French Open Day 5: The Stanish Inquisition

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

The seeds still just keep tumbling in the men's doubles. Seeds 3-5, 7, 9, 11 and 16 are all that remain. We haven't even finished the second round there. It is a disaster. It also means that Marcelo Melo can retake the number one ranking.

But put that aside because we have our moment of the championship. It has been an emotional one. We have had the Petra Kvitova story, which almost had me in tears. The hug she shared with her American conqueror tugged at the heart-strings. To watch Bethanie Mattek-Sands throw aside her racket to give Kvitova a big, really big, hug...

?? Super come-back @Petra_Kvitova ????
?
?? Super Perf' @BMATTEK ????
= ?????? #Respect #RG17 pic.twitter.com/TDYywdYCc4

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2017

Well, it makes one want to well up. This is the best defence against Margaret Court's vitriol. It is pure love and the very best our sport has to offer. Our sport is riddled with good sportsmanship, Ivan Lendl and Martina Hingis aside.

We all remember this:


Yes, we've been in headlines for not so good reasons over the years, but on the whole there is a respect and admiration in the sport between the players that few other sports have. In modern times Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Grigor Dimitrov and JMDP have all been some of the best. Not for nothing is the Argentine called the gentle giant.

On Day 5 he played Nico Almagro. We all know how hard he has worked to get back. We all know the difficulties he has faced with the injuries, the grinding on clay. With the score split at 6-3, 3-6, 1-1, Almagro went down and hurt his leg.

He had to retire and Delpo comforted him. And if you have a friend who is good enough to have held you while you cried you will know why what the Argentine did is so special. Because comforting your opponent at their lowest low, when you know exactly what they are going through, is a beautiful, special thing.


Here's the video:

Huge amount of heart from @DelPotroJuan at @RolandGarros.??
???? Nicolas Almagro (knee) forced to retire v. ???? JM Del Potro.#RolandGarros2017 pic.twitter.com/DvzjYaatft

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 1, 2017

And it is reminiscent of this:

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Today we celebrate tennis. We celebrate how beautiful our sport is. And how injury, at the end of it all, is the ultimate enemy. It has claimed the careers of Del Potro, Robin Soderling, Pat Cash, Mary Pierce, Monica Seles and so many others. If, as it looks, that is the last time we see the Spaniard on court, it will be a sad end to a remarkable career. We can only hope he has another title run in him.

The mood may be heavy, but we still have matches to talk about...


MS 1st Rd: Lopez d. [q] Fratangelo {W}
MS 2nd Rd: Albert Ramos Vinolas d. Benjamin Bonzi {W}
MS 3rd Rd: David Goffin d. Horacio Zeballos {L}
==
WS 1st Rd: Jankovic d. Hogenkamp {L}


