Things We Learned on Day 13 of the French Open

Amy:

1. This. Is. Amazing.

LOL of week for me: Just heard British journo yell at his editor: 'I can't write Andy Murray as a preview to the French Open final'

— Matt Cronin (@TennisReporters) June 7, 2013

2. That was a tremendously disappointing display from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinal against David Ferrer. He was never truly in the match, even when he led 3-0 in the second set. And there’s really no excuse for it. He was hardly tested leading up to the match, and hadn’t even dropped a set. Fatigue shouldn’t have been a factor. Despite all the hype over the “new” Jo, Jo is still Jo.

3. The fact that Ferrer is fast and a good returner was seriously surprising to Jo? I don’t even know what to say to that.

Tsonga: "I was surprised by how fast Ferrer moves around the court. He returned really well too." #RG13

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 7, 2013

4. Nobody “deserves” to win a match or to reach a certain stage of a tournament until they have done so. It always used to bother me when people said that Ferrer “deserved” to win a Masters 1000 before he had done so. The only point at which that was a true statement was when he won the title in Paris last year.

Likewise, I’ve heard many people say that Ferrer “deserved” to be in a slam final, or to win a slam in the last few years. That’s not how it works.

Ferrer now deserves to be in a slam final because he defeated Tsonga in a slam semifinal. Let’s stop saying that people deserve things they haven’t earned. It’s condescending, and Ferrer doesn’t need to be talked about in those terms. He’s accomplished enough on his own, without having to augment it with certain achievements we’ve decided he “deserves,” despite not having earned them.

Juan José:

1. I learned a bunch of things while doing LiveAnalysis for the Djokovic-Nadal semifinal. You can read all of them here.

2. It was simply fantastic to see David Ferrer make good on a fantastic opportunity to make his first Slam final…at the tender age of 31. He produced a scintillating performance that was very similar to the beatdown he put on Tomas Berdych in the Davis Cup final last November. And just like in Prague, Ferrer absolutely dismantled a hometown hero in front of a very partisan crowd. Back then, Ferrer took the Prague crowd out of the match from the start. He did the same today, aided by the fact that many of the Chatrier ticketholders felt the need to vacate their seats after the Nadal-Djokovic epic that had just taken place. When those patrons came back, Jo-Wilfried was already facing a steep deficit in the first set.

Ferrer is living proof that if you stick to something, good things will eventually happen to you. He had his best year ever in 2012, and he’s already improving on it this year, which is remarkable. And if he keeps up this kind of form, he’ll be more than likely to guarantee a top-4 finish. After all, Ferrer has played in 3 straight Slam semis. Who says he can’t make it 4 or 5 by the end of the season?

Real pleased the outstanding ferrer has reached his 1st Slam final.. what a player he is.. Not dropped a set to final, amazing!

— Ross Hutchins (@RoscoHutchins) June 7, 2013

3. The Chatrier crowd certainly did not hold up its end of the bargain for today’s matches. This came to mind as there were lots of empty seats during the entire Djokovic-Nadal semifinal, which seems borderline criminal.

4. I thought Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played a brainless, gutless match today. As Amy noted above, he compounded the embarrassment by apparently being surprised at David Ferrer’s speed. I thought Jo had no clue as to what to do on the court, and seemed thoroughly uninterested in finding out, too. Ferrer ran circles around him, in a performance that looked more like a top 5 guy schooling a top 75 journeyman than the World No. 5 (soon to be No. 4 again) vs the World No. 8.

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