Roland Garros - 2009 French Open

Aaron M

Del Potro made quite a few unforced errors in that 2nd set tie-break. Federer definitely needed that set big time.

juvenal

Shaky start from Fed, he mis-hits two forehands and Del Potro is out to 0-30. Federer pulls a point back, before Del Potro breaks Federer to 15 and he has an early break in set three.

Looking at Del Potro's serve so far, it will be difficult for Federer to get a chance to break back.

juvenal

Have to say Del Potro's serve is outstanding, it's giving him a great platform in this match.

Federer got ahead there at 15-30 on Del Potro's serve, and Del Potro rattles down two aces and another big first serve to close the game out for a 3-1 lead.

Then Federer struggles in his service game, going 0-30 down, before they trade points and Del Potro has two break points at 15-40. Fed saves the first, and Del Potro goes for the winner, just pushing the forehand marginally wide and it's deuce.

Federer gets out of jail and it's 3-2 with Del Potro to serve.

At this stage there's nothing to indicate that Federer is playing well enough to win the match, whereas Del Potro is playing much more aggressively and putting pressure on the Federer serve. Worrying times here.

Blisterman

After winning the second set, I think Federer's gonna scrape a Win here. I can see him playing better over a long match. It's gonna be difficult for Del Potro to maintain such a high level.

juvenal

Federer need to stop trying to play that sliced backhad return on second serve. He has a lead of 0-30, goes for a forehand - fair enough - but the shortened backhand slice is inviting Del Potro onto the ball and he can put the forehand away.

Del Potro with a big hold and it's 2-4.

Blisterman wrote: »

After winning the second set, I think Federer's gonna scrape a Win here. I can see him playing better over a long match. It's gonna be difficult for Del Potro to maintain such a high level.

I'll be surprised if he does. Del Potro is playing the better tennis, and definitely has the upper hand in the service battle.

juvenal

Del Potro breaks Federer again to deuce, after some mystifying shot selection from Federer.

Del Potro will serve for the set at 5-2, and serves it out to love. I'd go as far as saying that Federer is on the ropes here.

Del Potro 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2 Federer

Aaron M

juvenal wrote: »

Federer need to stop trying to play that sliced backhad return on second serve.

Yes! He needs to stop playing that shot - it's getting him nowhere.

In fact he's playing far too many slice shots for my liking. They're not having any effect on Del Potro who's just hitting straight through them and most of the time they're too short.

Del Potro has just broken again to lead 5-2. Not looking good for Fed.

juvenal

Federer drops to 15-30 in the first game, with Del Potro continuing to get the upper hand in the rallies. It goes to deuce after Federer puts a routine forehand long, and Federer has an advantage which he loses sending a backhand wide. He then holds to deuce.

I think that could've been lights out if he was broken there. Key stat for me is that Del Potro is 4/11 on break points, whereas Federer is 0/2.

juvenal

Federer let him off the hook there after four deuces, I'm not sure that drop shot on break point was the right call. Once again he's leaving the backhand return short and it's not low enough to trouble Del Potro. Although he was lucky to be in the game after Del Potro missed that smash at 40-15.

Good hold for Federer. He needs to have quick service games and keep the pressure on Del Potro if he's to push this into a fifth.

juvenal

Typical - the one backhand return on the second serve that he executes gives him his first service break of the match!

Federer leads 3-1, needs a strong hold of serve here to consolidate. And he does, holding to love for a 4-1 lead with Del Potro serving.

juvenal

Del Potro double-faults as Federer has advantage, and Federer will serve for the set at 5-1. Del Potro looks to have written off this set.

He leads off with an ace, and holds to love. Two sets apiece. We go to a fifth.

juvenal

Federer breaks Del Potro in game one of the fifth set, yet he's immediately in trouble on his own serve in game two, with Del Potro going out to 0-30. Del Potro goes for the winner on second serve, but dumps it into the net, before the wide Federer serve followed by that forehand drop shot gets Fed back to 30-30.

Two more good serves and Federer with a big hold and it's 0-2 in the fifth.

juvenal

Federer throws away his advantage in game six, as Del Potro breaks him and it's back to 3-3. Federer replies by breaking Del Potro again, and consolidates his lead to 5-3.

Del Potro is serving to stay in the match, and is out to a 40-0 lead, before Fed claws his way back to 40-30. A double-fault and then a good return from Federer forces the error from Del Potro, and it's the first match point for Federer.

Del Potro saves the match point and holds with some big first serves.

Federer will now serve for the match at 5-4.

juvenal

Federer is at 30-0 with two strong first serves, before a dipping forehand by Del Potro brings it to 30-15. Federer unleashes a full forehand down the line to give him two match points, and another cross-court forehand seals the deal.

Federer wins 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. Del Potro played the better tennis for the first half of the match, but as Fed got into it his experience and shot making at key moments made the difference. Scrappy at times from Federer, but will he care?

I felt a bit sorry for Del Potro, as I think he played his A-game today, yet it still wasn't enough. The Parisian crowd were so pro-Federer, and he did well to keep them out of the match for long parts, but the cheers at the end must've been difficult for him knowing that he was playing both his opponent and the crowd.

Anyway, he's only twenty, and has improved massively over the last 12 months. He'll have plenty of chances down the line I feel.

Four French Open finals in a row for the Swiss now.

Blisterman wrote: »

After winning the second set, I think Federer's gonna scrape a Win here. I can see him playing better over a long match. It's gonna be difficult for Del Potro to maintain such a high level.

Good call man, I didn't think he'd pull it out. The double break in the fourth was key, as I think Del Potro was struggling both physically and mentally after that.

