"Why the French Open is the Worst Grand Slam"

conjoshruk

conjoshruk

Semi-Pro
https://lastwordontennis.com/2019/06/11/four-reasons-french-open-worst-grand-slam/

I just read this article, which outlines 4 reasons why the french open is the worst grand slam, and I support all of them to be honest. The issue regarding the roof, lack of hawkeye, attendance and also predictability are all valid reasons. Many of which could (and should) change in the near future.
The organisers really need to invest in fixing up the tournament for future years, plus the highlights on youtube are still the worst out of all slams (the AO being the best), despite dozens of angry comments on the videos.
 
THUNDERVOLLEY

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
Link Translation: (#3's "Predictability" in particular) If Federer ever reaches a French Open final, he has no chance of winning if Nadal is on the other side of the net (hence his lone title in that Nadal-free final) therefore a number of convoluted excuses will be created to tear down the event.

#4 - "Boring"/Slow surface? Yeah, not buying it. After the 80s and 90s, the entire professional tennis industry (including their corporate benefactors) aggressively sought to slow down the game, from courts, to making traditionally "faster" styles of play (specifically the serve and volley game) a pariah in favor of the one-dimensional, baseline-centered game, where players just stood there all day long waiting for the other player to make a mistake, rather than taking the game with your own understanding of the entire court/game. Clay is not responsible for this--the pro tennis industry is, so once again, targeting the French Open is another way of ranting about the dominance of Nadal, while you-know-who is destined to be an eternal loser if Nadal is there, thus ruining the manufactured "GOAT" title applied to him.
 
Raining hopes

Raining hopes

Hall of Fame
I have nothing against clay and respect Nadal's utter greatness at the event.


But anyone who doesn't see how badly and I mean BADLY the event is organised when compared to other three slams and even the top tier masters then he is completely blind and delusional.

Yes every player would give everything they have to win it but ask any player about the worst "organised" important tournament on tour and RG will top the list.
 
O

Orlais

New User
'Predictability' The article claims that some of this predictability may be due to the top 25 players excelling less on clay than the other surfaces. It seems plausible, but the article simply asserts the claim because Nadal has been so dominant. How is this testable? Well, one way would be to look at surface elo.

https://tennisabstract.com/reports/atp_elo_ratings.html

You'll find that 11 out of the top 25 players have their highest elo on clay. That's a fairly high representation. Interesting.
 
Zoolander

Zoolander

Hall of Fame
Think the best thing we can do is nuke all clay courts used for atp tourneys, so as to make them unplayable for thousands of radioactive years. Then the poor peasants who like to play on dirt will gradually evolve into higher forms of tennis-playing life, and move onto grass or hardcourts, for which they will one day thank us immensely.
 
Lleytonstation

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Orlais said:
'Predictability' The article claims that some of this predictability may be due to the top 25 players excelling less on clay than the other surfaces. It seems plausible, but the article simply asserts the claim because Nadal has been so dominant. How is this testable? Well, one way would be to look at surface elo.

https://tennisabstract.com/reports/atp_elo_ratings.html

You'll find that 11 out of the top 25 players have their highest elo on clay. That's a fairly high representation. Interesting.
Click to expand...

So around 40% based on "elo" are better on clay. Maybe, but even if so, it means it is weaker then hard courts.
 
O

Orlais

New User
Lleytonstation said:
So around 40% based on "elo" are better on clay. Maybe, but even if so, it means it is weaker then hard courts.
Click to expand...

Well, naturally, some people will have their highest elo at the grass events. I'd average the respective elos of each surface if I wanted to look too much into this. I wasn't really making too much of a claim other than to challenge his notion that the competition seems to be particularly weak on the clay circuit. I'm not sure how he'd prove this, other than to simply say one guy wins everything. Well, I know it'd have to rely on elo analysis, but doubtful it ends up supporting him. And a lot of tennis fans don't think much of elo analysis anyway.
 
