Rain, rain, go away.
After starting off the middle Saturday at Roland Garros with some highly entertaining matches, the day ended with a reminder that at least in one important area, the French Open remains embarrassingly lacking.
Somehow in 2017, there is still not a single court within the Stade Roland Garros capable of continuing play during wet weather. In contrast, the Australian Open has three, Wimbledon has one with another on the way, and the US has one over Arthur Ashe, despite the engineering nightmare of building it on a swamp. This deep into the 21st century, the fact that a city as renowned as Paris can’t even remotely keep up – the expectation is Philippe Chatrier will have one by 2020 – has to be the worst thing about the city outside of the snooty waiters.
Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do except hope for no more rain. In the meantime, here’s your three to see for day 8 at the French Open.
Milos Raonic (CAN) [5] vs Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) [20] – 2nd on Court 1
Having matched his performance here last year, Raonic now looks to equal his career-best quarterfinal appearance in 2014, but to do it he’s gonna have to go through a red-hot Carreno Busta. The 25-year-old Spaniard has never beaten Raonic in three matches, but has never played the Canadian on his favoured clay, where he’s won a title this year in Estoril, and got to the fourth round by serving up Grigor Dimitrov’s regularly-scheduled disappointment. Coming in it’s unclear just how healthy Raonic is, but having played only eight games in his last match is sure to help, and he’s going to need every ounce of mobility keep up with what will be a dogged Carreno Busta.
Garbine Muguruza (ESP) [4] vs Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [13] – 3rd on Suzanne Lenglen
The defending champ vs the people’s champ, and there’s very little to choose between the two – case-in-point, their only previous meeting was a 7-6, 7-6 victory for Mladenovic in Marrakech 2015. Expect more of the same on Sunday, as the two match up exceptionally well, Muguruza being the power hitter to Mladenovic’s more manipulative style, using touch and placement to keep herself in rallies. Mladenovic has already played two extra-time matches this tournament, what’s another for the resume?
Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) [19] vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2] – 4th on Philippe Chatrier
You wouldn’t think a guy who possesses a 3-0 record against his opponent would be in for that tough of an afternoon, but who knows with Djokovic? Not to say Ramos-Vinolas can’t pose a challenge, but just like his last match against Diego Schwartzman, this will be a match of Djokovic vs himself. Forget just winning, if Djokovic wants to right his ship before a prospective meeting with Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals, he’s going to have to win this comprehensively, and without looking completely miserable on fourteen different occasions. Assuming the gearbox is still functioning, now is the time to hit fifth gear.
