French Open R3 previews and picks: Nadal vs. Mayer, Murray vs. Kohlschreiber

May 30, 2014 Ricky Match previews 0

Rafa 1Rafael Nadal will continue his French Open campaign on Saturday against Leonardo Mayer. Andy Murray and Philipp Kohlschreiber are also seeking a place in the fourth round.

(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Leonardo Mayer

Nadal and Mayer will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they meet in round three of the French Open on Saturday. Both of their previous encounters have gone Nadal’s way; 6-1, 6-3 at the 2012 Indian Wells Masters and 6-1, 7-5 last year on the clay courts of Acapulco. They were also scheduled to square off last season in Indian Wells, but Mayer pulled out prior to the match. The Argentine won’t want to bypass this rare opportunity in the last 32 of a Grand Slam. He has reached this point of majors on just four previous occasions (three at Roland Garros).

Mayer is a respectable 12-9 at the ATP level in 2014 following wins this week over James Duckworth and Teymuraz Gabashvili. Nadal has advanced with straight-set blowouts of Robby Ginepri and Dominic Thiem. The top-ranked Spaniard is 61-1 lifetime at this tournament and is bidding for his ninth title. He was far from his very best during the early stages of this clay-court swing, but he at least managed to snag a title in Madrid before finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Rome. Nadal’s form through two rounds and his past performances against Mayer suggest more one-way traffic is in the cards.

Pick: Nadal in 3 losing 8-10 games

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(28) Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. (7) Andy Murray

Murray and Kohlschreiber will be squaring off for just the second time in their careers on Friday. Their only previous meeting came four years ago on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo, where Kohlschreiber dominated 6-2, 6-1. The 24th-ranked German heated up nicely just in time for Roland Garros, and really did it from out of nowhere. Having previously showed lackluster form in 2014, Kohlschreiber reached the third round in Rome then captured a title last week in Dusseldorf.

The story is a similar one for Murray, whose start to the year was more of a recovery process in the aftermath of 2013 back surgery. Murray is rounding into form now, with a quarterfinal showing in Rome that saw him lose to Nadal 7-5 in the third. The eighth-ranked Scot has defeated Andrey Golubev and Marinko Matosevic so far this fortnight, while Kohlschreiber has rolled over Pere Riba and Denis Istomin. This should be a high-quality battle of contrasting backhands, with Murray’s superior firepower giving him more opportunities than his opponent to exploit weaknesses. More experience getting to the second week of slams also won’t hurt the favorite.

Pick: Murray in 4

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188 Comments on French Open R3 previews and picks: Nadal vs. Mayer, Murray vs. Kohlschreiber

  14. Monfils is very flat today. Wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t do himself harm when he tried to fly yesterday. If you noticed his right shoulder took the full force of the fall.

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  19. Where is Mohammed Layani? I don’t think I’ve seen him there. Something tells me I’ve heard he’s boycotted the majors in the past because of low pay/benefits (but I’m not sure on this).

    Reply

    • I was pondering the same thing earlier today. There are several regulars absent and severalI I don’t recall seeing before at a slam. Maybe there has been some kind of a boycott.

      Maybe Ricky has a handle on this.

      Reply

  22. …….and Rafa gets broken, 4 games all. There was no need for that at all, Rafa just sat back and allowed Mayer to come into the match…..

    But Rafa will adjust…….

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  23. rafa has 18 winners and only 4 UE so far…looks very clean but certainly this is not close to vintage rafa… really needs to step up

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    • ^^I thought his 1st serve was lower than that in the 1st set?

      Rafa serving for the set now, no messing about Rafa, please…….

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      • Your right. I was looking at win % on first sere.
        1st set was 68%, 2nd set 72%. Not outstanding but respectable.

        Clearly Mayer got a read on Rafa’s serve in the 2nd set.

        Reply

    • Rafa’s back flared up at beginning of second set. Speed dropped by about 10-20 mph. This whole year has been affected by Rafa’s back, serve has been well below normal level all season.

