so, WHAT DOES EVERYONE THINK?

i think the draw is good for both rafa and roger.......rafa-federer final a very good possibility

VAMOS!!

1) Poor Soderling! Drawn in Federer's quarter *again*!
2) Gulbis QF likely Federer's biggest obstacle in his race for #1 record
3) The second quarter is a joke, anyone could get the semis there
4) Murray/Gasquet is hilarious, COME ON GASQUET!
5) Rafa will win the whole thing

Söderling hasn't been playing so well so he shouldn't be a threat to Roger assuming no hiccups on the way for Roger. Nando will probably try his best to overcome Rafa but it's going to be tough. Nole will probably do in Roddick and Murray and Tsonga 50-50 there. Having said that anything can happen. :-)

i like the 5th point roamed...u made my day today

VAMOS!!!

Nos. 3 and 4 were good points, roamed

the draw is brutal for murray imo....federer facing luczak in the opener...

hewiit again in rafa's half.......poor him!

ricky....just say it...5th is the best point...lol

Draw is good for Rafa to reach finals with tough competition coming from Verdasco in Quarters and Ferrer or Djokovic in Semi Final

Can't say the same about Federer's's draw , in addition to Federer's usual struggle in initial round , he will have tough opponents in Wawrinka & Gulbis to reach semi finals

Semifinal will be the easier one of all Federer's match , if Federer gets there and will get beaten by Nadal in final

bottom half is WAY better

Ist quarter is average,2nd quarter is a joke,3rd quarter is loaded,and the 4th quarter is a bit competetive.

I think Nadal gets a good draw for a change. He should reach the finals with ease. Djokovic could challenge him a bit if he reaches the SF's (chances are that he will not reach the SF's). GULBIS could have been a dangerous customer, but good for Nadal that he is in Fed's half. Even if Nadal has some off days, there is hardly anyone in his half who could capitalise.

atul1985...if rafa has a bad day...only djokovic can capitalize in his draw...luckily for rafa...nole himself is having bad days...lol

tj600 - third quarter isn't loaded. It's by far the worst!

lol @vrael! Djoko will come bakk. he gtta play and show he is nt thinking of any other careers ;)

Luck of the draw I guess. The 2 matchups I wanted to see were Gulbis/Nadal and Sod/Nadal. :(

@vrael, djokovic beating nadal in a best of 5 setter , there is almost no way....in a besst of 3 he can if rafa has an off day but rafa's defence is always ON and best of 5 setters are brutal for djo ,especially given his current health.

for me, rafa is the overwhelming favorite (i might be biased and overoptimistic) and he is going to win RG not dropping more than 1 set. nando will provide a challenge but MC result was 6-0 6-1 so nando shud be in awe of nadal ...i donot think djo will make it to the semis but even if he does rafa will steamroll him.....djo's presence in rafa's draw has been lucky for rafa :P 06-08 he won tht event beating djo on the route to the title....

fed's tougest challenge is GULBIS and only gulbis has the tendency to end the UNREAL semi-final streak of FED and to allow sampras to have some peaceful sleep with the rankings records under his pillow .

heeee chr18 i bet u were

MAX....i love nole...he is second only to rafa in my heart...how would i hope he reaches the semis and then get packed to serbia respectfully..;)

U guys really think Gulbis gnna beat Fed in a 5 setter?

Gulbis-Soderling would be awesome

but I think Montanes will take out the Sod

MAX....i dont

i agree vamosrafa...even if rafa has an off day...a sub par nole cant beat rafa on clay....nigh impossible...a healthy nole can beat rafa easily at the uso though..wat do you think??

Ricky , Somdev is in whose quarter?

som dev qualified??? wow...good for us...me and clayking!

how is ljubi on a clay court???

he is in rafa's quarter

Somdev just won this morning. VERY GOOD FOR HIM!

qualifiers wont be in the draw till tonight or tomorrow.

Fed is having an easy path to quarters where I expect him to meet Gulbis rather than Sod...the way he is playing now, Sod is bellow Gulbis level...Murray may face a difficult test in Gasquet... I watched Murray play an exhibition tournament yesterday having huge trouble to beat Mardy Fish but he eventually managed...however, I know it was just an exhibition and it may not have much value...then I expect Murray to struggle with either Isner or Berdych...if he overcomes those he is IMO more likely to meet Tsonga although I would say Youzny is in better form than Tsonga, but Tsonga has his MORE THAN BIAS and EXCTATIC home crowds behind him who will give Youznhy a hard time on court...

