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2009 French Open - Men

Bucknut24;1476032; said:
Good job Roddick on sucking once again at a major.

There should be no shame in winning three matches on clay and then losing to a Frenchman who made the semis of this tournament last year.

In the first set of Federer's match today, he won 6 straight service games at love, and then lost the set in a tiebreak. I don't think I've ever seen anybody win 24 points in a row on his serve and lose the set before.
 
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BB73;1476154; said:
There should be no shame in winning three matches on clay and then losing to a Frenchman who made the semis of this tournament last year.

In the first set of Federer's match today, he won 6 straight service games at love, and then lost the set in a tiebreak. I don't think I've ever seen anybody win 24 points in a row on his serve and lose the set before.

Agree about the "No Shame" when Roddick made it further on clay at the French Open than any American male and as far as the #1 seed. The only other American male to win a French Open match was Robert Kendirick.
Without Roddick the American record was 1 win 9 losses.
Roddick's 3 wins and 4th round appearance ought not be disgraced.

Not to go OT, but there are lots of theories about the absence of the Americans.
That slow red clay of Roland Garros is not a surface that American junior tennis players extensively train, practice or compete on.
I have always been amazed at:
1. the art and learned skill of sliding prior to and during the hitting motion, (why don't the American players do this?)
2. the willfull endurance required to hit 4 winners before concluding a point, and
3. the clay equalizer that offsets the advantage of a big serve like Roddick, Querry, Blake and other American players use to hold serve.

BB73's comment about Roger Federer winning 24 straight points on serve and losing the set is an intriguing stat. I don't think I have witnessed that before either.
It is believable that Federer could win 24 straight service points on grass or hard courts, but this happened on a clay court!
 
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Bucknut24;1476967; said:
if def doesn't help that there are NO red clay courts in America
Which goes hand in hand with the style of tennis American juniors learn as well. There is a reason why the Spaniards and South Americans have been so dominant in the last 15+ years on clay in general, especially the red clay which is slower.
 
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bigballin2987;1476972; said:
Which goes hand in hand with the style of tennis American juniors learn as well. There is a reason why the Spaniards and South Americans have been so dominant in the last 15+ years on clay in general, especially the red clay which is slower.

agreed, green clay, aka rubico or hard tru (basically american clay) is a lot different than the red clay.
 
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Spoiler alert.










Two 5-set men's semi-finals. Soderling was up 2 sets on Gonzalez, then Gonzo won the next two and was up 4-1 in the fifth, with Soderling serving at 15-30. Soderling pulled out that game, then won 4 more to take the final set 6-4.

Federer lost the 1st set, won the second in a tiebreak (7-2), and got beat 6-2 in the third. Fed then won the 4th set 6-1, then got up an early break in the 5th. Del Potro broke back to tie it, but Fed broke to go up 4-3, and they held serve from there, Federer winning 6-4 in the 5th.
 
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bigballin2987;1478550; said:
Federer is that dude. Bout to get that career grand slam.

Federer will spend tomorrow watching the Soderling-Gonzo match. When Gonzo started mixing speeds and spins, it gave Soderling problems. Soderling will see a boatload of sliced service returns coming back at him on Sunday.
 
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