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  27. Foggy and Monfils is a lot more entertaining to watch. At this rate it will be dark before Andy comes on court.

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  28. this is such a dull performance by rafa so far … mayer is flattening out his groundies and taking charge…mayer’s backhand down the line is drawing short balls from rafa’s backhand which is not at all being struck aggressively…

    Rafa’s ROS has also worsened as the match has progressed.

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  29. Rather watch foggy LaMonf ATM. However tennis channel in their infinite wisdom is showing a JJ interview instead of either match.

    They think that their audience has ADHD.

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  32. One shot that has been ‘on’ for rafa today is the backhand passing shot… he is hitting his backhand a litttlee better now but mayer playing better too

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  33. Is it me or is Rafa becoming more expressive if he is disappointed in himself? He never used to show disappointment after a point loss, now he does.

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    • ^^^^^^He’s being doing that for some while now – I first noticed it last year.
      Ditto Federer. The most he normally showed was an irritated toss of the head: when he cut his hair short I remember asking on TT how are going to know when he is frustrated without the hair tossing.

      Reply

  37. I’ve been waiting for evidence of the animosity twards Rafa from the crowd in vain. Big myth propagated by Fedfans. I won’t buy into it.

    Rafa serves for the match

    Vamos

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  38. GSM Rafa, Lajovic next.

    Not a vintage performance by any stretch of the imagination but I think that had more to do with the opponent. Mayer has a pretty underwhelming game truth be told.

    Or this could be Rafa’s obligatory “down” match in a Slam. He always has onw so I hope this was it.

    Vamos!!

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    • ^^and you know how he did it? By pretending to be fatigued……

      RT @SI_BTBaseline : “Gael Monfils, who complained that he was “dying” on the changeover, is up 3-0 in the final set. #RG14″

      Hmmm, who does he remind me of again????

      Reply

  51. If it had been anywhere else but RG Fognini would have been disqualified for throwing his racquet in the direction of a ball girl. Guess Bernardes knew if he did send him off the crowd would lynch Foggy and then him 😀

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  52. RT @christophclarey : “Surprised Nadal mentioned his back issues. Not the sort of mid-tournament distraction he likes & he just played it down in Spanish”

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  53. Rafael Nadal says he’s been bothered by his back the last two matches, and that it is affecting his serve.

    What? Back during RG? Oh noo..is this true?

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  55. Fed won a slam Wimby 2012 with a backpain ..rem his back literally threw up in 4th round and he just escaped that match..then he came and beat Djoko/Andy Murray to win Wimby 2012

    I am more surprised Rafa mentioned it in press..I fail to understand that

    Reply

    • The guy got incapacitated by the same ailment at the last Slam, missed a golden opportunity because of it and it’s playing up again……at another Slam? Wouldn’t you get a sense of deja vu? Wouldn’t you be freaked out about it?

      Honestly, words fail me……….

      Reply

      • Yes so what I am saying is it must be bothering him a lot for him to mention it in press mid slam.. He does not mention about his injuries like that but he did over here.

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  59. Also did it happen in todays match? No mention of it during Theim which was a tougher one on paper and he won that easily

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    • ^^ Put away the worry beads, @Sanju 😀

      Some exact quotes from Nadal via @Rob_pal
      “Rafa : “Yes, I felt a little bit my back, so that’s why I slow down a little bit the serve.
      Asked if it’s a concern: “No.I had the problem in Australia. It’s real. That’s the real thing. But hopefully not.
      As I said, my back was hurting a little, and this is what I said on day number one. During the second day, as well… So that’s why I served more slowly since I started feeling the pain, And then during the second set, nothing really happened. I won 75.I managed to break at the right moment when it was 5All. That’s about it!”

      Reply

    • @Sanju,

      You don’t have to defend yourself. If you want to worry, then this should be the place to do it. If we can’t speak about our concerns for Rafa’s back possibly acting up again, then what’s the point of being here? We have to at least acknowledge that it’s a problem because Rafa spoke about it. He wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.

