Fellow seeds and recent Rome opponents Fabio Fognini and Alexander Zverev will begin their Roland Garros campaigns on Monday. Fognini is facing Frances Tiafoe, while Zverev hopes to keep his hot streak going a the expense of Fernando Verdasco.
Frances Tiafoe vs. (28) Fabio Fognini
Fognini and Tiafoe will be squaring off for the first time in their careers when they clash in round one of the French Open on Monday. This is a showdown between two considerable talents who are unafraid to play high-risk, high-reward tennis from the back of the court. At just 19 years old, Tiafoe is starting to put it all together and he is being rewarded with a ranking of No. 66 in the world (one spot off his career-high). The American won two clay-court Challenger titles this spring, so his preparation for Roland Garros has been just about ideal.
The same cannot be said for Fognini, who has other things on his mind aside from tennis at the moment. He pushed Nadal to three sets in Madrid and showed signs of making a big run at home in Rome by upsetting world No. 1 Andy Murray in the second round, but his motivation level dipped against Alexander Zverev one match later with the birth of his first child imminent. That birth did, in fact, take place during the Rome event. The 29th-ranked Italian has been his typical self in 2017, with wild fluctuations in form (from a semifinal showing in Miami, for example, to five-opening match losses). This is a massive opportunity for Tiafoe to pick up his second–and biggest–Grand Slam main-draw win.
Pick: Tiafoe in 5
[polldaddy poll=9756934]
(9) Alexander Zverev vs. Fernando Verdasco
Zverev has been one of the best players on the entire tour this season and he is coming off the biggest title of his career at the Rome Masters, but the French Open draw gave him no rewards. The 20-year-old German could face Pablo Cuevas in the third round and Kei Nishikori in the last 16 just to reach the quarterfinals. Before that, however, Zverev must survive an opening date with Verdasco on Tuesday. The head-to-head series stands at 1-1, with Verdasco getting the job done 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-3 on the indoor hard courts of Metz before Zverev just recently prevailed 7-5, 6-3 in the Madrid first round.
Zverev’s Rome run included wins over Fognini, Milos Raonic, John Isner, and Novak Djokovic–the latter via a 6-4, 6-3 victory in the final. He is into the top 10 for the first time and he is somewhere between confident enough and cocky enough to know he belongs there–and thus he is likely to stay there rather than fizzle out. Verdasco, a former top 10 player (career-high of No. 7) , currently finds himself at 37th now that he appears to have exited his prime at 33 years old. The Spaniard, who is a mediocre 14-11 this season, will likely be the victim of too many backhand-to-backhand rallies against the red-hot Zverev.
Pick: Zverev in 4
[polldaddy poll=9756131]
NNY, Rafa certainly can/could make people like him the first time we see/saw him play! I, like you, was immediately captivated by Rafa’s style of play – his passion, his never gave up attitude, his relentless pursuit of every point, his joy when he won the point, very often leaping into the air doing his fist pumping, his fearless fight vs Fed. I was thinking to myself, how could anyone not like a player who gave his all out there?
The first match I saw of Rafa was against Fed; like you I was told of this Spanish kid who could beat Fed when everybody else couldn’t, so I made a point to watch a Fed match, vs this kid. From then it’s all Rafa for me!
Rafa wasn’t a flawless hero, unlike that Fed where everybody except me thought of him (Fed) as perfect. From the beginning, I’d already disliked Fed, from the smug look he had, each time he defeated a player like Roddick, who looked helpless against Fed. Rafa despite his not so great serve, not yet well rounded or polished game back then, was already good enough to beat most guys, not without some roller coaster type of ups and downs in some of his matches, where his mental fortitude was put to the test and many times he passed those test!
What’s fascinating about Rafa and his style of play that some people don’t appreciate, is that it’s more difficult to play his style with success and for so long, than Fed’s style for example. It’s not about Fed’s varieties etc that I’m talking about (recognizing his great varieties and not many players could play like him), but it’s about his first strike tennis style vs Rafa’s counter punching style. To me it’s more challenging to play the counterpunching style to win, than playing first strike tennis to win.
