We are soon at the quarter-final stage of Roland Garros and right now I can only see one winner, Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic looked awfully off his game last night against Seppi and was grumbling like back in the old days of being “only” #3 in the world. The conditions were tough and Seppi was really playing great tennis; not going for the lines but just being solid and consistent and remarkably clear-headed for a guy not in the top 20 (he will be after this though). Seppi impressed me a lot and I think he could even be a top ten player if he keeps on playing like this.1
Seppi impressed me and Djokovic did not. He needs to get his head together to even have a chance of beating Nadal (on fire) in a likely Sunday final.
Another guy who impressed yesterday was fresh-faced 21-year-old David Goffin who took a set and was two points away from another one against his idol Roger Federer. In the end he didn't have the energy nor the game to keep Federer away from his 28th Grand Slam quarter-final or whatever the count is now, but surely great things must be in store for a guy with that much talent for reading the game.
On the other hand, Federer has looked rather nonchalant in all of his matches at Roland Garros. Shanking and mishitting loads of backhands and forehands and with concentration levels constantly up and down like AM radio waves . For the quarter-final he needs to lift that game considerably to beat Berdych or Del Potro who still have to finish their match from yesterday. Del Potro is up two sets to one, but these guys are so even anything can happen.
So with Federer and Djokovic on a slump it looks like a clear path for Nadal to take his 7th Roland Garros title. Both guys are good enough to raise their games enough to reach the final, but defeating Rafa in this kind of form doesn't look very likely.
Let's hope the final can be somewhat competitive though!