In the third quarter I expect Roddick to lose to Monaco (unless Monaco really has a bad day) because Roddick is in no form for clay and he can't wait to start preparing for Wimby...then Ferrer beats Monaco in an easy manner...Nole IMO will easily reach quarters to meet Ferrer...again, although Ferrer is a very difficult on clay his mental weaknesses may make it easy for Nole...

Rafa has the current best clay court players in his draw: Verdasco, Almagro, Belluci...I bet others are happy to see them in Rafa's quarter...however, Rafa is Rafa...that is all I will say about this...

Vamos Rafa!!!!

Vamos Somdev! Anyway lets take it one match at a time. Regardless of the favorite anything can happen as we discovered last year. Who would have expected Soderling to beat Rafa after the Rome beatdown that the former received.
Same could happen with Verdasco who could make things tough for Rafa after his Monte Carlo bagel.
Anyway I am happy to see Gulbis and Ferrer a bit far away though I am concerned about Verdasco.

Good draw for federer , if he really wants to beat nadal at RG Final.
Nadal is definetly the hottest pick for everyone to win, but this time if we would be lucky enough to see fed-nadal final , it should be a 5 setter.(Like 2008 Wim)

i just looked at the qualifier spots in the draw. Many good opportunities to win 1 or 2 rounds.

hope som dev stays out of rafa's path...ill be in a dillema...

patriotism vs idolism....not sweet!!

Santiago Giraldo could be a tough opponent for Djokovic in the 2nd round

Cmon Somdev! Beat them all and bring us a Slam!

somdev is talented ,,good player.congrats vrael and clayking.

@vRAEL...if u are talking abt a healthy nole vs a healthy rafa at US open both playing near this best nole has to be the favorite....but rafa did beat him in the olympics semi (same surface as the US open) so really depnds how rafa plays....if rafa plays short surely nole will punish him but if rafa is the aggressor himself, tight contest but overall nole shud be the favirite,

roddick squeezing out a 6-4 6-2 win against youzhny...playing good , venturing the net a lot...good exho andy. show some commitment towards RG

hehehe...max u r funny

Nishikori-Giraldo first round. Winner plays Djokovic. Tough section.

H'mmm, does John Isner have a legit shot at making the quarterfinals?

I'd be very surprised if we don't get a ninth installment of the Roger-Rafa Slam Showdown. But tennis is about surprises, isn't it?

Verdasco's a great player but he looks tired to me, or maybe hurting. Not at all sure he makes it to the quarters. I don't think playing 5 setters is recommended R&R. Otoh, Ferrer seems to be tireless and Djoko....isn't, at the best of times. Even during this year's DC, no way he should be having to play tough 4 and 5 setters on clay vs the Quizners.

Wawrinka seems to roll over and play dead when he gets across the net from Fed.

rafa below par---owned by a supreme nole on decoturf...nole gulps those short balls down

vamosrafa.....if both are at their best...nole wins marginally on the decoturf...

rafa wins on the rebound ace..imo

before gulbis, there is monfils for fed, that is if monfils make it there..
and monfils is no pushover..
2nd quarters is for robredo if he is fit or youzhny,
andy murray has a brutal draw there..
and tsonga has a chance as well.. there is de bakker there as well..
now about my man ferrero in 3rd draw..
first and foremost i hope he is 100% fit..
secondly his path has
R1 ceuvas, R2 gicquel, R3 possibly querrey, R4 nole
so he should minimum get to round 4 and then play well..
hope nole is out of form or taken by giraldo and then ferrero can move to qfs where a possible meeting with his best friend waits for him..
about nadal's quarter...
is there anything to look??
we know he will be in semis.. :)

p.s. really happy that somdev qualified..
but a bit sad too since harrison missed the cut..

Ramara - sure, Isner has a chance. Everyone in that quarter of the draw has a chance to do anything! It's so wide open.

@vrael...if u are talking abt rebound ace (oz open) then my friend rebound ace does not exist any more...plexicushion has taken over since 08 and plexi does suit rafa. rebound ace was sticky and quicker than plexi , a bit slower than deco tho

yeah i mean oz open...forgot abt the switching of surfaces at oz.. i also feel that the surface at oz open suits rafa....rebound ace was the green one,wasnt it??

