like to hang around here with the crap that gets posted. It is just so predictable. The dumbing down of this site is such a shame. Like I said, I don’t blame VR for leaving.

          Greedy bettors trying to make a buck instead of actually watching the matches and enjoying the competition.

    • There are some posters here that always find a way to lay down Rafa,even when he straight sets everybody! The truth is that some hate him to the moon. Ricky should be cleaning the house here,some things are intolerable and beyond ridiculous!
      In the other hand,I actually enjoy to have the haters close,it makes Rafa’s victories sweet 😉

      • I assume you’re talking about me, Gaviria. I don’t hate Rafa, even if I am fervently hoping that Diego can upset him. However, if you’ve been paying attntion you’ll notice that I often say good things about Nadal and his play.

        Here’s one: he hit one of the best drop shots I’ve seen in a long time, facing set point, against Diego in the 1st set. It was completely unexpected and perfectly executed. Not to mention the sort of shot that it takes serious cojones to hit at that juncture of a match.

        My original comment above was in response to all of Rafa fans finding every conceivable excuse (including the weather!) for his play, and not giving his opponent credit. That happens a lot on this site, imo, and I’m trying to counter it.

        Btw, I picked Nadal to win in straight sets over Diego.

        • Many times I’ve heard you extrapolating Rafa’s minor problems during a match to a overall bad exhibition when that’s not the case at all. I don’t consider you a hater,but many times you take away the merit of Rafa’s in his wins.
          Haters are guys like some Jim,who’s almost unbearable.
          I’ve studied Physics on my graduation and I can tell you that the presence of water in the air and most importantly, on the ground,takes away much of the energy of the ball(in this particular case,the spin from Rafa’s balls) which makes it easier for the opponents to handle his shots. That’s just something that can look completely irrelevant but at the end of the day,it makes a big difference.

          • No doubt the effects of water on the ball are as you describe. However, it’s not obvious that this would have disadvantaged Nadal in this particular match. The broadcast I was watching put up a stat that showed that Schwartzman was hitting the ball with more rpms than Nadal was, and hitting harder (faster) off both wings.

            In any case, blaming Rafa’s loss of the first set on humidity makes about as much sense as blaming his opponent’s loss on the dry air when Nadal wins in hot sunny weather. The weather conditions are part of the game.

          • Surely that’s part of the game,no excuses at all. It’s clear that Rafa struggles with that particular conditions,mainly due to the fact that he’s a counterpuncher by nature. He doesn’t have Federer’s agressive mindset,altough he has the weapons to play that way(and has played very agressively from times to times,remember USO 2010,where he was crushing the ball from any place in the court).
            Just look at Fedal matchup before 2017. The fact that Federer couldn’t handle the spin from Rafa’s forehand with his backhand had been considered for a long time an excuse by Federer fans for the loopsided H2H between them. What do you think,excuse or simply part of the game?

          • Wrong, Diego’s rpm was in the range of 2700 whilst Rafs’s Was 3500. It’s the pace of the shots that Diego’s was quicker – 130+ kph vs Rafa’s 120+ if I’m not wrong.

          • I would never cite that particular dynamic as part of the explanation for the lopsided H2H. It was down to Fed to come up with a solution, which I think he has, namely, to try to take BH on the rise and take time away from Rafa. (Of course it hasn’t been tested on clay).

            A better explanation for the lopsided H2H, imo, is simply that Nadal has been by far the best player on clay for the last 13 + years; and for a long stretch during that period Fed was second best, often losing to Rafa in finals. Hence the 13-2 advantage which Nadal holds on clay, which mostly explains the overall advantage: off clay, it’s 13-10 Fed.

          • to me it was not about the conditions. Rafa just looked out of it. The lack of racket-head speed on any forehand shot (groundstroke, overhead, serve) was alarming.

          • Well,you’re contradicting yourself there. Federer took almost his entire career to realize that by switching to a bigger frame he would be able to rip the ball as hard as he can despite the spin of the ball. He just adapted himself to that particular condition.

