Rafael Nadal will begin his bid for a 10th French Open title when he takes the court on Tuesday against Quentin Halys. John Isner and Andreas Seppi are also in first-round action.
(WC) Quentin Halys vs. (6) Rafael Nadal
Something will have to give when it comes to Nadal’s 2015 French Open campaign. Will his 66-1 lifetime record and nine titles end up making the difference on his way to a 10th triumph at Roland Garros? Or will current form (Nadal is 25-9 this season with five setbacks on clay) continue and send the Spaniard to a rare loss in Paris? He fell prior to the finals in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Rome and got crushed by Andy Murray in the Madrid title match, but Nadal has won the French Open on five straight occasions since getting upset by Robin Soderling in 2009.
Up first for the world No. 7 on Tuesday is Halys, who played his first match at the ATP level last week (he replaced Gilles Simon as a lucky loser) and lost to James Duckworth in Nice. This is, of course, the 18-year-old Frenchman’s debut appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam; he was previously unsuccessful in two Roland Garros qualifying attempts before getting a wild card this time around. Halys won the junior doubles title at this event in 2014 and he finished runner-up in singles a few months later at the U.S. Open. A first-ever meeting with Nadal will be a good experience for the youngster, but it is an experience that will not last long.
Pick: Nadal in 3 losing 8-10 games
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Andreas Seppi vs. (16) John Isner
Isner and Seppi will be squaring off for the third time in their careers on Tuesday. Both of their previous encounters have gone the distance; Isner prevailed 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-4 in the 2010 Australian Open first round before Seppi got the job done at home in Italy with a 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 victory on the clay courts of Rome in 2012.
It is hard to see this one being similarly competitive. Seppi has been dealing with a back injury and has not won a single match since Indian Wells. Isner, on the other hand, has been in outstanding form since reaching the fourth round in the desert and the semis in Miami. The 16th-ranked American has won at least two matches in all four of his European clay-court events. Although it is a tough draw on paper for Isner, his fortnight should get off to a routine start.
Pick: Isner in 3
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I think that French kid did well. It was a respectable scoreline. But there’s not too much to read into this one. Rafa looked good, forehand was good, serving good. The next match will be more challenging.
Rafa is moving on!
Well put! Rafa put up a solid performance but there is not much to read into this. Rafa is making progress and I hope he plays like he always does. He has a tougher match coming up and he will be ready.
Rafa has played some good tennis this clay season but he has found maintaining that level very tough. If he can stay consistent and gradually improve his level in his first four matches (assuming he keeps winning), he will put himself in a good position to have a good chance to beat novak.
Okay, three more matches to go . It’s going to get tougher and tougher. Prove the doubters wrong, rafa!
You mean us, right VR? 😉
hahaha…i guess you are right. All of us have doubted him lately …haha..
and well we should, doubt him, which is not saying much other than a bit of objectivity
but far from me (don’t know about you 🙂 from wishing him a loss this fortnight
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CF79KpBVIAImpbJ.png
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CF79NJNVIAEcyHs.png
Nicely done, one day less. Rafa was very focussed today
could not see the match except for the last few games…from what I have seen Rafa could have finished a bit earlier if he capitalized on that break point…Rafa seemed a little nervous in the first set judging by your comments…I hope Rafa feels the court well…Rafa should feel at home no matter what… 🙂
Vamos for the 10th!
Rafa has enjoyed incredible amount of success playing at Court PC so there must be something about the court that really suits him. I know the level of clay court tennis he plays at is the main reason behind his success there but perhaps the court’s unique elements suit his game most!
The court is the largest court in tennis and rafa feels more at ease! He once commented that smaller courts make the conditions a little quicker for him. On PC, he feels more comfortable and his ROS is also a little better. He has more space to defend as well. On average there is always more wind on PC than on any other clay court in e world and rafa has manages the margins of playing there perfectly.
I thought that Rafa got better as the match went on. This kid didn’t give him much rhythm and also tried to serve and volley, but that was never going to work against Rafa. Rafa wasn’t tested, but this was a chance for him to test his groundstrokes and get the feel of the court and just get himself going.
There was never any doubt that Rafa would win this one. I am not going to read too much into, but a win is a win and Rafa is moving on.