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    • Right as in? precautionary?

      But Rafa said it himself in presser that his back is bothering him..We do not believe him?

      Reply

  62. We’ll soon know if there is a problem. I watched some of Lajovic’s match against Sock earlier today. He wacks the ball pretty hard and his placement was impressive.

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    • @Sanju do something useful instead of worrying about Rafa’s back: please can you send Rafa a tweet and ask him why he does not attack opponent’s second serves by taking an aggressive court position the way Fed, Murray and Djokovic do? Rafa does not change his court position when receiving 2nd serves.

      Thanks. Please let us know his response.

      Reply

  66. My take is the same as that of Nadline and RITB. Rafa is pacing himself and avoiding expending more energy than he has to or taking unnecessary`risks with his back. He’ll go for broke when he really needs to.

    #Let’sAllRelax

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  69. Andy is taking the long route through the gloaming 🙁 He had the match in the palm of his hand and then made a present of the fourth set to Kolbi. Now he is perilously close to going out of RG. Bummer.

    Reply

  73. RT @ESPNTennis : “Referee Brian Earley signals two more games on Lenglen as it’s 6-all in the fifth between Murray and Kohlschreiber. #RG14 “

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    • Who do you think will take it when they come out tomorrow? If I had to put my house on it I think it would be on Murray but it’s possible he will be half crippled in which case it would be better if Kolbi had his cha in the last 16.

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  78. I think Murray will benefit from the overnight rest as he was clearly suffering from tension in his legs. It’s still anybody’s match. Why schedule matches to start knowing that they might not be finished.

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  79. I saw similar tapes on Fed’s back last year during some clay tornament. May be Rafa is just being careful here after feeling some kind of pain in his back. If he is not playing any gruelling matches, with a day’s rest in between two matches, I think, it can be managed. I hope its not as serious as the AO final injury.

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  81. The only thing which makes me a little uneasy is he was not his usual sunny self in either the above video or during the press conference. Rothenberg called it a sullen expression which it most decidedly was not. He made it clear he he did not want probing questions about the state of his back. Most players do not want to broadcast news about an injury (even when it is quite slight) for obvious reasons. Djoker being the exception to the rule. In his case he likes to issue regular bulletins with precise details of his progress or lack thereof.

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  82. Well I am uneasy. I try not to worry unnecessarily, but it is concerning to see Rafa not being himself. I have been out all day and haven’t seen the match. I will try to check it out later on.

    Rafa isn’t going to give everyone the whole story. But the fact that he would even bring it up at all, says a lot to me. Something is wrong. Hopefully he can deal with it with the extra day of rest between matches. But he’s got some tough ones ahead. I don’t know much about this Lajovic guySometimes the ones who weren’t expected to get through, can cause problems. I don’t know his game. But Rafa could be facing Ferrer in the quarterfinals and it’s always physical with him.

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    • I am worried a lot about Ferrer too. Ferrer is coasting through without dropping a set and he beat Rafa last in MC, Ferrer takes the ball early and he will be all over Rafas serve if he is not serving well.

      Djoko is still far away but I think Rafas QF is the sternest test.

      Reply

      • I agree that Ferrer will be the toughest test for Rafa. However, I promised myself to take it one match at a time, although sometimes it’s hard to avoid looking ahead. I am honestly not even thinking about the final. I just won’t go that far ahead.

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  83. In India French open shows on NeoSports and TataSky the biggest HD subscriber does not have NeoSports due to issues.

    Any good streaming links ? Cant believe I cant watch a single French Open match (:-

    Reply

  84. I got to see Rafa’s match, at least the parts of it that the tennis channel chose to show. I saw most of the first set, then they came back in the second set with the score 4-3, Rafa up a break and serving. That’s when he was broken by Mayer. That was a tight one with Mayer actually getting a set point. But Rafa did well to fight it off and ultimately take that set. I remember one shot where Rafa hit a backhand lob for a winner that had the crowd gasping.