          • Good point about Fed fans giving excuses re: Rafa’s topspin FH vs Fed’s BH! It is what it is; Rafa is truly affected by humidity – remember him retiring from the Miami match vs Dzumhur? He’s badly affected by the oppressive weather conditions.

            It’s not an excuse but a reason why Rafa was playing so badly! If not then why? He woke up wrong side of bed? He had a quarrel with his girlfriend the night before?? It’s not like Rafa was playing badly the whole tournament, it’s just this match and it’s not that Diego was playing lights out tennis. I have seen him playing this way against Rafa in the past, and he only won a set on the HCs.

            Joe as usual likes to big up Rafa’s opponents, nothing new there.

          • Absolutely,I remember him saying that he felt way more tired due to the humidity when he played Buenos Aires and Rio,back in 2015.
            Diego was pretty solid,as expected,but not at that extremely high level that many are proclaiming. Rafa being subpar defined the outcome of the first set.

          • Right Gaviria. It’s not that Rafa played well yet Diego beat him, then we’ll say ‘too good!’ but that’s not the case. It’s Rafa playing poorly and that’s our concern.

            Like I said earlier on, Diego always plays this way against Rafa, and their matches are always with long rallies, some cat and mouse chasing after the ball here and there and Diego isn’t/wasn’t playing differently here. It’s Rafa hitting his shots so short so often, landing barely over the service box that allowed Diego to step in to hit his aggressive shots. We saw after the rain delay when Rafa was able to hit with depth, he controlled the points and Diego barely won any.

      • Btw, you seem to be suggesting that I be banned from this site for comments that are, by any measure, not offensive, do not involve profanity, personal insults, etc.

        Meanwhile, I have called for Hawkeye to be banned for actually calling me homophobic and racist, throwing personal insults, profanity, and much more. (You have to go to the betting thread to find anything comparable to the language Hawkeye uses.) Neither you nor anyone else on this site, Rafa, Fed, or other fan, has once supported me, or even suggested to Hawkeye that he tone it down. To me, that says everything I need to know about how much people are concerned with actual offensive behaviour, and how much they are displaying pure fan bias. “He’s an asshole, but he’s our asshole” pretty much sums it up.

        • No joe i was not suggesting in any way shape of form you be banned! My comments were not about you but Jim who spams the threads with abuse of rafa so we can’t even discuss what is going on!! This may not be a rafa can site but his behaviour is completely out of line .He was insulting Nole yesterday constantly and I was defending him for ages. I have better things to do frankly!!

        • Ricky, it’s not so much the playing conditions (game wise), it’s the conditions that affected Rafa physically (he’s using ice towel, Diego too but Diego looked less affected physically). He looked lethargic out there, hence the lack of foot speed, rackethead speed, mistiming his shots etc. After the rain delay, I believe he’s in physically better conditions hence he’s hitting with depth, not mistiming his shots and serving better too; no ice towel needed.

          I really feel that its similar to that FO2014 final when he and Djoko were badly affected physically by the weather conditions.

          • Nah, not anyone, there’s a guy called Djoko!

            So Ricky what’s your explanation about why Rafa played so badly?

          • Look at it this way. He was hurt for several months before Monte Carlo. He came back and played great for one tournament. He wasn’t as good after that in Barcelona, losing in Madrid, having some close matches in Rome and close sets at RG. Of course he’s being measured against the extremely high standard that he’s set. However, despite some great play here and there, he’s clearly not been as good overall for the last month and a half as he was in MC.

            The most likely explanation, imo, is a combination of nagging injury and inevitable decline with age, which are related. That’s why he doesn’t look 100%, but it may well be that that standard of 100% isn’t coming back again. Nadal hasn’t had to face anyone of consequence thus far at RG, and his first really tough opponent has taken a set off him. Maybe he comes back and wins this match, but at this level he’ll have a very hard time making it past the SF.