Rafa could play the counterpunching style for so long and he’s still winning matches and big titles, it’s certainly a difficult thing to do, when most counterpunchers would have been gone or become irrelevant by Rafa’s age now. Rafa is certainly a special player in my eyes, for not only surviving for so long despite all his injuries, but still remaining relevant and fighting for big titles and staying in the top ten since 2005!
Lucky,
Thanks so much for sharing how you found Rafa! Great to read! You expressed so many of the things I loved about him and his game and the passion and fire he brought to his matches! You and I saw the same things in Rafa that appealed to us. Thank you for saying it all so well! I always loved the counter puncher. That’s why I loved Borg! I enjoy that kind of tennis more than Fed’s brand. While I respect Fed’s game as a tennis fan, his persona on court left me cold.
I couldn’t bear to watch Roddick get beaten I over and over by Fed. I think Fed really got in Roddick’s head with all those losses he suffered.
You have such a wonderful tennis mind and really got to the heart of what makes Rafa so special!
Thanks again for sharing!
?
Yeah Lucky!…Agree with Nny!…It’s really great to read your version of Rafa and everything that related to him…Thank u for writing such a wonderful ‘analysis’ about Rafa Lucky!!..And i’m looking forward to read more of your great tennis mind and opinion here Lucky….It’s a pleasure…
Thanks both of you for your compliments!
Your much welcome Lucky!!
I Have always have appreciated Federers talent and artistry for the game, its just the nauseating fawning that some of his fans bestow upon him that gets irritating, Virginia Wade, Annabelle Croft oh my goodness talk about OTT, even some of the commies cant resist bringing him up in matches, even though hes not even playing the FO, watching the Tsonga match yesterday and i think it was Chris Bradman that said about Olivio that was sublime Federer like, go figure ….
And i love to watch Rafa and the way his feet dance from side to side on this surface ….
@ littlefoot MAY 30, 2017 AT 8:52 PM
I wish there was a facility for ‘like’ on Tenngrand. It was the excessive media adulation and promotion of Fed that turned me off plus I don’t like his game unless when he is pushed. I hated how players used to feel privileged to play against him, virtually handing him matches because they felt they shouldn’t beat him. Farah actually said so after failing to serve for the match against Federer at Wimbledon in 2010, losing the final set 60 to Federer because he didn’t want to beat him.
Rafa on the other hand, didn’t buy into the adulation and got the upper hand against Fed right from his first match. So did Murray and Djokovic. Rafa says the ‘right’ things that all players are expected to say such as Federer is the greatest etc. but can’t really believe it deep down. I prefer Rafa’s style 100% because he plays tennis like a sport not an art. As you say, if I want ballet I know where to go definitely not to a tennis tournament.
Yeah agree its about playing to win, not playing to make up the numbers, what i loved about Rafa is he just concentrated on his game and what he was doing, rather than being intimidated by the Federer aura, although Rafa has said he has great respect for Federer and how amazing he is, he certainly doesnt beat it all to the ground ….
We are so lucky to have Lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have been an ardent fan of her wisdom, astute analysis and fair mindedness for years.
JWT Goes out, TBH he never looked like winning that match from the get go, Olivio deserved to win to be fair ….
Even after Tsonga won that 3rd set, and had the home crowd behind him, it never really seemed like he was in control & would turn things around. His level just kept going up and down, and he looked v frustrated. He’d string a few winners together, but then multiple UE’s would follow in the next game. Olivo just kept his head down and his level steady, a great win for him.
Sometimes you just know when its not going to be your day ….
I am not surprised that Tsonga lost. He didn’t look that good and wasn’t playing his best. Olivo played well and deserved the win,
RT @sportdw: The 6th favourite for the French Open (Alexander Zverev) is yet to beat a top 50 player in a best-of-5 set match in his career…