    But it’s hard to get a sense of his game when they skip so much of the match. Then they came back in the third set with Rafa up 5-2, serving for the match. So I can’t really say where his game is at right now. I do know that near the end of the second set they posted the average serve speeds for both guys. Rafa’s average first serve speed was 103 mph and his second serve average speed was 82 mph. That first serve average speed is too low. The tennis channel had an interview with Rafa and he mentioned something about his back that made him slow down his serves. All I can say is that won’t get it done against the better players. I hope the day of rest will help him and then he can be ready for his next match.

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  85. RT @bgtennisnation: “@SharkoTennis like Muzzard because he is serving 1st big advantage at this stage of match”

    I agree.

    Reply

      • ^^This is precisely why he will be the favourite, @Sanju. He is the one who will benefit most from the overnight delay, allows him to get treatment, re-group and start again fresh. Look at how he started yesterday, completely out-playing Kohls. That is how he will start today.

        For Muzza, it’s all about gaining points to improve his ranking to avoid difficult early rounds in future tournaments. So, he will fight for the win for that, even if he does not win the tournament. Having said that, I hope he is not jeopardizing his Wimby prospects.

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      • He is definitely seeded in Top 4 in Wimby irrespective of how he fares in RG given that Wimby places its seeds differently..Djoko/Rafa/Murray/Fed are the top 4 seeds in Wimby

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    • Actually if they had continued yesterday, he might well have lost..He was 3 0 in 4th and could not close it out.

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  86. As ritb says, Andy is fighting to improve his ranking. If he does progress to the last 16 we still do not know if he will face Verdasco or Gasquet. If he has recovered from

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    • as I was saying…………..if he has recovered from the leg problem I would fancy his chances to land in the QFs. Further than that may be a bridge too far with Monfils looming.

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      • If Verdasco is dismantling Gasquet in straight sets, he can beat Murray too. Rem how he took Murray to 5 last Wimby QF. He has the game to beat Murraya nd can run him ragged on court

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  87. Sanju@June 1, 2014 at 6:05 am
    —Any good streaming links ? Cant believe I cant watch a single French Open match—

    If you are not afraid of computer viruses, you can always watch everything here:
    http://www.livescorehunter.com/
    Probably you have to overcome many obstacles before you see a stream. Your every click wherever might open an advertisement/announcement.
    When you watch a streaming video in full-screen format, the ads don’t appear.

    I watch LiveStreamHunter when I don’t have any other options.

    (I don’t know if LiveStreamHunter is available in your country)

    Reply

    • Thanks ed

      livescorehunter and livestreamhunter are separate sites? Hope livestreamhunter is free of ads and popups?

      Reply

      • Verdasco hasn’t been in consistently good form for a while now. He may have had one really good match in him at Wimbledon last year, but he’s really not done anything to indicate that he could be a threat. He’s up and down and all over the place and his ranking has tumbled. If he meets Murray, I think this time Murray will beat him. I also think that Murray will come back out on the court and get the win. He has a real opportunity at RG to gain points and move back up in the rankings. He won’t want to stay outside the top four if he can help it.

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    • This is not a surprise. Gasquet wasn’t even sure that he could play with his back issue. But because it was RB, he wanted to be there. But at some point it was going to catch up to him. Verdasco may have his best days behind him, but he can still play on the clay and make the match physical and demanding. I don’t think this result is an indication that he will beat Murray. It’s true that Murray has been struggling, but he’s winning and is still in it. That’s what is important. The tough wins can give him some confidence and get him into his best form.

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  89. I saw a rare post from Ricky and rushed to see what he had to say, but it was nothing more than NID. I should know better.

    Reply

  92. Gulbis 2 sets to 1 up. @Sanju, seriously, do you see Fed fighting for a 5th setter here? What’s the upside for him, another bruising encounter with Berdych who btw, is very comfortable playing Fed of all the Big 4? I don’t see it, Fed is already on his way to Wimby………

    Reply

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