Tennis 10sBalls Paris • Roland Garros • Updates And Observations

Spectator watching Casper Ruud of Norway serving to Roger Federer of Switzerland during their men’s third round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 31 May 2019. EPA-EFE/JULIEN DE ROSA

 

 

By Alix Ramsay

 

It is too damned quiet out there. We have been here for the best part of a week and, with the exception of some of the women’s seeds taking the early bath, pretty much nothing has happened.

 

So quiet has the men’s draw been that when Rafa dropped a set to David Goffin on Friday, Roland Garros gasped. This was the nearest thing to big news we had had all day. For the record, it was something of a novelty: it was only the 23rd set he had dropped at the French Open in 15 years and it was only the second set he had dropped since 2015, that very strange year when Raf lost his Mojo and his French quarter-final to Djokovic.

 

And it was the earliest round in which he had fluffed a set since 2013 when, to the amazement of one and all, he dropped sets in the first and second rounds.

 

Not that the dropped set much of a difference to the overall result – within no time, the defending champion had broken Goffin and was motoring towards the fourth round and an appointment with Juan Ignacio Londero.

 

“David is a great player,” Rafa said, killing a perfectly good attempt at a story. “That’s all. I played against a top player that had injuries, and he’s a little bit lower in the ranking now, but when he’s playing well, he’s a player that already showed to everybody that he can win against every player in this world. No, no, is nothing especially happened.”

 

Thanks Raf. We had little enough to work with and now what few crumbs we had gathered together, you have just swept away. He’s a lovely fella, is Raf, and he is stupendously talented with a tennis racket but he would never cut it in the press bunker.

 

“Happened that in the first set I played unbelievable, I think, so, so good,” Raf went on. “Then a good second set, too. And then I had a big opportunity at the beginning of the third with that 15-40. I had a bad return in the 15-40, being honest. 30-40, his serve was out and I didn’t stop. Then he had an easy winner. So that’s all. No, no, nothing especially happened.

 

“And in the fourth, of course I had to fight again, and I think I increased a little bit again the aggressivity, and that was, at the end, the key.”

 

The Mighty Fed, meanwhile, whistled past Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 and took almost as long to fulfil his media commitments as he did to beat the Norwegian. Doing his usual round of English then French then Swiss German questions and answers for the written press, he went on to do six TV and two radio interviews. That man can talk for Switzerland. And what he had to say was beginning to sound a little different from his initial thoughts on his chances in Paris.

 

At the start of the tournament, he was happily writing himself off but now that he is safely through to the second week without dropping a set, he is sounding a bit more optimistic.

 

“I’m very happy,” Fed said. “A few months ago I didn’t know what to expect with anything, really. At this point, now I know where my level’s at. I still don’t know exactly where my absolute best is, you know, but I feel like it could be there. Maybe not. I’m happy to find out either way.

 

“So I’m happy I’m putting myself in a position like this in a fourth round of the French Open after not having played so many years here. I think for me the first goal has been reached by getting this deep into the tournament, and knowing where the game’s at, knowing where the fitness is, the mind.

 

“I’m very pleased how I’m feeling and how I’m playing, and still trying to stay true to playing freely and with nothing to lose, even though I know I will be the favourite in the next game. But regardless, I’m going to try to play as free as I can.”

 

That will be music to Leonardo Mayer’s ears. The Argentine slogged and sweated his way past Nicolas Mahut 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, 7-6 in a little under three and half hours. And his reward is take on a relaxed, freewheeling Rodge. The lucky, lucky man.

 

Sloane Stephens must be wondering about her luck, too. In a draw with more holes in it than a string vest, she finds herself as the highest seed – the No.7 – left in the bottom half. That ought to bring with it a few perks. But no. She also finds herself in the marquee match on Sunday, facing Garbine Muguruza, the champion of 2016. And that former champion is playing rather well at the moment and absolutely thumped Elina Svitolina, the world No.9, 6-3, 6-3. Stephens, on the other hand, had a real battle on her hands to get the better of Palona Hercog 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

 

Still, Stephens seems to be enjoying every minute of her stay in Paris and, while trying to cut short her press conference – she had a dinner reservation and the Parisian restaurants can be sticklers for punctuality – she made it clear she was looking forward to Sunday.

 

“I think it will be a good match,” she beamed. “Obviously she’s played well here; she won. I think it will be a good match. I think she’s playing well, I’m playing well. I think it’s a good matchup. Yeah, you’re playing for a spot in the quarters of a slam. Just gotta leave everything out there and see what happens.”