@vamosrafa
sometimes,i feel sorry for nole. He always ends up in the wrong side of the draw for him. What I mean is that at the FO,he almost always ends up in Nadals half,when he would obviously prefer to be in Feds,and at the USO,he ends up in Feds half,when he would prefer to be in Nadals. The exception was last yr at the French,but he failed to capitalise. At the FO,nole has zero percent chance against Nadal. I mean no offence,but at the USO,the match is off Noles racquet. If he plays his best,he beats nadal on a fast hard court-regardless of how well Nadal plays.

The surface at the AO Open is the best hard court surface on the tour. In fact I will go a far and say for players body and career longevity all hard court tournaments should be converted to a plexicushion surface which the AO has. It helps with fatigue and takes pressure off their joints.
http://www.plexipave.com/tennis/plexicushion.html

if nadal cant win the title with this draw, then he will never ever be in the same breath as bjorn borg as clay GOAT!

in fact if nadal doesnt win the french open this year, i will leave this forum forever!

if nadal cant win the title this year then his career is finished and i expect a retirement announcement soon.

if nadal cant win this year, it will be the most awful, hideous performance by a top level sportsperson in the history of professional sports.

i could beat most of those mugs he will be facing in his draw.
he has his spanish b**ches in the 4th round and quarters that will bend over for their god then probably ferrer in the semis.

heck if nadal loses this tournament, i will personally travel to mallorca and beat up nadal with my bare fists.

Atr- bloody brilliant!!!! That's hilarious!!!
If rafa doesn't win this tournament I will cone to Mallorca with you and hold him down :)

spam

What nonsense , he is the favourite to win but you can't say anything in the sports.
As everyone has seen what happened in last FO, in US Open final Fed was the hot favourite but Del potro overcome fed.Lets just to hope and dont get angry on ur favourite players if they fails.

Shame that Verdasco and Nadal are in the same quarter ... whether Fer is tired or not I think he could have made the semis ( without that Rafa meeting ).

Nice to know Somdev hav couple of fans here! Infact i love his game. But he needs to be more consistent. Cmon Somdev! First slam is waiting! Lets take it bfre Andy takes :P

draw analysis - http://tiny.cc/2zvvi

this devvraman guy is the most overrated mug in the history of tennis.
the guy is a loser of the highest order.

ATR: RR-ROFL uncontrollably. hahaha.

hilarious atr. just hilarious. ur even funnier than russel peters...

ATR, you are so funny....what an encouraging post for Rafa :)) Rafa, beware...danger is everywhere, on and off court...

he hates everything that i like...GOD CALL ME BACK..

Devvarman is not rated high

ATR - FAIL

atr,
since you can beat the ATP pro's in Nadal's quarter, why don't you compete?

atr can also break rafa's serve himself....i wonder y he does not play proffesionaly

not only could i beat the mugs in nadal's quarter, my grandma could beat them in straight sets.

nadal has bending over spaniards that will surely bend over to their god nadal, and just like almagro in madrid who was up a set and had break points in the 2nd set and realised what he was doing to his god and decided to bend over once again.
after the bending over spaniards, nadal has the ultimate bending over swiss.......federer.

the plan here goes like this:
all spaniards get into nadal's half and beat all the big hitting players that have the game to beat nadal and clear the path for their god, then when they face god, they do their duties and bend over.
then god has a place in the final and then the ultimate bend over swiss ballerina with his sucky backhand clears the path for god to win the title.

this is the script.

hope everyone knows their roles.

"not only could i beat the mugs in nadal's quarter, my grandma could beat them in straight sets."

Thats the comment of the year on TT.

what im really hoping for is like in 2007 all the american clay mugs bomb out in the first round.
but that probably wont happen since queer boy and serve only giant isner will take advantage of these hardcourt like clay courts and serve themselves into the next round.

these are no longer clay courts, they are red hardcourts.

wow.....speechless!!

u r out of this WORLD ATR...literally.....hows everything back in pluto mate??

tj600: for god's sake whatever made you say that. The man doesn't need any encouragement. Now he will start swamping every thread with his monotonous, repetitive, stupid remarks which he thinks are so clever.

http://www.sportinglife.com/tennis/frenchopen2010/news/story_get.cgi?S TORY_NAME=tennis/10/05/21/manual_150113.html

@ed
i was being sarcastic. not sure if atr realised..

lol ATR, the script is amazing...especially Federer's role.

tj600, 5/21/10 5:14 PM No he will take your words at face value. He doesn't do irony.

and the FO champion is : ATR!!!

