Coco Flying Solo At Roland Garros

There is one American left in the singles draw and it is not Serena Williams or Sofia Kenin.  Seventeen year old [24] Cori Gauff has given American tennis fans someone to cheer for.  One hopes that the expectations will not become too much of a burden for her young shoulders.  Three first time major quarterfinals is the story of today, including Coco. Coco will face one of the other first timer, [33] Barbora Krejcikova.  The dark horse in the draw has got to be this Czech player, who is best known for being part of the number one doubles team.

Federer’s Controversial Move At Roland Garros

The big news from the tournament has been Roger Federer’s withdrawal from the tournament yesterday.  A preemptive move on the part of the number eight seed to protect his body.  It has created an uproar about the ethics surrounding his premeditative decision to enter a tournament he had no decision of fully committing to.  Perhaps taking a spot that another player could have benefitted from.  Will there be repercussions for the “great Roger Federer”?  Or are there special rules for some players.  Does any of this really matter?

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Rules Of Sportsmanship And Respect Ignored

In the grand scheme of things, it probably will go down as a minor blip.  However, there has to be something said about the rules of sportsmanship.  Where is the respect and how does this demonstrate “the love of the game”?  In any event let’s not get distracted from the great tennis that the players who came fully committed displayed today.

Musetti Gave Djokovic A Big Scare

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[76] Lorenzo Musetti gave the top seed quite a scare before he injured himself.  Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious and he is back on the courts soon.  The teenager had a 7-6(7), 7-6(2) lead before the wheels fell off.  Djokovic escaped by retirement of the young Italian [6-1, 6-0, 4-0 RET].  He will face another Italian in the next round, [9] Matteo Berrettini.  Their only meeting on hard court was a total blowout by Djokovic.  Does Berrettini have enough game on clay to make it a real match?  With Federer pulling out, the Italian will be better rested than his opponent, but will that be enough?

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