  42. I never said Diego played the best tennis he could: I said he played sensationally well, which he did. The key point is that he played better than Rafa in the first set, that’s all. Nadal was obviously not his best, but nor was he at his 2015 level from the baseline (granted, his serve was atrocious).

    Amy, it’s hilarious that you complain about masculine ego but want another man (Hawkeye) to come save you. A suggestion: if you want to throw puerile insults (which is mostly what Hawkeye does), why not think up some yourself?

    • Joe always saying the same thing, but fact is Rafa not playing as well as before is still better than others. You know how many sets the other remaining opponents already dropped this FO?

      If injury is not a concern for Rafa, I doubt he’ll play poorly again to lose here.

  43. Gaviria: I should have said: “I would never cite that particular dynamic as an excuse for Fed’s losses”. It obviously sounds like you’re trying to come up with something else to say besides the obvious: Fed got beat by the better player on the day.

    In the first set, I think Nadal got beat by the better player. I agree with Ricky that the weather conditions didn’t have much to do with it. Diego played great, and Nadal, not so much.

    • That’s always those margins in any sport,particularly in tennis,someone has the ascendant and someone is down on the scoreboard,trying to level it and turning the match around.
      I give credit to Schwartz,he proved to be a mentally strong player. If it was Anderson playing instead of him,he probably would have find a way to choke that set,despite Rafa poor play.

  44. Does anyone even account for barometric pressure? You know the pressure affects the ball bounce especially right before a storm. Barometric pressure matters so much that lots of people suffer joint pain right before a storm too.

  45. I just visit this site to see Rafa fan comments . For the Rafa Fans here, Rafa is more than family 🙂 Hope he regroups and plays a good match tomorrow atleast for NNY and hawkeyes sake .

    Ricky, if you get to meet Rafa , inform him about his super fans in this site.

    Rafa would have had few more slams had it not been for injuries, AO 2014 , FO2016 comes to mind immediately . Same can be said for other players as well . Hence Injury struggle is part and parcel of the game .

  46. Weather forecast for resumption of Nadal match: no rain (at least until later in the afternoon) but heavy humidity (94%).

  47. augusta posted yesterday as below

    Humidity on Thursday (according to AccuWeather):
    at 12pm: 73%
    at 1pm: 69%
    at 2pm: 66%
    at 3 pm: 62%

    how are you saying 91%..has it changed suddenly?

  48. After the first few games, Rafa was dripping with sweat from head to toe and his sweaty hands were affecting the grip on his racquet. I watched the match again and whilst Diego played extremely well, Rafa mad a huge amount of errors at crucial times and he wasn’t serving well. He was far more in control after the rain delay.

    Luckystar, one thing that bugs me is why Rafa religiously go for his opponent’s backhand when he could easily play a winner down the line as his opponent is on the other side of the court waiting to hit a backhand?

    • Exactly nadline, I was asking the same question during the match. I feel Rafa wasn’t thinking clearly out there, he was just going through the same old game plan he had for most players without thinking. I guess he’s mentally mixed up during the match. Time and again he just hit right back at Diego when there’s an open court out there! It’s really brain freeze from Rafa! Had he done what we thought he should do, he might not even lose the first set!

      I feel that’s the problem with Rafa being a counterpuncher, he relied a lot on his tennis brain, his tactical mind and if he’s ‘messed up’ up there, his game would suffer.

      • They would have watched the video of the game overnight to see where he was going wrong. Fingers crossed, he’ll play more attacking tennis today.

        Vamos Rafa!

  49. I think Rafa will go on court & blast Speedy Schwartzy in 4 today…He must be going home & think…”Gee!…is that me playing like c@#$!…A’ah!..No way i’m going to play like that today!”…

    So,Rafa will go on court with his warrior face & attitude & determination like never before,while thinking..”so,u wanna teach me how to play tennis,HERE??AT ROLAND GARROS??OFF ALL PLACES??? HAH SHORTY???LET’S PLAYYY THEN!!!”..

