Beyond The Score

Ruud shows solid performance

Around a year ago, Casper Ruud fell runner-up at Roland Garros to his great idol Rafael Nadal. Netflix documentary Breakpoint provided terrific insight into his mindset heading into that clash. What came across was a severe lack of killer instinct and an inferiority complex to the fourteen-time champion. Needless to say that he was a victim of a hammering.

One year later, much has happened. A strong end to 2022 including runner-up medals in Washington and at the ATP Finals, form has failed to carry over into 2023. The Norwegian was knocked out early in Melbourne and has failed to pick up any momentum in the tour events as well. It’s difficult to understand why. From a technical and physical standpoint, nothing seems different.

Some would say that he is suffering from burnout as he didn’t take an off-season and flooded his December schedule with exhibitions. Although, that excuse appears redundant as he took a six-week sabbatical after an early exit in Australia. Not even on his favourite surface clay has he found his mojo. A straight-sets win today is always encouraging for confidence though, so a positive day for his camp overall.

Jabeur swaggers into round 2

Knocked out last year during the opening day, it was a more positive story this afternoon for Ons Jabeur. 2022 saw her coming into the slam off the high of winning Madrid and finishing runner-up in Rome. All was in vain though as she crashed out on the opening day to Magda Linette. Yet, this season with a clay court season that has been uneventful with a struggle for fitness and form riddling her, she breezed through the opening round with no problems.
She had that Jabeur swagger on show hitting 16 drop shot winners en route to her 6-4, 6-1 victory. Lucia Bronzetti was certainly not the easiest opponent she could have been dealt from the start. Victorious in Rabat just a matter of days ago, her confidence would have been sky-high.
Jabeur showed that there are levels to this game though, with her 5 aces being 5 more than Bronzetti could manage and her 27 winners 20 more. A fit and firing Jabeur will be a real title contender. In a way, she has been out of the picture lately and all the talk is of the “big three”. Finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open, however, she will look to make a major statement and re-announce herself on the scene.

Shock exit for Medvedev

Rome champion to Paris flop in two weeks. Daniil Medvedev was knocked out by Brazilian qualifier Seyboth Wild in one of the day’s big stories. Just 170 ranking places between them! The Russian’s clay court season heading into today was considerably strong. A Rome title suggested he had finally acclimatised to the red clay courts of Europe.
One part of his Rome success was that he didn’t let the slightest issue get under his skin. Today, he was irritable, and the old saying “picking your problems” was pretty fitting. The world number two seemed set on a mission to pick every possible problem to derail his focus.
A massive 14 aces but an even bigger 15 double faults. 45 winners but 48 unforced errors. Excellence was mixed with averageness. In other words, consistency escaped him. The only debate is whether this falls under the shock category. Medvedev has never had a love affair with clay, but surely having just won Rome this is a result that no one saw coming.
Seyboth Wild was overwhelmed with emotion. Although he was the Junior US Open champion in 2018, his career has not lived up to the great expectations associated with this accomplishment. Today was only his second Grand Slam main draw event and his first victory. At 23 years old, could he become a late bloomer like Medvedev?
If there is anything that the many upsets have taught us about Roland Garros as of late, it is that the margins in tennis are microscopic. All it takes is 1% off and you have an uphill battle. There’s no team to carry you. It can be lonely, but the highs are higher. Truly unique.