A reminder that what I cover versus what I do not, and how much detail I go into, is heavily influenced by when I'm commentating and when I'm sleeping. Thanks for understanding and hope you enjoy!
I'm from México where tennis isn't a very popular sport but everytime I see a video of your channel I feel that I have someone who I can "talk" well actually hear talk about tennis, great channel 🔥
Hi, do you watch BA tennis at all? They are a Spanish tennis channel. If your English is good enough, you could also come to TennisTalk with Cam Williams. Cam is getting close to 200K followers as he is excellent with his play by play commentary. We have a lot of fun at Tennis Talk. Cam is also a big fan of Gill Gross and often promotes Gill's channel.
Naomi played incredible for like 95% of the match. Yeah, pressure and tension got to her. Defo she was a better player and should've won. But it's tennis. Kudos to Iga for resilience, kudos to Naomi for the level she showed - very encouraging - especially considering the fact she's been saying one thing ever since returning: that she's gearing up to September. Honestly if she keeps this level she will be one of the favourites of US Open.
@@polishgigachad7097 I'm from Poland, I'm all for Iga, but i can appreciate Naomi's level in that match. And you clearly didn't understand what I've said. Osaka was a better player overall. She didn't handle the nerves tho and that's when Iga took advantage of it. Grow up and learn some manners and don't be that insecure, Jesus... Bye
@@polishgigachad7097 yup, she was better throughout the whole match. She crumbled when it mattered the most. Iga didn't. Iga won. And credit to her that she managed to do it despite the match nor going her way at all. The only one who embarrasses yourself is you. And mostly because a polish guy (who supports Iga and cheered for her) said that Naomi was incredible in this match. Go and respond further, continue to be insecure. Quite frankly I don't care anymore 🤷♂️
I think the big problem for Iga was the pressure everyone put on her by making her favorite to win. She is only a human. I am proud of her for coming up to the surface at the most important point and won this!
If you have watched the match, you'll know the pressure was not the problem. The way Osaka attacked her on both flanks was just too good. Unfortunately for Osaka, when you play such low margin Tennis, it's difficult to keep your composure in crucial moments. Still a huge positive for Osaka since she is not someone who likes the clay courts. If she builds on this momentum, I see her beating top players at the US open.
@@krishnaramachandran7722 Well, neither one of us was in Iga's head as it happened, but judging from her words to the crowd after the match, she played under a lot of pressure. Clearly, Naomi came out with nothing to lose and Iga came out with everything to lose. The topic of pressure is something that Iga mentioned on many occasions pretty much since she became #1. I thought her problem in this match and frankly in many early round matches is that she lost focus especially in that second set (which btw. she also said in her press conference).
It was a bit of pressure definitely but I feel like she just could not really keep up with Osaka’s serve and ground strokes but she came in clutch in the very important moments and showed why she is number 1,but Naomi is most definitely back .
@@krishnaramachandran7722no. Iga was really nervous. She was doing easy errors. She had 15 bp and didnt use most of them. She tried to rush and error after error. But Osaka played freely, risky no pressure. No one expected her to win. All pressure was on Iga. It waw only second round
Iga didn't expect to have that high level in 2nd round. She wasn't mentally prepared for this. Osaka didn't play like this in the previous matches after returning. Osaka belived in victory because she had a huge impact on what tennis player Iga became. They know each other fo a long time, 5-4 years ago Osaka invited Iga for dinner that has a great influence on Iga's future career. Iga started to believe in herself that she was not worse than Osaka, she was in a sense a teacher, a role model for her. Osaka thought I contributed to her success, now I'll show her who's the boss. Osaka came back after having a child stronger than before, credit to her for that. It was one of the most interesting WTA matches of the last decade.
One thing about the sinner match: it was extremely humid in chatrier for the entire day and probably exasperated sinners physical endurance a little extra. But yes I do agree that his endurance needs to improve if he wants to win it all
In my opinion, I think Sinner fine. When Sinner/Gasquet match started, it was 9:20 pm local time and the roof was closed therefore the humidity skyrocketed to 94%. Basically, it was more fatigue than anything due to weather conditions. He does need to improve his fitness, but he has the draw to improve his fitness.
You said it yourself. If (Naomi) maintained her level. Well, she didn't when it mattered the most. Iga's determination and mental strength are amazing. That's why she's number 1 and will continue being number 1 regardless her results in Roland Garros. I like Naomi and she's a great tennis player. Yesterday she played the best match ever but give credit where credit is due.
