Me too. Ad works fine(of course), but no streaming.
Li Na is out, and Sharapova survived a three-set match. On the men’s side it’s good to see Del Potro with a big win: he beat Berdych in four sets. The men’s quarters on the top half of the draw will be Djokovic-Tsonga and Federer-Del Potro, both of which should be really good. Nadal is destroying Monaco (winner plays Almagro) and Gasquet is up a set on Andy Murray, who has been bothered periodically by back trouble this season. Murray nearly lost a couple of rounds ago and I didn’t figure him for a deep run in this tournament, so he’s done well to get this far. The winner of that match gets David Ferrer.
Murray has come back and won the second set.
And the third(that was quick).
The Clay Warrior: Relentless buzz-saw.
It really is a treat to watch clay’s GOAT at the very top of his game. That was seventeen games in a row vs the number 13 ranked player in the world, Monaco, and a clay specialist as well. He’s looking as good – or better than – as he did during his awesome run in 2008. Simply awesome.
Doubt anyone in the field has a realistic chance to beat Rafa this year barring an unfortunate injury. Believe it or not, despite his formidable record vs his countrymen, I do think that potentially, both Ferrer and Almagro are the only ones with a chance of getting a set off of him.
49-1 at RG over 8 years. Meaning any other player has roughly a 2% chance of beating him there. Unreal!
Yeah, I’m surprised. I thought Gasquet had a really good shot here, but now Murray seems to have turned on the jets.
It’s basically over, now. He’s rolled over him.
That’s not the first time Murray has done that to Gasquet.
Why, pray tell, do you call him a GOAT?
You don’t think Nadal is the GOAT on clay?
In the last few years that’s become the trendy acronym for Greatest Of All Time. I find it very annoying, but there it is. Certainly Nadal has to be considered one of the greatest of all time on clay, and it’s becoming hard to make a case for anybody else- that much moreso if he wins Roland Garros this year. He beat the snot out of Juan Monaco today. Monaco has been playing very well this year and Nadal won the last 17 games of the match.
Thanks, Marley. Hadn’t heard of that acronym before.
In any event, I think Nadal is fabulous, but I loathe these debates that try and compare players across generations. It’s an exercise in futility because so much has changed in the game over the years.
For instance, 50 years ago, without the benefit of modern pharmaceuticals and rehab, Nadal’s knees might have sidelined him forever. McEnroe’s cocaine habit, which he admits got him through matches when he was beyond tired, would have certainly gotten him banned for life. Given a good sports psychologist, Borg might have played well into his 30s and won another 5 French Opens. Or he might have retired a complete unknown, unable to compete vs. these faster strings and racquets. Had Rod Laver had to deal with an Open era schedule, and routinely face opponents like Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer, he might have ended his career without ANY major wins.
Who knows?
I think the best we can claim is that someone is the best player of his generation. Certainly Nadal is the best player on clay of his generation. But the Greatest of All Time? Silly exercise.
Del Potro is up two sets on Federer, but Federer has picked things up and won the first set as he tries to make a match of this. Was that a brief lapse or could Del Potro still be struggling with his confidence? Tsonga dropped the first set against Djokovic, and then won the next two. If he can really knock off Djokovic I wonder if it could lead him to finally break through at a major.
Erm… Federer won the last two sets 6-2 and 6-0, so it certainly looks bad for Del Potro. I’m rooting for Federer like always, but I do want to see Del Potro play his best and get back to the top echelon of the spot, which is where he belongs. Mentally he hasn’t been up to snuff since his comeback- at least not on a regular basis in big matches. Meanwhile Tsonga and Djokovic are on serve early in the fourth.
Federer is up a break in the fourth at 4-1 and going for a double break… Tsonga is two points from the match at 4-5, 0-30 in the fourth set, on serve. Make that 15-30 now…
What a couple quarter-finals!
And Federer survives in 5 sets!
Djokovic fought off a couple of match points in the 10th and 12th games, and they’re in a tiebreaker now. The French must be in agony here.
Im in agony! I really like Tsonga and want to see him win at home.
It’s looking rather unlikely at this point.