Federer is 9-0 against Soderling, although I think that the stats go out the window after these performances. Soderling will be delighted that the second semi went the distance, as no matter who won, he wouldn't have wanted to face someone who won comfortably in straight sets.

I think the final will be very difficult to call. Soderling has never faced this much pressure, but something about him tells me that he doesn't really care about the pressure. I suppose we'll have a better idea after the first set on Sunday afternoon.

Rjd2

Terrible womens final as usual! Safina proved yet again that she is merely a flat track bully.

MisterAnarchy

Rjd2 wrote: »

Terrible womens final as usual! Safina proved yet again that she is merely a flat track bully.

Shockingly bad.
The womens game is very poor these days,how they get equal prize money is beyond me.
So many of the top 10 players have dreadful temperaments.Crack under the slightest of pressure.

Both Mens Semis yesterday kept the crowd thrilled for over 7 hours,todays Ladies final lasted 74 minutes.:(

Aaron M

It was a bit of a joke alright. Safina just doesn't have the bottle - she was almost crying when she started serving to stay in the match. The double fault at the end was the icing on the cake - everybody could see it coming a mile away! She's such a poor mover around the court it's untrue. To think she's currently ranked as the best women's player in the world right now is scary (though to be fair to her, Jankovic was once ranked at no. 1).

All Kuznetsova had to do was keep the ball in court!

cfitz

That's very true about the temperament of the Top 10 players.

1 Safina - Bad temper, but she's young and still reasonably consistent. She could dominate in the future, but it'd be nice if her game was a bit more varied.
2 S.Williams - Best temperament in the game.
3 V.Williams - Good temperament.
4 Dementieva - Woeful temperament.
5 Jankovic - Sulks.
6 Zvonareva - Not too bad maybe. Could be one to watch out for.
7 Kuznetsova - Seems to lose matches when she appears well in control.
8 Ivanovic - Very inconsistent, can be brilliant on her day.
9 Azarenka - Seems to have a bit of a temper, but I think she'll be class, she's got good fight and great tennis.
10 Wozniacki - Unreliable, the critics seem to love her but I don't really see it.


It's really surprising actually, in almost any sport you would think that it's really important to be mentally strong yet most of the best women tennis players seem to be pretty flaky!

But we've the mens final to look forward to now - will Fed do it? I think he will. Poor Soderling might have most of the world cheering for Federer tomorrow!

juvenal

cfitz wrote: »

But we've the mens final to look forward to now - will Fed do it? I think he will. Poor Soderling might have most of the world cheering for Federer tomorrow!

He better, or I'll be gutted! I'll be up early here for that on the television, and streaming the Dublin games from Croke Park.

Three wins from three will set me up nicely for the day!:)

juvenal

Federer off to a blistering start, as he breaks Soderling three times in the first set to win it 6-1. Soderling looks a bit awestruck, although Federer is playing very well and only lost one point on his serve in that set.

Federer will also lead off the second set on serve.

Running Bing

How hard is it to get tickets for the final of Roland Garros? Might head over for it next year.

Loomis

Oh my God what an absolute disgrace.
A 'fan' ran on court dressed in Spanish attire and colours and came at Federer. Tried forcing a Spanish hat onto him. Visibly shaken.
Nice from Soderling who gave him the thumbs up making sure he was ok. Still it's effected Federer.
Utterly horrible to see.

juvenal

Some clown runs onto Court Philippe Chatrier waving a flag in the middle of a Soderling service game, and attempts to put a hat on Federer, giving him a fright as Roland Garros security guards come rushing on.

Several guards cannot catch him as he jumps over the net, before he's smashed with a tackle on Soderlng's side by a beefy guard who's coming from the end.

Very unnerving as everyone immediately thinks of Monica Seles, Federer is understandably rattled as Soderling holds serve, but bounces back to hold his own serve and leads 3-2.

juvenal

Apparently the wind and some rain have whipped up in RG, I wouldn't be surprised if this match is delayed with a rain-break.

Loomis

lol @ juvenal

Been spitting rain for a while. Hope it doesn't cause the match to stop.

juvenal

They're still out there as Federer leads 5-4 in the second with Soderling serving to stay in the set. I think Federer would love to get this second set on the board, rather than go in and potentially give Soderling a chance to regroup and come out a new player.

The pressure is on Soderling now to hold, as I don't think he can afford to go two sets behind against Federer.

juvenal

Federer get to deuce twice on Soderling's serve in game 11, but Soderling comes with a couple of big serves, and we're in a tie-breaker in the second set.

Federer leads off with an ace, and Soderling responds in kind, before a Federer forehand forces the error and he has a mini-break. Federer aces again, and then again! Three serves so far for Federer, and three aces, and Federer is quickly out to a 4-1 lead.

Federer whips a backhand that catches Soderling slightly off balance for another point, before dropping another sublime forehand drop shot which leaves Soderling with no chance, and Federer serving with four set points at 6-1.

Another ace for Federer, and he wins the tie-breaker 7-1, in which Soderling couldn't get his racquet to any of Federer's serves. Four aces for Federer in that tie-breaker.

Federer leads 6-1, 7-6 (7-1). Soderling leads off the third set on serve.

Loomis

Wow, some tie break from Federer. 5 aces from his 5 serves and a couple of mini-breaks to take the set. Leads two sets to love.

juvenal

Soderling with a unforced error as he pushes a forehand wide on break point, and this could be it for Federer. He leads 1-0 with a service game to come in the third set.

juvenal

Federer holds without much fuss, before Soderling has a fine service game of his own.

Federer leads 2-1 with serve to come.