The Naomi I watched yesterday reminded me of 2018-Naomi-Osaka-that-beat-Serena-Williams-in-the-2018-USO-Final. Even though she lost the match. The top players need to look out when hard court season rolls around. She admitted during her presser, "I'm getting ready for September." Yikes.
I have to agree with you Gill about the nerves and tension getting to Osaka in the bottom of the third set. Both she and Iga are well aware of it as well. Osaka has not been in these big match pressure situations recently, and now has to teach her brain again, how to handle the situation better next time. She admitted crying after she left the court, because she knew how close she was to getting that win yesterday, and crumbled.
Hey Gill- I also watched the sinner match and was also struck by the physical dip. However, he’s talked at length about working his way into the tournament- like in Miami- and building up match fitness. He’s got a relatively soft draw in Hubi and Dimitrov until the semis against Alcaraz which should give him enough time; I still have him picked as my rg Champ
I love how people hate to give Iga credits for anything she has achieved so far! Osaka gave everything she could to win with no 1 , so don't get so excited about her as she has a few more matches to confirm her great form ! This is what's champions do. They have the ability to win no matter what! How many similar matches on the men side we have experienced praising the winner who was losing badly and came back to win the game??
I think you are a bit wrong. This moment in the third set when Iga started to make up losses was, according to her, the first time she got really focused during the match. When she got that focus, there was nothing Osaka could have done. It wasn't only Osaka's nerves, Świątek raised her level. And yes of course Osaka was tough for her during the whole match, but Świątek admitted that she was not as concentrated and prepared (she gave up her regime, was doing many things off court etc.) because she did not expect this intensity in the second round.
Swiatek vs Osaka was my most moving match of the year and probably my favourite. Swiatek vs Sabelenka at Madrid 2024 was probably the best match in terms of quality throughout. I was bummed that she couldn’t close it but that 2nd set was amazing. I couldn’t never have imagined anyone dominating Swiatek 6-1 at Roland Garros. It was breathtaking and I hope she takes this attitude towards grass and hard courts. The world of tennis is a better place when Osaka is playing her best and the focus is on her tennis and not her mental state. She is a champion. Those 4 Grand Slams are not a fluke.
Eager to see what you have to say about the Rune Cobolli match - rune is a great in the making. 15 tiebreaker Winstreak. It's crazy how he's so volatile emotionally but so clutch in the tightest of moments.
Djokovic's level against RCB was pretty high and as you said, he wasn't as flat as he was in the earlier parts of the year. He dug in and grinded a bit, played a lot of really gruelling rallies and his drop shot was pretty precise, and the forehand in terms of creating width and moving RCB around was fantastic. The forehand actually is good enough to hit through the clay imo. Sinner seems shaky to me throughout these first few matches. Not sure if he'll beat Alcaraz in a semi. And if Novak wants to win, he will win in a final against Sinner. Just depends on what form of him shows up imo. But ultimately I think Alcaraz will breeze through to a win and redeem his exit last year.
If I was Novak's coach, I would hire somebody to sit in the stands and annoy him. It was hilarious yesterday, Novak gets annoyed at a fan and suddenly its 2015 again.
How you fail to even mention Ruuds 5-set escape against an on-fire Fokina is beyond me. Rune this, Rune that.. What about Ruud? The world number 7, you had to beat Novak in the quarters?
You're right. It's disgraceful for Iga. When Nadal had won a set against Andujar losing 1:5 and 0:40, everyone was praising him afterwards. And fyi, Iga told the Polish journalists she had been mentally distracted throughout the match, and it hadn't been a good match for her.
Gill disrespectful on Iga who won RG Championship 3x. Iga was clutch in important moments staying calm and never give up till the end! Give credit where credit is due!
Osaka looked to me tired in the end. It was not only mental. She was not move on the same level, it was not enough to finish this match , that’s why she made mistakes.Osaka was doing new preparation this season , with new coach to change her movement. It was done to accommodate her movement on clay. It helped improve her game on clay a lot .And one more thing , Iga recently play really intensively and in my opinion she looked mentally exzosted.She could not concentrate as usual. She talked after game about it too.
The problem with Rune is decision making. He has all the shots forehand, backhand and a good serve, but I don't see much of a game plan or a strategy. Moreover, he has a one size fits all strategy and doesn't tweak his game for the opponent. That's exactly where we were with Sinner 2 years ago when everyone said he is a great player and the results didn't back that up. So Rune still has age on his side.
