Tennis Discussion Thread

And Kvitova has made a successful return winning 6-3 6-2 against Julia Boserup in the first round at Roland Garros

No good for Angelique Kerber though - beaten in straight sets by Ekaterina Makarova. First time since the 1960s the top seed has lost in the first round of the French Open.

Fuck me, her game has fallen off a cliff since becoming world number one.

Good to see Kivtova back, bringing a bit of class to the women's game. The problem with women's tennis is too many tortoises not enough hares.

Interesting choice of outfit for Nike, it looks like they have randomly chucked white paint on the skirts/shorts of their kit

Jo Konta is knocked out of the French Open in the first round again. She has never won a match in the tournament, and obviously needs to improve on her clay court skills.

Kyle Edmund is through to the 3rd round of the French Open

Kevin Anderson has just beaten Kyle Edmund in 5
6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4

Rafael Nadal continues his imperious form at Roland Garros.
Today he has trounced Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1 6-2 6-2 coming soon after a 6-0 6-1 6-0 thrashing of Nikoloz Basilashvili. Ominous indeed from the 9 time champion.

Well, saw THAT coming? Novak Djokovic absolutely crushed in straight sets by Dominic Thiem, and is out of the French Open.

As a side note, I'm tempted to ask if there's any point in keeping the French Open as a grand slam event? There are so many empty seats, day after day. The bloody posing French only ever seem to attend/sell out the finals. Really sad sight - row after after of empty seats, interspersed with the odd fan. Poor showing.

Sure, Dominic Thiem's been in excellent form on clay this year (22-4 win-loss record) but I'm sure Novak will know that the manner of that defeat, especially in the third set which was swept away in barely 20 minutes, is unacceptable. He has already been accused of tanking by John McEnroe during the Eurosport commentary.

All the stats going in to this match pointed to a far different and far more competitive match. Djokovic lead Thiem 5-0, including a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing of the Austrian in the Rome final a few weeks ago. That's the first set Djokovic has lost 6-0 in a slam since 2005 at the US Open. That was the first set and Djokovic came back to beat Gael Monfils in five. It's also the first time he's lost a slam match in straight sets since the Wimbledon final 2013 against Murray.

It's sad to see a player who's been at the top for as long as he has, dominating masters series titles and grand slams for years concede so poorly. His form has been bad for most of the last twelve months since winning the French last year. I said it last year and I'll say it again. I don't think he's got the motivation week in-week out for these tournaments anymore. That French Open title was the last box to be ticked off his CV and in the slams since then he hasn't looked anywhere near as good. The US Open final appearance last year now looks clearly to me to have been papering over the cracks. I hope he can come back but it's going to be a lot of hard work in the second half of the year to get there. Will be strange seeing Djokovic entering Wimbledon without not only a top two ranking but also without holding any of the grand slams.

I too have been disappointed with the French Open empty seats. The facilities at Roland Garros are severely lagging behind the other three slams too. They need to start catching up quickly.