Can anything stop Coria from winning the French Open in '05?

C

court_zone

Rookie
I don't think anything can stop him. Last year he just played mercilessly in every match, like the best claycourter in the world. But he was just completely thrown off when the French crowd did the wave in the finals. That made Gaudio take the third set and then Guillermo pushed himself into injury then lost the fourth set, then even when Coria played back at his top level in the fifth, it was too late because Gaudio already became to confident and was too hot for Coria. Barring something like that happening to Coria this year, Guille"The King of Clay" will win the French Open.
 
Even more so than Federer, there always seems to be a new King of Clay coming around every year or so.
Who will it be this year?
Could be Coria again, but what about a healthy Juan carlos Ferrero, Rapheal Nadal. WHo knows who will emerge as a new challenger: Verdasco, Gasquet, even "old man Moya"
How about Safin, who plays great on clay, a fit Nalbandian perhaps?? Then again, there is always Federer. It should be a great clay season this year if everyone stays healthy.
 
Rickson said:
Can anything stop Coria from winning the French Open in '05?


Federer.
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Federer has yet to make a dent in the French Open and I see no reason that this year will be any different.

Rickson it's time to:

1) take the blinders off, there is more than one player out there in the world today

2) put the crack pipe down, Federer will not win a Grand Slam next year (by Grand Slame, I mean all four majors in one calendar year)

3) Federer has already said that he intends on concentrating on Wimbledon to match Sampras' three-peat. IMO, this is an indication that he thinks he can win the French later in his career which would indicate that he doesn't care this year

4) Federer did indeed have a victory over Coria last year prior to the French, I believe it was Hamburg, but one match domination does not make, just ask Roddick

5) The French is unique in that there is an open door for a winner, guys come out of the woodwork to win this one, names are made here; usually names no one ever heard of
 
Kuerten (on form), Nadal, Moya, Gaudio and without a doubt Federer. Fed has made less of a dent at the USO prior to this year and won that, makes us believe that he doesn't care about the French. If he can fool some fans maybe he can fool some players into thinking he doesn't care about the French too.
 
"Nadal, Federer or Nandralone" Ah yes, Nandralone, the most unrecognized player in pro tennis. I wouldn't be surprised if some day he won a slam or 2, & he's a favourite to do so by quite a few South Americans.
 
^^Gaudio? i don't think there will be a massive falloff of seeds like last year that will open up the draw tremendously for someone like Gaudio to advance so far.
 
Plenty of people can stop Coria. It's clay - there's a freakload of depth.

Ferrero, if he comes back.
Federer, if he brings his A-game.
Nadal - probably not next year. But maybe. Maybe someone like Kuerten.

And, of course, Coria himself (see - RG '04 final).
 
depth? it's usually mostly argentines and spaniards left once it gets to the later rounds. Or maybe some other country that's used to clay. there are surprise champions, but it's usually a clay courter who is the surprise winner.
 
I like Coria, but Roger's grand slam chances look good for 2005. If Roger doesn't take it, then I hope Coria does, but I believe Roger can pull off the grand slam.
 
pound cat said:
"Nadal, Federer or Nandralone" Ah yes, Nandralone, the most unrecognized player in pro tennis. I wouldn't be surprised if some day he won a slam or 2, & he's a favourite to do so by quite a few South Americans.
Click to expand...

Yes, he's certainly popular out there on the tour. I bet Coria is no stranger to his friend Epo either.....

Back to the original question "Barring something like that happening to Coria this year"....um...gee it seems IMPOSSIBLE that the crowd or nerves or an errant cloud floating over Roland Garros might throw that flake off again..... ;-)

I guess I'm biased...I never like Coria even as a junior...whiny little boy...getting caught for doping just made it worse....
 
I think Federer is more worried about French than Wimbledon. There are too many good clay courters out there. Moya is still out there, Ferror is coming back. Nadal is definately making dent.
It will be interesting.
 
I remember Ferrero was by far the best clay-courter for 2 years, that he reached the finals and won the French.

If Ferrero comes back healthy, i think he has a better game than coria does.
 
Re: Can anything stop Coria from winning the French Open in

court_zone said:
I don't think anything can stop him....the best claycourter in the world.....But he was just completely thrown off when the French crowd did the wave in the finals.
Click to expand...

