Roland Garros / French Open 2025 [Men] - Grand Slam

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Front242

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Haha, best thing I've read in years. He'd run his smelly fingers behind both ears, tug his lad on his shorts, pull his jocks out of his crack and be sweating like Jimmy Savile in the camper van but, sure, he looked calm besides that :face-with-tears-of-joy: And all that took way more than the allocated time and pissed off tons of opponents and gained him unfair wins...
 

Moxie

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Rafa would express more emotion, imo - especially when he won key points.
Yes, more emotion, but mentally the toughest by everyone's estimation. Always moved on from whatever happened. Sinner doesn't give much, either way. But I wouldn't rewrite things just for that.
 

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Yes, more emotion, but mentally the toughest by everyone's estimation. Always moved on from whatever happened. Sinner doesn't give much, either way. But I wouldn't rewrite things just for that.
Well, note my phrase: "seemingly emotionally impervious to pressure." I agree with what you're saying here, but I think Rafa was less "seemingly..."
 

Moxie

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Haha, best thing I've read in years. He'd run his smelly fingers behind both ears, tug his lad on his shorts, pull his jocks out of his crack and be sweating like Jimmy Savile in the camper van but, sure, he looked calm besides that :face-with-tears-of-joy: And all that took way more than the allocated time and pissed off tons of opponents and gained him unfair wins...
What did I tell everyone? Ha, give it a rest, man. You think Sinner doesn't feel pressure just because he doesn't show it?
 

Federberg

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Haha, best thing I've read in years. He'd run his smelly fingers behind both ears, tug his lad on his shorts, pull his jocks out of his crack and be sweating like Jimmy Savile in the camper van but, sure, he looked calm besides that :face-with-tears-of-joy: And all that took way more than the allocated time and pissed off tons of opponents and gained him unfair wins...
Jimmy Saville in his camper van!:lulz1::lol6: I don't know if anyone other than @britbox will grasp how awful that description is.Hilarious!
 

Moxie

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Well, note my phrase: "seemingly emotionally impervious to pressure." I agree with what you're saying here, but I think Rafa was less "seemingly..."
He celebrated in all matches, but showed no pressure in the big ones. But I'll give you that Sinner is mentally tough. I've always like that about him. Calm and well-behaved.

And he played great today. Clawed himself out of the few holes he got into, except for the one break.
 

Front242

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What did I tell everyone? Ha, give it a rest, man. You think Sinner doesn't feel pressure just because he doesn't show it?
Of course he does but I was replying to you saying Nadal was the same and you could see the pressure a mile off with him. Yeah he was great at saving break points but you could see the toll it took on it him before he served and he took way more than the allowed time to do it. Players who play fair lose break points more often than Nadal did 'cos all the lame umpires used bend the rules for him and others don't get that luxury and get time violations. You could count the number of times Nadal was given a point penalty or time violation in his time on tour on one hand.
 

Moxie

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Of course he does but I was replying to you saying Nadal was the same and you could see the pressure a mile off with him. Yeah he was great at saving break points but you could see the toll it took on it him before he served and he took way more than the allowed time to do it. Players who play fair lose break points more often than Nadal did 'cos all the lame umpires used bend the rules for him and others don't get that luxury and get time violations. You could count the number of times Nadal was given a point penalty or time violation in his time on tour on one hand.
Oh, Front. He played slow against everyone. He sped it up when they changed the rules and added the shot clock. Novak gets called a lot for slow play, too. Remember the endless ball bouncing? I know you just can't give Nadal credit for anything, but he was mentally very tough under pressure, and everyone but you knows that. He focused on the point at hand better than everyone, except now maybe Sinner. But you don't like him, either. :face-with-tears-of-joy:
 

Front242

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Oh, Front. He played slow against everyone. He sped it up when they changed the rules and added the shot clock. Novak gets called a lot for slow play, too. Remember the endless ball bouncing? I know you just can't give Nadal credit for anything, but he was mentally very tough under pressure, and everyone but you knows that. He focused on the point at hand better than everyone, except now maybe Sinner. But you don't like him, either. :face-with-tears-of-joy:
100% Novak is slow. Del Potro was a joke too. Give me Kyrgios, Federer or Gulbis speed over that slow drawn out crap anytime. Makes for really strained viewing having to wait so long between points. Toweling off after an ace or when the ball gets hit into the net when you serve is taking the utter piss.

Btw, while I found his game a bit boring and robotic, I had nothing against Sinner before he got caught taking steroids. Yes, taking steroids 'cos I'm not buying his lame excuse for 1 second and anyone with half a brain shouldn't if they read the article I posted. He used or still uses this to mask other shit he's taking. I rooted for hm against Alcaraz in the past and I like Alcaraz' game but the grunting is awful and I don't like all the fist pumping crap with him. But Carlos is a decent chap and the smiling is admirable. Comes across as a nice guy.
 