The way you guys treat ATR is like he is a 3 year old kid. Nobody takes his comments seriously and it is seems like everybody is making fun of him. Is he really a 3 year old kid because for some reasons, i think he is a 3 year old kid!

3 year old kid with a good vocabulary for his age...

Acasuso just retired so qualifying is complete

the qualifiers should be placed in the main draw momentarily

I was hoping to see four Spaniards in the semis but no chance now, at best two appearing in the semis.

I don't think Fed needs to beat Gulbis, as I doubt Gulbis can get past Montanes, Cilic, Soderling, playing best of 5 sets matches. That eighth of the section looks interesting to me, with Gulbis/Montanes/Cilic/Soderling. Fed should not have any problem reaching the QF to meet anyone of those and beating that 'anyone'.

Murray may not even get past Gasquet if he is not playing well and Gasquet plays well. Gasquet can play on clay, the thing in question is his form. I hope to see Berdych doing well this RG, hopes that he reaches the semi and most probably meets Fed there.

I think Ferrer can beat Roddick and Nole. Ferrer is playing the best tennis in his career right now, I think he is even better this clay season than his 2007's. We may be seeing a Rafa/Ferrer semi.

http://www.espn.co.uk/tennis/sport/story/23792.html

uncle toni talks again!!

I think Justine Henin could win Murray's quarter ...

And that was pretty funny, Ricky, mentioning A-Rod in Djoko's quarter. He'll be the first "major upset" of the tournament -- as per usual. (Last year's fourth-round appearance was a total fluke.)

Isner bandwagon ready to leave the station; I'm driving. All abooooooard!!

SP,
I think Serena could win Mandy's quarter and she sucks on clay. Justine ,aka the current queen of clay, probably wouldn't lose a set.
The finals are a given for Nadal but I can't underestimate Fed in the final despite the history.

vrael, I sure don't mind it, but this ESPN article implies that Rafa is up to win his 6th FO title, and that Uncle Tony led him in wining 7 GSs. They either did not do their homework or they are just able to see the future...:))

Somdev will play Chiudinelli

followed by Isner

tito toni is controlling rafael like his pet poodle.
cant break a racket, cant be arrogant and say the other mug has no chance to beat him, mandatory to praise swiss ballerina and say he is GOAT, only allowed to hit shot tito toni himself has taught rafael, etc.

rafael is like tito toni's personal pet.

i forgot one more thing....

cant buy anything that would make rafael look rich and elitist, cant buy private jet and must travel in economy class, he shall only play tournaments in which toni has approved.

ATR, Rafa has a private jet if I am not mistaken. Had heard some "conspiracy theories" regarding rafa and Ana ivanovic after Rafa had given her a lift to reach Miami...lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eNJKwiKXQI

gianni mina.....looks a bit like monfils!

The article said that Rafa is in his 6th French Open(2005-2010) - not winning his no. 6 Open - if you read it properly, so nothing incorrect with that.

No private jet for Rafa, as that time he was travelling in one, that was provided by the tournament organiser. Rafa a pet dog for Toni?? Rafa made his own decision, hence we see him in Shakira's video! You think Toni get Rafa to show up in that video?

Rafa is old enough to make his own decision and he has been doing so. One thing he still let Toni does, out of respect I think, ie to speak to the press on his behalf sometimes; that has sometimes lead to some misunderstandings, that Rafa is always giving excuses for his losses as Toni always tell the press about Rafa's physical condition (though its always the press that ask about it in the first place).

vrael, yes the 18 year old Mina does get compared to Monfils a lot. :). Gianni's favourite surface is clay, he has a very good juniors record and he admires Rafa Nadal.

i saw gina 3 mnths back and i thot he was monfil's little brother !! LOL

luckystar, the article says the following:

The world No. 2 is on course to win his sixth French Open crown (?!), but Toni believes an intelligent approach to planning his nephew's calendar could be the best way to avoid injury.?

?Toni Nadal has guided his nephew to seven Grand Slam titles? (?!)

you judge it yourself whether it is true or not...