    [Short story]..2 hrs later,Rafa will VAMOSING & us fans will screaming joying while kicking sofa[till it looks like Stanley face,hehe]…And we’re all will live happily ever after[At least till tomorrow!heh heh]…

    THE END!

  50. Rafa felt the nerves and pressure so much yesterday they completely crippled his game! He couldn’t move freely and was completely mistiming the ball. When he gets really nervous as in 2015 he hits very short, has brain freezes, and just about never hits his dtl shots.
    I really really hope he comes out calmer today as he has been starting very badly.
    Please be calm rafa!!!

  51. My impression was Rafa was playing so badly yesterday that it must have been some niggling injury which made him so inferior and constantly losing his serve. I wish I was wrong but I still think there is something bothering Rafa given how bad his first serve is atm which actually deteriorated big since MC.
    Before this match I said I would have preferred Anderson meeting as that match would have not been as physically demanding as when facing Diego. I guess Diego was right when saying he learned some tricks against Rafa while practicing with him and that he would use it…
    Whether people want to accept it or not conditions now play big part on Rafa’s game. Why else would tennis analysts and players themselves say “wet conditions disadvantaged Rafa”. They should know! Rafa’s top spin is neutralized in wet conditions, and given that as he ages his ground strokes lose depth and strength especially with heavy balls he loses rallies more than often. Rafa’s speed and his on court position are also impacted which all puts Diego in position to win points with aggressive play. However, it’s Rafa who allows him to play offensive tennis as I think he becomes aware of his disadvantages in wet conditions. I also learned by now and everyone else who follows Rafa that he struggles in humidity. Fed for instance hates playing under sun and he prefers night matches. That’s tge way it is.
    However, even though Rafa was below par yesterday the Eurosport five most beautiful shots included two of Rafa’s from this match taking the Ni 1 and No 2 spot! Rafa would have regrouped anyway even if there were no rain interruptions. He is the King after all!

    Vamos Champ!

  52. The problem is Rafa, when play is resumed, will in effect be serving for the 2nd set. We know only too well he is slow out of the blocks at the best of times. If he loses the game he could well be facing a TB. The longer the match goes on the greater the risk they could have more rain breaks.

    #Damn the weather

  53. Joe Smith JUNE 7, 2018 AT 3:34 AM

    I thought it was a bit of gamesmanship on Rafa’s part when he called for a trainer just as Diego was about to serve for the set. He could have waited until the set was over.
    _______________________________________________________________________________________
    Rafa called for the trainer long before his servis game not before Diego was about to serve. It wasn’t his fault that the trainer came just befor Diego’s serve but Rafa sent him away saying he’d wait until after the next game.

  54. The commentator just said: “we can expect a totally different aggressive Nadal today since it’s sunny out here”..

  55. You dont get a 2nd bite of the cherry against Nadal. I wonder how many matces he’s lost after a delay. You either beat him on the one day or not at all. Smanwill require a mini-miracle now.

    • Of course he will because he’s ultra opportunistic and knows he should be in the locker room heading home to Mallorca.

  56. C’mon SMan, stay strong. Nadal will try and make this match quick work. stay with him and once he feels the pressure again, it will be FAIR play again.

  57. Why should he be in locker room heading to home ? Cause he lost first set ? Regardless he still would have won this match with or without the rain break

    • Good one. Down one set and a break and the way things were heading he would be in Mallorca right now sipping cocktails

  58. You obviously don’t rate Nadal much on clay . Down a set and a break ain’t nothing .. everyone , including all experts and bookies still had Nadal at huge odds to still win match which he would have easily . A lot of ppl come back from a set and a break and they ain’t Nadal who is the GOAT . But all good cause your man s is going home now . Bye 👋

  59. Momentum is a huge factor. Imagine how much coaching and guidance he got during the break.

    As soon as the rain came, the macth was over and the officials new it.