Lleytonstation

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Who cares anyways... clay is over with... time to dust off that clay and get to the grass...

giphy.gif
 
C

captainajitsparrow

New User
I agree that the in terms organizing and management French Open is not on par with other tournaments. But in terms of level of the game it is right up there.
I love the long rallies, the battle and the exchange of punches from the baseline. So for me Clay is my favorite surface for watching and for playing too, because on clay you can't get away with shortcuts it demands the dedication and patience.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6000 using Tapatalk
 
Luka888

Luka888

Professional
No, this has nothing to do with Nadal. He won his 12 majors there fair and square.

However, no roof, no lights is the problem and yes, FO is so much behind the other majors. Yes, I know they are doing something about it but it's kinda too late. It should've been done a long time ago.

The worst thing is ... empty seats. I don't care who they give tickets away. They should stop. I was shocked to see so many empty seats. If you want a ticket buy it. I don't care if you are the Queen of Something or the President of France. Or, if you do get it for free make sure you show up.

So, yes, the FO is the worst major for all kinda different reasons. I don't see empty seats at SW17. People are waiting in cues for freaking hours and hours even in the first round. They watch doubles, mixed doubles.
 
T

thrust

Legend
irishnadalfan1983 said:
I am a Rafa fan and I consider RG to be the worst in terms of watching anyway....Looks crap, no roof, lack of crowd, etc.......I think they are all equal in terms of importance but RG has definitely been pretty crap the last few years watching it anyway and I believe facilities are not great there....
Click to expand...
Perhaps the lousy weather had something to do with the empty seats, which probably had been sold before the tournament began?
 
Ann

Ann

Hall of Fame
Turn-out is usually excellent at the FO so I do think the crap weather was a main factor. The scheduling screw-ups were abysmal and not having a roof for inclement weather and lights at a grand slam (at the very least on center court) is indefensible. Clay is clay and there should be one GS played on it but the FO organizers completely dropped the ball this year, it wasn't half the tournament it should have been.
 
irishnadalfan1983

irishnadalfan1983

Hall of Fame
thrust said:
Perhaps the lousy weather had something to do with the empty seats, which probably had been sold before the tournament began?
Click to expand...

A factor no doubt.....However I have watched RG many times in the past and even with sun shining there often tends to be empty seats on the big days......
 
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Pantera

Banned
conjoshruk said:
https://lastwordontennis.com/2019/06/11/four-reasons-french-open-worst-grand-slam/

I just read this article, which outlines 4 reasons why the french open is the worst grand slam, and I support all of them to be honest. The issue regarding the roof, lack of hawkeye, attendance and also predictability are all valid reasons. Many of which could (and should) change in the near future.
The organisers really need to invest in fixing up the tournament for future years, plus the highlights on youtube are still the worst out of all slams (the AO being the best), despite dozens of angry comments on the videos.
Click to expand...
The FO is the 2nd most prestigious Major without doubt. It is badly run but it gets more coverage than any other Major bar Wimbledon.

Clay is the most important surface
 
PDJ

PDJ

G.O.A.T.
conjoshruk said:
https://lastwordontennis.com/2019/06/11/four-reasons-french-open-worst-grand-slam/

I just read this article, which outlines 4 reasons why the french open is the worst grand slam, and I support all of them to be honest. The issue regarding the roof, lack of hawkeye, attendance and also predictability are all valid reasons. Many of which could (and should) change in the near future.
The organisers really need to invest in fixing up the tournament for future years, plus the highlights on youtube are still the worst out of all slams (the AO being the best), despite dozens of angry comments on the videos.
Click to expand...
Their 'highlights ' are ridiculously short. Very annoying.
 
ChaelAZ

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
The realistic reason is, people are bored watching Nadal dominate everyone or just do not like Nadal. When their favorite player gets their butt handed to them and Nadal takes the title, yet again on clay, they start throwing shade on the surface to cover and make excuses.

Simple as that. Easy to spot in this thread and in all the discussions.
 
R

ron schaap

Hall of Fame
ChaelAZ said:
The realistic reason is, people are bored watching Nadal dominate everyone or just do not like Nadal. When their favorite player gets their butt handed to them and Nadal takes the title, yet again on clay, they start throwing shade on the surface to cover and make excuses.

