Tournament has passed on full. And will be remembered by the record of a legend
Rafael Nadal once again confirmed that on clay courts he has no equal in history. For a decade and a half, the Spaniard has dominated Roland Garros. This is despite Federer’s phenomenal career. During Djokovic’s super-stable form. On the most difficult surface, where you can’t be 90% ready and win all the time. Times change, but water flows, fire burns, and Rafa wins in France.
This year, many factors were against the Spaniard. Cold autumn weather (Rafa loves the heat), heavy slow balls, bad spin, lack of playing practice, closed roof (Nadal hates it – the roof changes the acoustics, the sound of hits and the flight of the ball) and the most uncomfortable of all his rivals. It only remained to sow the grass before the tournament on the court.
Nadal almost completely missed the summer period. While some of his competitors were playing “exhibitions”, he did not even leave the house, not practicing, but simply maintaining a general form. Closer to autumn, he finally began to train, and at the first tournament in Rome he lost without a chance to Diego Schwartzman.
But game form is a dynamic thing. Nadal returned it to himself already RG. And so it turned out that the most difficult thing for him was in the first rounds against players “far beyond 100”. In the final, Rafa was unstoppable.
In January, Nadal reached the final of the Australian Open, where he disappeared on the court and completely failed the match against Djokovic. Yesterday, all the same mirror thing happened to Novak. No chance. Rafael wins Roland Garros 13 times (already now it looks like an almost “eternal” record) and is compared in titles at Helmets with Federer. Roger is one of the first to greet him!
Sensation at the tournament, pattern in the final
Of course, hardly anyone considered Iga Sventek as a contender for the title before the start of Roland Garros. It’s completely out of the realm of fantasy. But several factors hinted that some kind of “surprise” would still happen. Before the start of the tournament, only Halep (as a stable top) and Azarenka (who returned to almost the best shape in her career) could be singled out among the “mandatory” favorites. With all due respect, Kvitova, Pliskova, Kenin should have had chances if Simona failed somewhere. RG is simply not their tournament, and they could only win because of the mistakes of more prepared opponents. But there were still unusual times, an incomplete list of applicants and different forms of participants. After all, this is women’s tennis and it’s 2020. Anything can happen here.
What happened is that a player with the best clay tennis appeared right now. Iga has long preferred slow coverage, but only now she has been able to open up to the fullest. The victory over Halep was quite symbolic. A year ago, it was Simone who defeated the young Polish woman in France. This time, Schwentek staged a real vendetta, giving up only three games. I really don’t like such comparisons, but imagine what Iga could do from Svitolina!
Therefore, Kenin was no longer the favorite for the final match. Sophia continued to play American hard tennis, hitting like a metronome from the baseline. Sventek responded with a “ground game”. She tore the pace, madly twisted the ball and simply mocked her opponent. In the final, she took what she deserved during the tournament.
Iron psychological stability, powerful form, excellent variability and game intelligence. Iga has every chance of becoming the dominant force in women’s tennis for many years to come. Hard and grass training still needs to be improved, but with a game like this, it’s a matter of time.
Where Radwanska could cry at that moment. After the match, Iga stated that she considered Agnieszka the best Polish tennis player. And the victory on the Slam is something that Radwańska deserved, but never received. Sport, time, a cruel thing – it’s not enough to be the best, you have to prove superiority in a particular moment. Sometimes – to show the best game in the “right year”.
Again
Elina Svitolina once again played worse than her abilities at the Grand Slam. Starting problems could be explained by a lack of practice, but then the game had to go up. Almost exactly what happened, Elina had a very good match against Garcia. But then there was a failure.
The pressure, high pace and confidence of the opponent outweighed the difference in the class. And also – the slow movement of Elina by the court. A player who doesn’t run is the perfect target. So, in this crazy year, you should expect the perfect shape. After a long pause, bringing yourself to the peak of speed (so that you can rest again in two weeks) is also a difficult matter. But when he entered the court – no discounts, you have to play to the fullest.
See also: Svitolina retained fifth place in the WTA rankings, Kostyuk set a personal record
In general, Elina’s performance can be considered quite good. Last year she was eliminated in the 1/16 finals, now she has reached the quarterfinals. Winning points, a gradual set of forms – a definite plus in the end. But a defeat from a motivated and much lower class opponent – this is not how you want to end the tournament. And in general, more is expected from Elina than just a quarterfinal.
The French hold their tournaments at any cost
It’s already on the edge. The tournament was postponed and new dates were set in advance, without even coordinating with the ATP / WTA. Fernando Verdasco was not admitted on suspicion of infection (really one of his tests was false positive?). The Spaniard appealed with other analyzes, threatened with court – all to no avail, the organizers simply did not want to take risks.
Cold? Then dress warmly. It will rain – we will close the roof even when there is not a cloud in the sky. Interestingly, the players were able to safely exit their “safety bubbles” and contact anyone off the court. Infections? Well, you saw what we did with Verdasco, so think ahead. Second wave of pandemic in France? We’ll make it.
It’s all risky, dangerous, sometimes inhumane, but covered by one argument – the tournament took place in full. And he will be remembered for the record of the legend and the achievement of the future star.
Source: Sportarena
My name is Adam Jackson and I am an author. I have been writing about Basketball games for over a decade now and am excited to share my knowledge with you all. Additionally, I am also interested in other sports and enjoy discussing them with others. Contact me if you want to discuss any Basketball-related topics!