  60. The accumulated pressure from SMAN and Delpo should be Nadal’s undoing. He will be nervous going into the match against Delpo if he wins today!

  61. …and Del Potro is in the kind of form that prducing a big upset on Phillipe Chatrier is definately on the cards.

    • I would have been less anxious if they were 1 set all overnight; I kept wondering, what if Rafa doesn’t hold his serve from 30:15 this morning. As soon as he won the 2nd set I thought he had a 90% chance of taking the match.

  62. Courier saying that Rafa’s defense is better today as well owing to the clay not being muggy enabling him to slide into shots and retrieve more

    • I think Rafa played a more attacking game today not feeding Diego balls to hit winners. Rafa also made fewer errors. The humidity bothered him yesterday.

  63. Have a look at the score difference now. Yep, Nadal is just having a better day today. The amount of get out of jail cards this guy gets is incredible.

  64. Hope that break is decisive. They showed a stat saying that Diego has carved one of the most number of break points against Rafa at Roland Garros. (17 till now). Roger had 17 in the 2007 final(he converted one), Murray had 18 in the 2011 semi and Novak had 17 when he beat him in 2015.

  65. What a disappointment. the difference between SMAN potentially winning an RG or not is a friggin rain delay. Thats how much luck is involved in this game.

  66. What a disappoinment, the guy was on fire and turned up to give Nadal the match of his life only to be robbed by uncontrollable events and a rare, desperate, opportunitisitc invidual at the other end that dosnt give 2nd chances.

  67. Did you see the way Nadal spoke to the ball boys/girls. Orders them around like they’re peasants 2000 years ago.

  68. Rafa is really dumb playing those points when serving for the match, keeps going CC to Diego’s BH when he’s standing there waiting!

    He really makes life difficult for himself, wasted precious energy, really unnecessary. He can attack Diego’s BH only by stepping inside the court to push Diego back. If he’s hitting it CC from behind the baseline, he’s giving Diego plenty of time to move his legs to get into position to hit a sharp angled CC BH or a DTL BH!

    He wins in the end so what a relief!

    • +1 to Rafa is really dumb. Yep, he’s not the sharest tool inthe shed but who said you need to be to win tennis matches!

    • Yeah!…Very agree Lucky!…I don’t know what’s wrong with him??Didn’t he know that he should save his energy as much as possible for tomorrow & maybe on sunday too??Why he wants to rally when he could ended the points very quickly??I don’t understand how his mind working!

      Let’s say he win tomorrow..maybe another 3 @ 3 1/2 hrs?…Did he still have an energy to fight with much younger & fit Thiem on sunday?

  69. For many years this was the only site where there were only fans,no haters but unfortunately everything has changed and this site has become full of haters and everybody knows about whom I am talking.

  70. I think Rafa played his usual game, not worse and that’s about enough for Diego. Diego played at the same level as yesterday but this time around Rafa’s top spins were too much to handle. Rafa’s nervous in key moments when serving for the set & match and making some UEs was expected given that Rafa’s serve is a liability atm and Rafa is always aware of his weaknesses…Rafa is genius and he is his worst critic! However, his game was good enough to compensate for the lousy serving..,

    Great win for our Rafa! Rafa never lost in RG when reaching semis! Let it be the same this time!

    Vamos Champ!

  71. Rafa too good in the end and he just overpowered a dogged Schwartzman. Diego played a really good 1st set and a half, and he was unlucky with the rain delay, but it was always going to be hard to sustain that level he was playing at anyway. Hit about 20 winners in the first set, surely that’s up there near his personal best.

    The winner of Cilic/Delpo will have more firepower but it’ll still be very difficult to get sets off Nadal. Ideally they will want damp/overcast conditions, but not rain delays. Delays in the match will generally help Rafa, since he’s the better player and he’s so good at hitting the reset button.