CHATRIER: STAN WAWRINKA
...The Stanish inquisition kept on rolling. Seriously, when do you ever see him coming? The press never talk about him. You don't. For Goolagong's sake, not even I talk about Wawrinka. The guy who has won three [THREE] slams. The guy who makes semi-finals consistently. The Swiss number one. It's like when a pickpocket takes your wallet. You don't notice until it's too late. How many times have you been watching a slam semi with Wawrinka and not have any clue how he got there? He played Alex Dolgopolov and was in total control throughout. He won 6-4, 7-6[5], 7-5. It took just two and a half hours to get rid of the most dangerous floater in the draw. And you wonder how he did that. He only won 14 more points - he hit 16 aces to Dolgopolov's six. If he hadn't had such a good serving day they would have won an almost identical amount of points. It's about playing and winning the right points. There may not be a better slam player right now. Now you can watch him make me look stupid - he plays Fabio Fognini next.
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CHATRIER: MONFILS D. MONTEIRO
...Yes, Gael Monfils won 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 but it was still a match. Thiago Monteiro threw the kitchen sink, several cupboards, a sack of flour, Donna Reed and Gordon Ramsay at La Monf! Sadly it was all in vain, all for nought. He hit just 14 winners. And that was all down to the solid defense of Monfils. His bend-don't-break philosophy, yes that does work on two levels, frustrated his opponent into submission. By the time set three rolled around his opponent had had enough. Gael goes through in 91 minutes. It is typical Monfils to turn up to a slam with no form and several previous injuries and then go on a run. Can Gasquet pose more of a problem in the third round?
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LENGLEN: MURRAY D. KLIZAN
....More weird scheduling. The world number one playing a flashy player is a draw card. And Martin Klizan actually turned up. He played superb tennis. Muzza won in the end, 6-7[3], 6-2, 6-2, 7-6[3]. In that first set, Klizan came out all guns blazing, and knocked Murray for six. He got an early break but could not close out the set when he served for it at 5-4. He clung on and won in the breaker, hitting 20 winners and 20 errors during the set. But Muzza slowly took control and broke early in the next set, with a couple of fortunate shots, including one shank that turned into a ludicrously short angle. Once he won the second, Klizan threw both sets to reserve energy for the 4th . And he nearly had the Scot in the fourth, but he couldn't quite get over the hump. So our world number one scraped through in three and a half hours. Had he gone five he would have won the tournament. As it stands, it is looking shaky. He plays Del Potro next. That's got classic written all over it. Can Murray improve his shaky form?
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COURT TWO: GASQUET D. ESTRELLA BURGOS
...They used to say that Steffi Graf played like she was double parked. Well, Ritchie Gasquet didn't hang around as he dispatched the Dominican 6-1, 6-0, 6-4. It took him an hour and forty minutes, but he is looking good, peaking at the right time. He broke six times and won 70 per cent of his opponent's second serves. Quito is the one tournament that Burgos always wins. This may be the same surface, but it is 5811.88 miles away from Burgos' favourite capital. Richard Gasquet is playing top ten tennis and his clash with compatriot Gael Monfils is a must-watch. Neither came in with any kind of expectations, but it seems like that match is destined to go five. And they must know each other's games by now.
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COURT THREE: ANDERSON D. KYRGIOS
...When Nick Kyrgios' mind goes, it doesn't just go a little bit. It completely shatters. That is the sole reason Kevin Anderson won 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. We have been here before and discussed it. Here is the video.

The South African will rise 11 places to 45. With a solid result at Wimbledon he could be seed in New York. Next up, he plays Kyle Edmund. He should win that. So opportunity beckons. Honestly, though, this BACKSPINNER is so sick of talking about matches where Kyrgios misbehaves. You know who was good for the tour - Andy Roddick. Man, BACKSPIN misses that guy. He wasn't around quite long enough for him to become a BACKSPIN favourite, but he really made the tour a more positive place. He and Lleyton Hewitt played the role of elder statesman so well. He was just a funny guy who made things more light-hearted without being a total idiot. In a similar way to how TODD INSERT WTA PLAYER HERE [Hmmm, JJ, maybe? Though some may disagree. Vinci?] did. Anyway, Kyrgios is a synonym for a mule and Anderson is playing for his career in the next round.
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OUTER COURT SELECTION: KHACHENOV D. BERDYCH
...BACKSPIN has been proved correct. Karen Khachenov is going to be an essential piece, a keystone, of the future. On a sadder note, Berdman's career is deep into its twilight. The Russian was too good everywhere for the 2010 semi-finalist. The Czech looked tired while the youthful Russian was invigorated. It only took him just over two hours to dispatch Berdych 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. 51 winners to 27 and three breaks. He never faced a single break point himself. The only area he needs to work on is his first serve. If you only get 47 per cent in against Murray or Djokovic, you will be toast. The Russian now plays John Isner. It is a huge opportunity for him. If he gets to the fourth round the top 40 would beckon. For a 21 year old, that is an impressive ranking.
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If I may just leave you with this:



Thanks all and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

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