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El Dude

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I so look forward to 2047 when we've stopped Fedalkovic Warring.
100% Novak is slow. Del Potro was a joke too. Give me Kyrgios, Federer or Gulbis speed over that slow drawn out crap anytime. Makes for really strained viewing having to wait so long between points. Toweling off after an ace or when the ball gets hit into the net when you serve is taking the utter piss.

Btw, while I found his game a bit boring and robotic, I had nothing against Sinner before he got caught taking steroids. Yes, taking steroids 'cos I'm not buying his lame excuse for 1 second and anyone with half a brain shouldn't if they read the article I posted. He used or still uses this to mask other shit he's taking. I rooted for hm against Alcaraz in the past and I like Alcaraz' game but the grunting is awful and I don't like all the fist pumping crap with him. But Carlos is a decent chap and the smiling is admirable. Comes across as a nice guy.
We need an eye-roll emoji, just for Fiero doozies like this one.
 
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Moxie

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I'd give Novak good marks for this tournament and the way he's really turned on his form, after a fairly dismal start to the year. Assuming that whatever he called the trainer for was just a sore muscle, he should be ready for a solid grass season, however much he plays besides Wimbledon. He's likely to have the same problems at the end of the tournament that he face, or would have, in this one, but he's in the hunt.

As for this final, very much looking forward to it. Carlos could be slightly fresher, but he's going to have to find his Paul-level to heft the trophy.
 

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I'd give Novak good marks for this tournament and the way he's really turned on his form, after a fairly dismal start to the year. Assuming that whatever he called the trainer for was just a sore muscle, he should be ready for a solid grass season, however much he plays besides Wimbledon. He's likely to have the same problems at the end of the tournament that he face, or would have, in this one, but he's in the hunt.

As for this final, very much looking forward to it. Carlos could be slightly fresher, but he's going to have to find his Paul-level to heft the trophy.
I agree, though I think he's not going to be able to match the fitness and endurance of Sinner and Alcaraz enough to beat either one in a Slam again. 38 is 38 - even for Novak. He has to beat two greats, age 22 and 23-24 in their primes. He could probably win a Masters if he really wanted to, though, but I also don't know if he'll expend enough energy to do so, in order to try to save himself and/or peak for the Slams. I won't write Novak off until he hangs up his racket, but I think he's done at 24. What a chump. ;)
 
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kskate2

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I agree, though I think he's not going to be able to match the fitness and endurance of Sinner and Alcaraz enough to beat either one in a Slam again. 38 is 38 - even for Novak. He has to beat two greats, age 22 and 23-24 in their primes. He could probably win a Masters if he really wanted to, though, but I also don't know if he'll expend enough energy to do so, in order to try to save himself and/or peak for the Slams. I won't write Novak off until he hangs up his racket, but I think he's done at 24. What a chump. ;)
I don't see him beating the New 2 in a slam either and said as much last year. He needs several things to happen to even reach the final:
Friendly draw
Someone else to do the dirty work so he can face either a rookie or a pigeon in the final
 
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Moxie

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I agree, though I think he's not going to be able to match the fitness and endurance of Sinner and Alcaraz enough to beat either one in a Slam again. 38 is 38 - even for Novak. He has to beat two greats, age 22 and 23-24 in their primes. He could probably win a Masters if he really wanted to, though, but I also don't know if he'll expend enough energy to do so, in order to try to save himself and/or peak for the Slams. I won't write Novak off until he hangs up his racket, but I think he's done at 24. What a chump. ;)
Yes, that's what I mean that he's got the same problems at Wimbledon. And the difference between the W final in 2023, and the one in 2024 showed the difference in age, and in a young player's maturing game, which is what he's contending with. If he's feeling good, does well at W, I think he'll look forward to the USOpen. But I think he finishes at 24, too.
 

Moxie

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Very interesting, and worth the full watch. The headline is that he's not sure if this is his last French Open, and if it is, he feels he will have gone out on a good match. But later, he also gets into discussing Sinner's game, and why he's difficult to play. He says a year from now is a long time in his career, at this point, which is also fair.
 

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Well, he got Carlos in Oz but it totally wiped him out and I'm not sure it was the best version of Carlo either. He certainly isn't going through both of them that's for sure and Sinner seems to have his measure. I'd agree that all stars need to align.


I think Carlo has more upside than Sinner, and the H2H mental edge and takes him in the final.
Exactly. If he didn't have to go through Chuck in Oz, he makes the final where he would have seen Jannik
 

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Sinner seems to do a lot better the more rest he gets. Remember, he won the US Open last year after skipping the Olympics. Now, he is on an absolute tear at the French Open, after a 3-month suspension. Considering the short turnaround between the French Open and Wimbledon, I believe that Wimbledon will be the toughest slam for Sinner to win, unless he decides to skip the French Open one year (which he really should have done last year, considering he was not fully healthy). If that had happened, Sinner might have won Wimbledon and he would be going for the "Sinner Slam", meaning his last loss in a slam would have been the 2023 US Open.
 
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