So, if not for the crowd performing le wave, it would've been a fait accompli for le petit mullet'? It's curious how certain things can unhinge a player at Roland Garros, for example, Martina "Le Grand Forehead" Hingis and a line call, Andre Agassi and Bill Clinton and now this: Coria and the WAVE---do you rrreally think the wave did him in?........
 
jun said:
I think Federer is more worried about French than Wimbledon. There are too many good clay courters out there. Moya is still out there, Ferror is coming back. Nadal is definately making dent.
It will be interesting.
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I'm only quoting the man himself in an interview. He said his primary focus is on the grand slam tournaments with Wimbledon being his main goal. Federer wants very much to equal Pete Sampras' 3 consecutive mark and I would imagine ultimately Borg's 5.
 
A few mentions of Kuerten above. Would that it were so, but doesn't it seem he's carrying a little too much injury baggage for two weeks worth of 5-setters?
 
French Open Finals'05 that would have the best playing quality:
Federer/Coria
Ferrero/Federer
Moya/Coria

Or any other combination of those players above^

If Rafa Nadal or Guga made it to the finals that would be great too.
 
court_zone said:
depth? it's usually mostly argentines and spaniards left once it gets to the later rounds. Or maybe some other country that's used to clay. there are surprise champions, but it's usually a clay courter who is the surprise winner.
Click to expand...

There's depth because anyone--who is good on clay--can win. That means there are 20 people in the draw who can win the entire thing.

There are usually only 2-4 people who have a chance in hell of winning Wimbledon when the draw is published.
 
Re: Can anything stop Coria from winning the French Open in

Dedans Penthouse said:
court_zone said:
I don't think anything can stop him....the best claycourter in the world.....But he was just completely thrown off when the French crowd did the wave in the finals.
Click to expand...

So, if not for the crowd performing le wave, it would've been a fait accompli for le petit mullet'? It's curious how certain things can unhinge a player at Roland Garros, for example, Martina "Le Grand Forehead" Hingis and a line call, Andre Agassi and Bill Clinton and now this: Coria and the WAVE---do you rrreally think the wave did him in?........
Click to expand...

I know for a fact that it was not Bill Clinton that did Andre in that day. I've read the book "The Agassi Story" which was written by Mike Agassi and he said that Andre lost to be with a dying friend, which i think was a very noble thing to do, Andre said that the match's worth did not even come close to being with his friend.
As far as the line calls go, in my opinion, i really think they need to introduce the electronic line callers for accuracy. Not only Hingis^ but remember this year's USO match Serena Williams/Jennifer Capriati when a linesperson overruled a ball Serena hit out when it was clearly in, prompting John McEnroe to call it the worst call he's ever seen at the USO. Of course this wrong call threw Serena off the rest of the match.
 
El Diablo said:
A few mentions of Kuerten above. Would that it were so, but doesn't it seem he's carrying a little too much injury baggage for two weeks worth of 5-setters?
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Yes.

But it only takes one match for him to knock out Coria. (Well, probably a couple, since he'll be seeded, though probably not too highly.)
 
I would say that almost anything could make Coria NOT WIN the 2005 French Open. He just seems to have bad luck at big moments.

He lost the French SF in 2003 to Verkerk. Verkerk can play on clay .....but he's no clay master. During the match Coria threw his raquet in anger and it hit a ball girl and then he appologized profusely and was thrown off during the whole match.

He lost to Roddick in the Miami 2004 final eventhough he was winning. He just suddenly got a kidney stone problem.

He lost to Gaudio in the French 2004 final eventhough he easily won the first two sets. Coria suddenly started cramping and we were told it must have been nerves. Interesting but why would nerves be a factor half way through the match, when Gaudio was hardly making him work?
 
PJVA said:
I would say that almost anything could make Coria NOT WIN the 2005 French Open. He just seems to have bad luck at big moments.
Click to expand...

You make your own luck. He doesn't have bad luck at big moments, he goes funny in the head. He fains injuries, plays like a 3 year old, gets treatment, comes out and plays well for 3 games, does something else. I don't know whats going through his head, but it seems to me that he is trying to invent an excuse for if he loses the match, from a winning position, which then affects him and he does lose the match.

PJVA said:
During the match Coria threw his raquet in anger and it hit a ball girl and then he appologized profusely and was thrown off during the whole match.
Click to expand...

Thats his fault for a number of reasons:
1. Only tools throw their racquets. It's so stupid; putting more stress on the frame won't make it better.
2. "He was thrown off for the whole match." That's not bad luck. Thats rubbish. Hasn't he heard of concentration. You can't say that he was thrown off for the whole match.

PJVA said:
He lost to Roddick in the Miami 2004 final eventhough he was winning. He just suddenly got a kidney stone problem.
Click to expand...

Kidney Stone. yeah I'm sure. it just appeared out of nowhere. :roll:

PJVA said:
He lost to Gaudio in the French 2004 final eventhough he easily won the first two sets. Coria suddenly started cramping and we were told it must have been nerves. Interesting but why would nerves be a factor half way through the match, when Gaudio was hardly making him work?
Click to expand...