Simple as that. Easy to spot in this thread and in all the discussions.
Click to expand...
You appearantly get to look inside spectator heads? Anyway of its true them those people are not interested in tennis and dont know a lot about it too. Most likely a bunch of nationalistic americans who cant stand that there arent any players like Agassi who wins grandslams for them in pirates clothings. And on the womens side the only promissing American WTa players are those from East-EUROPE, but with an American passport. LOL, LOL. I say go to your baseball and football spectacle if you dont appreciate real sports.
 
R

ron schaap

Hall of Fame
ChaelAZ said:
The realistic reason is, people are bored watching Nadal dominate everyone or just do not like Nadal. When their favorite player gets their butt handed to them and Nadal takes the title, yet again on clay, they start throwing shade on the surface to cover and make excuses.

Simple as that. Easy to spot in this thread and in all the discussions.
Click to expand...
You appearantly get to look inside spectator heads? Anyway of its true them those people are not interested in tennis and dont know a lot about it too. Most likely a bunch of nationalistic americans who cant stand that there arent any players like Agassi who wins grandslams for them in pirates clothings. And on the womens side the only promissing American WTa players are those from East-EUROPE, but with an American passport. LOL, LOL. I say go to your baseball and football spectacle if you dont appreciate real sports.
 
ChaelAZ

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
ron schaap said:
You appearantly get to look inside spectator heads? Anyway of its true them those people are not interested in tennis and dont know a lot about it too. Most likely a bunch of nationalistic americans who cant stand that there arent any players like Agassi who wins grandslams for them in pirates clothings. And on the womens side the only promissing American WTa players are those from East-EUROPE, but with an American passport. LOL, LOL. I say go to your baseball and football spectacle if you dont appreciate real sports.
Click to expand...

Ahhh, the smell of American hate and predjudice in the morning. God love ya mate.
 
WhiskeyEE

WhiskeyEE

G.O.A.T.
There are many reasons. Even the court being orange will make people less likely to tune in. There's a reason no hard court is painted orange. Every court for the most part is blue or green. I've even seen red and grey. Never orange.

That's why Tiriac made the Madrid courts blue. As a businessman, he understood that seemingly trivial things like that are significant.

I would not be surprised to see the French Open overhauled eventually. It just isn't run well enough and I'm sure the financials support that.

Anyway, a good cut-out from the article you posted:

"3. Predictability

Nadal is undoubtedly the best clay court player ever. However, it must be noted that it is arguably the least competitive surface. The vast majority of the top 25 players would say either hard or grass are their best surfaces, with very few saying clay.

This is just as prevalent when looking at the top 10s over the last decade or so. Although this isn’t the French Open’s fault, it has meant that there are less opportunities for a great upset against Nadal.

Compare this to the other three Majors. Hard and Grass courts have a far greater number of elite specialists, meaning that the standard is higher. Which inevitably makes these Grand Slams more competitive, and ultimately more interesting to watch."
 
Last edited:
DSH

DSH

Talk Tennis Guru
There is not a tie break in the fifht set at Roland Garros. It is the only grand slam that maintains its prestige.
Even Wimbledon succumbed to the pressure of the television.
It's a shame.
 
Lozo1016

Lozo1016

Hall of Fame
Orlais said:
Well, naturally, some people will have their highest elo at the grass events. I'd average the respective elos of each surface if I wanted to look too much into this. I wasn't really making too much of a claim other than to challenge his notion that the competition seems to be particularly weak on the clay circuit. I'm not sure how he'd prove this, other than to simply say one guy wins everything. Well, I know it'd have to rely on elo analysis, but doubtful it ends up supporting him. And a lot of tennis fans don't think much of elo analysis anyway.
Click to expand...

Tough for players to get their grass elo ratings high because so few matches are played on grass.
 
Last edited:
Harry_Wild

Harry_Wild

G.O.A.T.
Lozo1016 said:
Tough players to get the grass elo ratings high because so few matches are played on grass.
Click to expand...
In time everything is going to be online streaming, independent of TV time frame! Real live match coverage like the raw feed that the tennis channels use to make their broadcast from!
 
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