TENNIS THREAD- The Clay season continues- onwards to Paris, via Madrid and Rome...

[Raahh]

and a few smaller tournaments in between....

The big question at the moment is- will Medvedev ever win a match on clay??

The tennis has been great hasn’t it Raahh? I’m looking forward to seeing some of the matches today and yes hopefully Rafa won’t do another disaster!

I think the long matches will have an effect on Rafa - some of the younger players are nearly half his age. Although he is really fit it will probably still take him longer to recover.

Thiem looked like an old man compared to Sonego last night and Sonego still had enough energy to do a little dance

Good luck with the second jab

I'm determined to get a second sticker when I go for my jab .

Rafa must be affected by the long matches- it's not like a slam, where he would get a day off in between if the matches were lengthy.

I have just turned on the Opelka/Delbonis match. Opelka looks like he should be chopping down trees in a lumberjack shirt. His beard is not as chic as Paire's . He also appears to be wearing a strange flowery shirt and mismatched shorts. Maybe he wasn't planning on being in the tournament this long, and ran out of kit .

Some players, I think , look exhausted before they even start . Dom often does, and Medvedev yet somehow they keep going.

And there is actually a year or so in age between Sonego and Thiem- which is funny- Domi seems to have been around forever, and it's like Lorenzo has only just arrived .

The Rafa match caught me out- I knew it was due to start at 12 (Rome time) but forgot that was 11 here .

At least Rafa has not lost his serve straight away. That's a start. .

This is a quick start for Rafa.

But after yesterday, I'm not counting my chickens.

Vamos Rafa- don't blow this now.

Robbie is at it again.

Sen- Sascha- nal.

Phew! Over the 4-2 hurdle, where he lost the match last week.

oh no- Rafa has fallen pretty badly. Hope he's ok.

it better not be the turning point in the match...

VAMOS -Rafa has the set.

And did it without ending up with half a dozen deuces in the last game.

Poor Rafa - that fall would have me out of action for the rest of the day!

It didn't look good.

Might need a good scrub, his shirt.

Talking of stained things- I need to wash the dog. He has green feet, because they were cutting the grass at the park, and he went bounding through it all. The grass was really wet, and now he looks like he's wearing green socks. .

Robbie is now quoting Alicia Keys.

I really am starting to miss the butterfly chat

Even if Robbie is more pro- Rafa than most of the commentators.

Let's not start this deuce shenanigans again, Rafa.

Dh has just asked who the idiot commentator is, as he walked past .

Well, that's better.

Not a disaster today, but the second set got a little close.

But he's through. Vamos

I'm not sure how he will cope against Opelka though. They've never played each other.

In the end I didn’t see much of the match which is annoying but Rafa seemed much better? Maybe he’s had a stern word with himself

I did vaguely hear Robbie mention Whitney Houston but I’ve no idea why!

I’ve just seen Opelka’s outfit - I think he definitely ran out of kit and has been rummaging around in the lost property box!

Now I can finally watch some tennis and it’s Djok - come on Stef!

He got off to a quick start- which I think stunned Sascha a bit, but the second set was more even. I think the conditions just suit him better in Rome, and Sascha likes the altitude in Madrid.

I was watching the Djok/Stef RG semi final whilst dd2 was in surgery. It feels like yesterday! .

Is it raining? Djok won't like that .

ooh- the ponchos are out.

I hope they've fixed the tape that Rafa tripped on.

This is a good start from Stef- if Djok loses the set, then I have no doubt he will be complaining about the weather.

I was expecting the comeback- but don't lose the break, Stef.