I thought that Cahill had some good thoughts about Rafa’s game. I really like the respect he gives him. His sense was that Rafa would prefer to play Almagro, because he will give him more rhythm than the funky game of Dolgo. But he thought Rafa’s forehand was really good.
Nico beats Dolgo in 4…………….
snap ritb!!!
snapitty dum indeedy!
Almagro next for Rafa after defeating Dolgopolov in a 4th set TB. Dolgo had set point on his serve before Almagro ran off the last three points to win. I was hoping they were headed to a 5th.
Plenty of UE by Novak!
wow…Jarko leading 3-1 30-0
As I predicted a few days ago, I fully expect that the French will put Rafa on Lenglen against Almagro to take away the back of the court from Rafa. Probably later in the day also.
Rafa always plays his 2nd round match on SL. Last year he opened the defence of his title on SL because they had some important guests on Lenglen on that day.
always or just last year and this year?
All Rafa’s 2nd round matches as far as I can remember have been on SL. Last year he played his 1st round match on SL and his 2nd round match on PC.
So much for all then LOL.
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interesting … I think
thank you gussie
So 4 of 6 or 66.7% or one more than half.
But certainly nowhere near “all”.
INcroyable!!!!!!!
OUTcroyable
Novak forced to work hard…
Fed is on SL tomorrow. The schedule is not out yet for the show courts on Thursday which is wehn Rafa plays Almagro. I’m sure it will be on SL as usual.
Which poor lamb is Fed slaughtering tomorrow?
Marcel G.
Nieminen had BP to go 5-1 up! Novak recovers and reduces the deficit to 4-2. Nieminen has outplayed him throughout the set but it might not be easy to maintain his lead to snag the set.
It’s funny watching this because the tennis channel commentators have been running out of superlatives about Novak right from the beginning. One might he can walk on water listening to them! 🙂
lol….but resilient defense by Novak to prevent Jarko from winning the set. I guess he will get this done in straight sets now.
but he can! walks on water 🙂 didn’t you know?
Rafael Nadal was calm and relaxed when he reached his first post-match press conference in Paris after having beaten French qualifier Quentin Halys. On the other side of the room there are kids climbing the bushes, showing a poster: “There is only one king of clay and it is not Djoko, but Rafa Nadal!”. Rafael smiles to the kids and shows his thumb in appreciation.
http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Rafael-Nadal-I-Asked-the-ATP-For-Bernardes-Not-to-Umpire-my-Matches-articolo24126.html
Nice to see that Rafa is getting support from the kids!
I also thought it was interesting that Rafa did confirm that he asked the tournament not to have Bernardes umpiring his matches. Rafa would not do anything like that lightly, so you know that this was serious for him. I remember that match with Fognini in Rio. That was a nightmare. You could hear Rafa saying to Bernardes that he didn’t want him umpiring his matches anymore. But Rafa was gracious and said it’s not personal and it’s not forever. I kind of like Rafa standing up for himself.
me too… 🙂
Full support to Rafa. After all Bernades is part paid by Rafa *(through the ATP) so Rafa is well within his rights to give a disrespectful employee his marches orders…………..
Jarko is running out of steam now
yep…this will be over soon…and Jarko did his best but Novak was just superb in some of the rallies…
This is what confidence does for a player. Novak didn’t panic and just kept it together and managed to come back from 5-1 down to take the set. Rafa also was very good at doing that so many times in his career.
Confidence is everything. A players starts thinking he can’t lose. But I just felt some satisfaction that at least Novak had to work for it and for a bit there he didn’t look quite as unbeatable and amazing as the tennis channel commentators think!
All of the hyperbole from the commentators aside, Novak is really playing extremely well.
BUT – I do not think he can walk on water! 🙂
RT @linzsports: “I’m sensing that Djokovic is a little tight out there. It’s almost like there’s some pressure on his shoulders at this tournament.”
“some” pressure… 🙂
I’ve turned the sound off on Djoker’s match because the commies were getting on my nerves. In fact I took a break for a 45 mins walk because I didn’t particularly want to watch it I just wanted to know the result.
Grisha down a set to Sock………
Grisha down 2 sets to love to Sock……….