King of Clay faced one in his second round against Mackenzie McDonald. He weighs in on the divisive shot...
© Nicolas Gouhier/FFTAn eventful Day 4 at Roland-Garros? You could say that. For starters, Serena Williams withdrew from her second-round match with the Achilles injury that has been bothering the 23-time Grand Slam winner.
But here’s what you might have missed from around the grounds…
The most famous underarm serve ever might have happened at Roland-Garros in 1989, when Michael Chang used it on the way to a stunning upset of Ivan Lendl before going on to win his first and only major.
Lendl, by the way, never took issue with Chang’s tactic.
But Rafael Nadal felt his opponent Mackenzie McDonald did not use it to great effect on Wednesday when trailing 6-1, 4-0.
The King of Clay easily got to the serve and hit a forehand winner.
“If he's winning, is a good tactic,” said Nadal, who advanced in one hour, 40 minutes. “If he's losing, is a bad tactic. That's all. For example today for Mackenzie was not a good tactic.”
Nick Kyrgios’ underarm serve against Nadal in Acapulco last year seemed to draw the ire of the 19-time Grand Slam winner.
But Kyrgios hits that serve intermittently, as do the likes of Alexander Bublik, Sara Errani and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
“If you do it with the goal to improve your game, or like a tactical thing, I support 100 per cent,” said Nadal. “If you do for disrespect the opponent, is not a good thing.
“Everybody knows internally if you are doing in a good way or in a bad way. For me is no discussion about that. Is part of the rules, you can do it 100 per cent. Is about yourself, if you feel good doing or not. Depends.”
Don’t bank on Nadal ever hitting one.
That came in Kiki Bertens’ gripping 7-6 (5), 3-6, 9-7 win over 2012 Roland-Garros finalist Errani, who used an underarm serve when down match point.
Dealing with cramps to her left leg, right foot and both hands, Bertens collapsed to the court when the three hour, 11-minute epic ended. The Dutchwoman somehow sealed matters with a remarkable backhand overhead winner.
The fifth seed left the court in a wheelchair, a year after retiring in the second round with a stomach illness when one of the tournament favourites.
“It was really bad because I don't want to leave the court in a wheelchair,” said the 2016 semi-finalist. “So I said like, 'Okay, no, I'm going to walk'. And the physios were like, 'No you're not', and I was like, 'Yes, I will'.
"And then my whole left leg started cramping. So they were really like, 'No, you're going to sit down and we ride you off. So also I didn't really have a choice.”
Bertens earlier saved a match point at 5-6 in the third in a stretch that saw 10 straight breaks of serve.
She is due to face unseeded Czech Katerina Siniakova in the third round. And thankfully, by the time she spoke with reporters, she said she was “feeling much better than a few hours ago."
Diego Schwartzman is considered one of the men’s dark horses at Roland-Garros, fully understandable since he topped his pal, Nadal, at the Italian Open.
The Argentinian continued his march through the draw by downing Italian marathon man Lorenzo Giustino, 6-1, 7-5, 6-0, and has spent less than four hours on court in singles.
Besides being a gifted tennis player, the 12th seed is a nifty dancer, as he showed in an episode this year of Tennis United.
He perfected a move he seemed to call the ‘Fisherman.’
So will he give us another dance if he lifts the trophy in Paris?
“More than one, for sure,” he said, laughing. “More than one, yeah, yeah. I can say that. Yeah, I can promise that for sure.”
You’ve heard of players such as Jim Courier and Angelique Kerber jumping into the Yarra River in Melbourne after winning the Australian Open title?
How about taking a plunge in Prague's Vltava river?
Sebastian Korda revealed on Twitter a bet he had with his team whereby they would have to swim across Charles Bridge in the Czech capital if he made the third round at Roland-Garros.
Guess what? The American did, after knocking off compatriot John Isner, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
He was watched at home by his dad, Grand Slam winner Petr Korda.
Elina Svitolina’s attachment to a toy pet was there for all to see after the third seed defeated Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 6-3, 0-6, 6-2.
She began to cry when asked about Bobik.
“Actually very sad for me because in 2018 I lost him. I forgot him in the room. It was very sad,” said Svitolina. “It’s a toy, but he was my talisman, my lucky charm.”
No doubt she’d still like to have him, but her impressive career — including back-to-back Grand Slam semi-finals last season — attests to the fact she may not need a lucky charm after all.
How tough is it to beat Kei Nishikori in a fifth set?
He entered play with a phenomenal 24-6 record, having knocked off Dan Evans in a match that went the distance on Monday. And the longtime Japanese No.1 had won six five-setters in a row on the Parisian clay.
But it came to an end when Italian Stefano Travaglia got the better of him, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-2.
“He stepped up really well, especially fifth set,” said Nishikori.
Some days are just tough for the server. Case in point: Coco Gauff.
The teen was upset by Italian Martina Trevisan 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, hitting 19 double faults. Errani hit 14 against Bertens.
ROLAND-GARROS
20 May - 9 June 2024