    • Yep, damp conditions may mean rain delays again and that’s when Rafa makes his fight back or comeback should he fall behind earlier on. It’s a double edged sword, so, it’s still not an ideal condition for his opponents, like what Sasha and Diego had experienced.

      In the past when Rafa was younger he’s not so worried about the court or the weather conditions as he’s physically fit and tough enough to handle all situations/conditions no matter what. However, now that he’s older and physically not as fit as before, he’s more worried (his fans too) about the weather, the court conditions, his own health, etc.

      I hope the weather is fine enough for the two SFs to be completed within the day so that there’s no unfairness to the finalist who plays the later SF.

  72. I thought he was never going to close out that set. Feared he was overthinking at one point. Joy to see him back on form.

    Delpo and Cilic still battling it out. Would prefer it was Cilic for the SF: Rafa could handle him more easily.

  73. Lunch time for me here and that’s the greatest news I could get,Rafa being able to turn around the match without many problems.
    I want do dedicate this vitory to Jim,kiss in the shoulder 😉
    Vamos King 💪👑🎾

  74. Watched Djokovic post match presser earlier. He was devastated over the loss and basically refused to answer questions. Wouldn’t be a surprise if he decided to walk away into the sunset.

    • Hope he doesn’t, he is good for the game. Surely the other tennis players would be sad to c him go!

      I am a Rafa fan but Novak being one of Rafa’s fiercest competitors, has brought a lot to the game! It would be sad indeed if he walks away. He still has time in the rest of the season to make up.

    • I can understand Djokovic’s disappointment at losing but he is sending confused messages. After he his match

      In his press conference after his match against Jaume Munar he said:
      (CNN)His stellar career is in a slump, but Novak Djokovic says struggling at tennis means nothing when “people are starving to death.”

      Then he looks totally distraught when he lost. One minute tennis is no longer important, the next minute it is.

  75. @ Rafa better than fed ,

    Not only that I love you monicker but I want to congratulate you on your great prediction for the reminder of the match! Keep up the good work! 💪

    I imagine how much your monicker annoys you know who so please stick around 😁

  76. Glad to read he’s managed to turn this around without too much fuss, yesterday was a pain to watch for a Rafa fan, honestly, I don’t care how well the other guy played.
    Hope Rafa has enough of everything to win this yet another time

  77. Rafa tweeted before the match today saying ready Vamos. Seeing that tweet gave me confidence this will be done today. Tennis analyst Craig who covered the practice said Rafa was hitting the cover off the ball.

    Mira – your prediction was right.

    what do you think about tomorrow? Delpo (:-

    • Sanju!….I was right??Oh!!…About my prediction up there?Hehe…Honestly Sanju…If it’s sunny like today,i have no doubt Rafa would win again..insyaallah maybe in 3…But,if it’s condition once again will be wet,cold,rainy…i’m not surprised if the Rafa of yesterday who will come out to play…The biggest problem imo is not the weather…It’s Rafa vs Rafa that makes me worried so much…His nerves will overrode everything,start playing passively,stupid UE’s will spray everywhere..Rallying all day long..It’s very much depend of how long Rafa will be lost in Twilight Zone and also to the rain delay…If it’s happen,then Rafa will be safe…If not…Remember,it happened 3 times already[as far as i remember]…With Nole in 2012,Rome with sascha..and with Diego yesterday..And Rafa came out rejuvenated & victorius…

      But,at the same time..Rafa could come out firing all cylinder,knowing that he’s already in the semis…And he’s not that ‘afraid’ to DelPo..compared with Diego..But,I expect we’re once again will ride a very violent roller coaster tomorrow Sanju!…So,be ready to fasten your seat belt okay!..trust me on this!!…Yeeehaaa!!

  78. Schwartz potentially winning RG if there was no rain delay..haha..did I just read this? How hilarious is that..So rain delays now decide slam winners ..wow..and rafa has incredible power to summon rain gods..or maybe God loves him more than others 🙂 If he has both those powers good for him 🙂

    • No, it’s good ol’ Uncle Toni who can control the rain, lol! Vamos Il Magio!

