Drop Shot Showcased
Thanks to the weather conditions and the tennis balls used, players had to become more varied in their choice of strokes. As a result, the drop shot was featured in match after match. Both Nadal and Djokovic used it regularly on their way to the Men’s Singles Final. Kvitova, Tsitsipas and Siegemund were artful practitioners. Jabeur lived by it. And so, did Kenin, who admitted with the Paris conditions, “it is the right play here.”
Hugo Gaston, a tournament wild card, deserves special mention because his play was both captivating and entertaining. The five-foot, eight-inch Frenchman plays like “a lefty” (lefthander), meaning he is a deft and creative shot maker. His variety enabled him to play better than his No. 239 ranking. He was masterful when he defeated Stan Wawrinka, the Swiss Roland Garros Champion of 2017, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in the third round. Dominic Thiem of Austria, the No. 3 seed, closed down Gaston’s engaging show, 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3 in the next round. Gaston, who turned twenty on September 26th, “sliced and diced” his opponents and regularly used teasing lobs and drop shots to add to the confusion he was creating. Against Thiem, who said the shot was “from another planet”, he attempted fifty-eight “drops”.
COVID-19 Count & Bubbling
Daily, on a worldwide basis, it is becoming more and more obvious that COVID-19 doesn’t play by any rules. Just when it seemed that all the contingencies have been covered another concern arises. (At the US Open, eight players, from two countries, became public figures because of testing results or because they were around those who had tested positive. The French team topped the list of impacted players, with Grégoire Barrère, Richard Gasquet, Adrian Mannarino, Kristina Mladenovic, Benoît Paire and Édouard Roger-Vasselin. Ysaline Bonaventure and Kirsten Flipkens were the Belgians caught up in the social distancing sweeps. As readers remember Paire wasn’t allowed to play and Mladenovic and her partner Timea Babos of Hungary were pulled from the draw after winning their first match.)
At Roland Garros, Fernando Verdasco of Spain was forced to withdraw and so was Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia. Verdasco claimed his test result was a false positive. Dzumhur had to pull out because his Serbian coach Petar Popovic tested positive. Both players discussed suing the FFT because the “play, not play” rules were changed allowing a competitor who could prove, he/she had previously been infected would then be allowed to participate.
Those who watched Alexander Zverev’s 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 fourth round loss to Jannik Sinner of Italy could probably tell he wasn’t in top form. After the contest the reason became obvious when the German admitted to having a fever and not being able to breathe then concluding, “I shouldn’t have played”…but later tested negative.
The FFT conducted around 3,000 coronavirus tests and the players stayed in two Paris hotels. Spending time at Stade Roland Garros for other than a match or practice was not possible so it became “hotel…hotel…hotel”. Sam Querrey of the US opined that making a true bubble would require “10,000 rooms” for players, teams and coaches, along with the entire hotel staff. As Fédération Française de Tennis Director General, Jean-Francois Vilotte, “We do not think in terms of a sealed bubble”.
Roland Garros had to be a very skilled juggler for over two weeks in order to deal with the complexities of the pandemic. Paris had an alarming rise in cases and public health officials declared a Maximum Alert during the tournament’s second week.