Thanx Gill. Cheers Milan. Loved the analysis - as always. Agreed - Djoker looked the best in all three sets after dropping game 1 set 1. R2 Novak looking like close-2-prime Djoker w/still hot/cold moments. All aspects clicking. Best with the sleep schedule :)
If Osaka was better, she would win. She was clearly better for 1,5 of the match (from 2nd set to 5:2 in the 3rd) and stopped being better, when bigger stress and pressure appeared. Calming your nerves is part of being champion and part of sport skills. Maybe Osaka needs to remember that part and this match will help her win something soon. Swiatek said in the past that the player who is close to win is under more pressure than the one about to lose. This match was classic example.
lol, no iga WAS WORSE DURING WHOLE match, just because she USED the weaker moment for Osaka and LATER Iga broke OSAKA because japanese did DOUBLEFAULT LOL , makes her better?? osaka just CHOKED, clear and simple.. not always better player wins, thats tennis.. why you cannot admit that?
Osaka HAD MATCH POINT for gods sake, how is not that choking?? ONE good serve and iga would be done and you say iga was better ?...osaka can only blame herself, she demolished swiatek in second set
@@marikafasola3780 If Osaka lost after ball rolled over the net few times or if her racket/strings broke hitting the ball - that would be bad luck and I could somehow agree. She was too weak mentally to win. You have to be mentally strong to overcome nerves. "Whole match" means to the last ball - she wasn't better player in the last 5 games. Tough.
thats the point , too weak mentally but that doesnt mean iga was better player..the point is naomi hold her serve during whole 3rd set and she had many occasion to screw it up but she didtn.... iga had to only count on osaka's breakdown and she got it.Thats not I would expect from number 1, she had no chance to win with osaka when she was on fire! .... After that she was in better position because she got "new life", she relied on osaka's mantal breakdown , thats all.
@@marikafasola3780 mental strength is as important as pure tennis skills. You can't be the best without enduring tough moments. Being better for most of the match means nothing, if you can't close the deal.
In my view, Osaka not being able to close the match out was not just nerves - it was also lack of match play. She's not as clutch as at her peak, and was tiring by the third hour of playing at such a high level, so easy misses of shots she would usually make blindfolded, she's just out of the hang. So good to see her back playing like this. Can't wait to see her next tourney. Hope she doesn't have to play Iga, Sabalenka, Rybakina etc, until later in the draw and can play herself into some crisp form.
About Osaka - how come mental toughness and nerve manangement are two different things for you? Mental and nerves begins with the rising stakes and she was very positive as long as the stakes were low.
I feel like none of these new players even the top 4 can beat the big 3 (or at least Nadal-Djoker) in terms of fitness. The number of times those guys just grinded out 5 setters in nerve biting conditions in the finals after playing an entire 5 set tournament is insane. Ao2012 final comes to mind obviously an outlier but I don't see any of these young players even touching that. It's not even fitness I think Nadal and Djoker had next level drive and they gave it their all usually when competing with each other.
I'm not sure if Osaka really played that well or if it was Iga who played poorly that day. Because it wasn't the Iga in my opinion 100% that day. But we will soon find out.
iga didnt deserve to win...what a lame ending by osaka...she dominated her and still lost due to nerves...iga had few BPs during 3 set but osaka was able to HOLD the break! why she didnt do that at 5-3?
He has Alcaraz in his half which is probably a tougher draw than Novak. But his path to the QF is pretty free for sure. Theres no great choice to pick who to win RG. Djokovic has looked shaky, Alcaraz and Sinner have health issues, Zverev/Tsitsipas have never won a slam before, Ruud tends to shrink in big matches. You can’t get mad at any choice really. I’m sticking with Alcaraz for now but I don’t feel good about it, especially not after his R2 match.
Carlos has a tough draw. Korda, Shelton/FAA, Tsitsipas /Rublev can all serve big and in these wet and humid conditions, Carlos' serve is way less effective than his opponents ' serve. Moreover, Carlos is not hitting his forehands at 100%.
Osaka’s game really hasn’t evolved much. Still doesn’t use spin well, still can’t hit with accuracy/control when on the stretch. Kind of typical WTA power tennis. Swiatek’s strokes are just all so unattractive. WTA needs more players like Muchova.
muchova choked too last year at rG,,iga has so luck ,because first, she shouldnt be the winner of last rolland garros and she shoudl be out in R2 this year...