      Very relieved to see Rafa finish the match in style!

      I’d like to see Delpo in the semis. Don’t like Cilic and Delpo needs a break.

  79. Sanju… as much as I can understand your need to say something
    I wouldn’t bother..
    You’re just adding more wood to the bonfire

  80. Oh boy… I PRAY that the Rafa-Del Po semi is as epic as it has the potential to be! I hope both guys are healthy and that it’s not a straight sets rout. I know all you Rafanatics on here would prefer a routine straight sets win for Rafa (which is very well could be). 🙂 But these guys have had so many great battles, and I hope we get another.

    Del Po came DANGEROUSLY close to making the RG final in 2009, and I probably would have favored him over Soderling in the final. But Fed was just far and away the 2nd best clay courted at that time, so he wasn’t about to miss out on the opportunity to face someone not named Nadal in the final.

    As a side note, I actually realized the other day that that RG title did not come as easily as you would think that year… I had totally forgotten that he was actually on the brink of going out in the 4th round just like Rafa! Haas had him on the ropes and was 2 sets to love up on him! Was he even up a break in the 3rd set or something? I don’t know. But then Fed was on the brink of losing to Del Po in the semis. And only a few months later Del Po became the first guy to beat Fed AND Rafa in the same major en route to the title. If I recall correctly, I think Del Po actually started struggling physically in the 4th or 5th set of that semifinal match? I barely remember watching that match, but I know I watched it.

    I’m not saying that Del Po would have won had he not had physical issues that day, but he certainly would have had a shot. But physical conditioning/fitness/health is such a key part of clay court tennis, especially in Bo5. Fed played quite well, though, and you could see he was desperate to get to the Final again.

    Anyway, even if Rafa destroys Del Po tomorrow, my hope is that Del Po at least doesn’t get affected by physical issues mid-match like in 2009. Whoever loses tomorrow, I hope it’s strictly because they were outplayed by the other guy, and not because of injury or physical issues.

  81. As of now, it looks like there’s no rain in the forecast at least until 4 pm tomorrow in Paris. But there is a little lightning logo next to “Friday”, so I’m confused… Naybe the storms aren’t starting until the evening? I can only see until 4 pm on my app right now… But it looks like there are going to be thunderstorms all weekend long. This could be a year where they have to do a Monday final!

    • The thunderstorm isn’t for a whole day so tennis can still be played. For Fri the forecast is mostly cloudy with a bit of sun and thunderstorm at 7pm; temperatures about 75-78 degrees with humidity at 60+%.

      I hope Thiem’s match doesn’t drag too long so that Rafa/Delpo can start on time or only may be half an hour delay.

  82. Play starts at 1pm

    Marco CECCHINATO (ITA) vs Dominic THIEM (AUT)[7]

    Not before 3.30pm
    Rafael NADAL (ESP) [1] vs Juan Martin DEL POTRO (ARG) [5]

  83. Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High around 80F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

  84. Again a stupid schedule. Schedule which should have been changed given the weather forecast. French Open is a medieval era Grand Slam.

  85. “After the first rain delay, the match changed a lot because I played more aggressively with high intensity and things were more on my side,” Nadal said.

    “Before it, I was not opening the court with the backhand. I was playing too behind the baseline. He was taking the ball earlier than me.

    “I had the feeling he had control of the point too many times to have the chance to be successful.”

    “I was playing poorly, and my opponent was playing better. You can’t always find the excuses or positive things about the external things,” he said.

    “You have to find causes within yourself. The changes were not the sun or the rain.”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/44398392

    • Exactly. The causes were within himself, he’s certainly not going to blame the weather for that as he couldn’t control the weather; unlike some people blaming the rain and the delay for Rafa to get lucky and turned the match around.