See ^^^^.
 
I think you got the point I was trying to make. I didn't necessarily mean that he literally had bad luck. I was just throwing that statement out there along with the odd occurences I noticed to see what others thought.

To me it does look just like what you say.....that he gets funny in the head and then suddenly can't play and invents an injury to explain away what happened.

I can't remember the circumstance that made him throw the racquet in the 2003 French....but it just like an off handed casual thing. Then when the racquet hit the ball girl they said he appeared to over react as if he was afraid the French crowd would turn against him. This was just after the Serena v. Justine match where the French crowd turned against Serena. At the time I thought....."Who cares that much about the French crowd just try to win the match, and stop being so nervous." He certainly had it within his power to beat Verkerk.

Any way..... it will be interesting to see if Coria will have a good clay court season leading up to RG or will he still have a few injuries to keep as an insurance policy.
 
Coria win? Because he played well last year? Tennis is a strange game, he may go out first round this year,it`s hard to tell.

Tennis is a game where everything moves, you move, the ball move, your opponent move,hell even the ground move as in the case of clay courts.
 
A group of players could. Moya, Federer, Gaudio, Nadal, Ferrero if he regains form. Any of those players could win the French next year. Coria has failed to win it twice as a major contender, once a the favorite. So he is far from unbeatable.
 
Rabbit said:
Federer has yet to make a dent in the French Open and I see no reason that this year will be any different.

Rickson it's time to:

1) take the blinders off, there is more than one player out there in the world today

2) put the crack pipe down, Federer will not win a Grand Slam next year (by Grand Slame, I mean all four majors in one calendar year)

3) Federer has already said that he intends on concentrating on Wimbledon to match Sampras' three-peat. IMO, this is an indication that he thinks he can win the French later in his career which would indicate that he doesn't care this year

4) Federer did indeed have a victory over Coria last year prior to the French, I believe it was Hamburg, but one match domination does not make, just ask Roddick

5) The French is unique in that there is an open door for a winner, guys come out of the woodwork to win this one, names are made here; usually names no one ever heard of
Click to expand...

Even if Roger doesnt win the French next year, he is definitely capable of going alot farther than the 3rd round, his best showing the last 3 years. Heck Andy Roddick is capable of going beyond the 3rd round, and he is a weaker clay-court player than Roger is.

Secondly I dont see how a player who thinks Roger Federer will win the grand slam next year is some deluded fan wearing blinders. There are many experts who have speculated he can next year. It is interesting you think Agassi has a better than even chance at 2 of the 4 majors. I bet if you polled a group of experts which was more likely to happen, a complete slam by Roger Federer next year, or 2 of 4 slams for Agassi, they might pick neither as being very likely, but most would pick the former beyond doubt.

Roger has beaten more than just Coria on clay. He has beaten Moya, Coria, and Safin, all within the last 3 years. Roddicks only major clay court win is over Coria, but that was 2 years ago, Coria was not near the player he is today.

Lastly Roger was modest when asked about goals for himself this past year too. He never responded by saying that he thought he could win 3 of the 4 slams. In other statements, faced with a less direct question, he has said he believes he can win every event he plays. I doubt he doubts he can win the French at this point in time.
 
Moya, if he plays anything like he played against Roddick in the Davis Cup Final, his power, footwork, and touch were truly amazing
 
DANMAN said:
Moya, if he plays anything like he played against Roddick in the Davis Cup Final, his power, footwork, and touch were truly amazing
Click to expand...

So you believe tennis only good enough to beat Roddick, only a fair clay court player, in two tiebreaks in the last two sets would win the French Open? Roddick must have really played better than I have ever seen him play on clay as well that day then.
 
Roddick served well that day and as always was tough to break. Moya needs the draw to break through for him to win it. In terms of the original post, I do believe Moya has the game to stop Coria. I agree that Roddick is only a fair clay court player; however, Moya looked so smooth and confident. He has been quite injury plagued in his career and he gets down on himself rather easily. I am not saying he would take Coria down, but I think he would have a legitimate chance of doing so.
 
Amazing to hark back to an era when everyone thought someone not named Nadal or Djokovic was the hot favourite to win the French Open!

Poor old Coria never did make another final in Paris, did he?
 
Mainad said:
Amazing to hark back to an era when everyone thought someone not named Nadal or Djokovic was the hot favourite to win the French Open!

Poor old Coria never did make another final in Paris, did he?
Click to expand...

No and his round of 16 showing in 2005 (lost to Davydenko) was his last respectable showing at the event.
 
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