Getty Images
But the big constant has been Rafael Nadal. It’s funny how, as Roland Garros got underway, there was so much conjecture about things like Nadal’s choice to skip the US Open, the weather, the balls, his lack of a tune-up title.
Meanwhile, the results speak: Nadal has won all 15 sets he’s played. In true Nadal fashion, as Tuesday turned to Wednesday, he squeezed the promising young Italian, Jannik Sinner, 7-6, 6-4, 6-1. And yet there is nothing boring about watching Nadal in action, nothing banal about such a high level of willpower. Nadal’s entire career has been based on taking nothing for granted. So if he so honors the game, best never to take him for granted. Having not seen Nadal in action since February, it’s wonderful to become reacquainted with all that makes him as great a competitor as tennis has ever seen.
How fitting that Nadal in the semis next plays Diego Schwartzman, the man who beat him in Rome just prior to Roland Garros. Like Nadal, Schwartzman is tenacious beyond belief, a pit bull in the David Ferrer mold, who in the quarters here two years ago took the first set from Nadal before joining the long list of Rafa Roland Garros victims, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
In this year’s quarterfinals, Schwartzman took just over five hours to beat Dominic Thiem in a rollercoaster of a five-setter that was surely one of the great matches of the tournament.
What did you make of that match, Steve, and what’s excited you about Roland Garros this year?
Hi Joel,
Roland Garros and the US Open have followed the same pattern this year. First, we worry about whether the tournament and its officials can pull off such an ambitious undertaking in the middle of a pandemic. Then, during the first week, there a few dicey moments, when you realize how easily it could all go wrong—at the US Open, it was Benoit Paire’s positive test; at the French Open, it was Alexander Zverev’s corona-like symptoms. Then the crisis seems to pass; there was no wider breakout in New York, and Zverev has apparently tested negative. Sports in the Covid era requires a lot of work, and some good luck, and tennis has had both so far. Knock on la terre battue.
This French Open has been unlike all others, obviously, and some aspects haven’t been ideal—rain, cold weather, slow conditions, few fans, the specter of the virus. But as a fan I’ve enjoyed the novelty of Roland Garros in the fall. There’s less pageantry, but also less pressure to make it a perfect event. No one seems to care what anyone wears—whatever keeps you warm, go for it. The players fetch their own towels and water bottles, which I like to see. And while the chilly air and new, heavier balls have slowed down play, I’ve liked that, too. It leads to more drop shots, more scrambling from baseline to net and back again, and more creativity.
We’ve also had a nice contrast in the draws. While Novak Djokovic and Nadal have marched forward on the men’s side, the women’s side turned into a free-for-all. Seeing the big names do what they’re supposed to do brings a sense of order, but upsets bring a sense of rebellious freedom, letting you know that hierarchies are there to be smashed, and no one is truly better than anyone else—it all depends on the day. While Nadal and Djokovic have maintained order, Swiatek and Podoroska, by making the semis, have given us that “can you believe this is happening?” sense of wonder that’s such a trademark of Grand Slams.