  86. Just finished watching Rafa-Diego. Obviously Nadal came out a different player today, and Diego came out flat. So it was a bit of role reversal, and 3rd set was all Rafa. In that last game I thought Diego started to find his groove, and there was some great tennis. Had he been able to break I think it would have given him some confidence that he could actually win. But although he had several chances into the next set, Nadal played the break points against him brilliantly, and almost always came up with a great point. Diego’s miss on the easy overhead was the nail in the coffin, imo. That, and improved Nadal serving, was the difference in the last set. Otherwise they were pretty even from the baseline. Congrats to him on a convincing win against a very tough opponent.

    I thought Nadal was playing great except for his serve, which still is a question mark. He is still the favourite but he is beatable by either Delpo or Theim (haven’t seen enough of Cecchinato to judge).

      • Beatable? Have you watched Delpo vs Cilic? Delpo almost lost sets that might cost him the match had Cilic not choked while serving for the third set. Cilic was also leading in the fourth but got broken back by Delpo when he played some lose points. The way Delpo played, and if he continues to play like that, he’s going to lose to Rafa in straight sets! I would say this Delpo is beatable.

        Diego had his chances at BPs but Rafa was always brilliant saving BPs, even during set one (if not he would’ve lost the set 6-1!). Rafa was brilliant at the net and Diego had no answer even when he got to those drop shots. Rafa simply has a well rounded game, it’s only his serve that’s lagging behind the other parts of his game, but his second serve is still good enough hence he’s still winning his service games more often then not.

        • You said you felt Rafa may lose to Schwartzman early on in the match. Now Rafa is going up against Del Po and you say he isn’t beatable at all? Seems like it just simply irks you for a Fed fan to doubt whether Rafa will win next round (that being said, I believe he wins in five)

          • Benny, the way Rafa played that first set, if he continued playing that way he would lose. Did he continue to play that way? NO, and that’s why he won in the end!

            It has nothing to do with Fed fan or not, even a Rafa fan saying that I would respond in the same way. Please don’t think so highly of you all as Fed fans!

            Do you believe that Rafa playing like the way he did in set three and four of his QF match would lose to Delpo? Have you all not watched Delpo’s match vs Cilic? I watched that match concurrently with the Rafa/Diego match; Delpo was fortunate not to lose the third set; Cilic wasn’t even on fire to start with.

  87. by: STEVE FLINK | June 07, 2018

    “Given that reprieve, drawing on all of his big match experience, remembering who he was and what he has accomplished, today we saw once more the essential Nadal. We witnessed the sport’s all-time-best clay-court player back, much closer to his zenith. He rediscovered his spark. He no longer allowed Schwartzman to be the player who ruled the rallies. He found his range. His shots crackled. His incomparable forehand was on song. His serve—so vulnerable the day before—was delivered with much more impressive power and precision.

    Add it all up, and under the circumstances, there could have been no other result: Nadal surged past a resolute Schwartzman, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, and into the semifinals…………

    “At the beginning yesterday, there were no options to open up the court to win points. Today I moved forward and I had a better backhand. I was able to open the court on his forehand. Yesterday I was not able to do so and I was not gaining ground. When I was able to do that, I was able to win the match.”

    This is not a man with a muddled mind. Nadal’s tactical acuity and intelligence is as extraordinary as his shotmaking skills. His capacity to think his way through difficult matches, to keep probing until he finds solutions, to consider any option, is second to none in this sport.”

    http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2018/06/rafael-nadal-diego-schwartzman-french-open-2018-quarterfinals/74487/

    • Good article from Steve Flink who is one of my favorite tennis analysts.
      He pointed out something very important: Rafa’s ability to analyse a situation and find solutions may be second to none. Therefore it’s hardly surprising that he comes back stronger when he had some time to think it over.
      Then there is also the question of stamina. While Rafa is still extremely fit, at the age of 32, a break could be an advantage when he plays against younger guys like Zverev or Thiem.

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