Archive for the ‘French Open’ Category
Roland Garros is buzzing
Today is one of those days when the French Open just teems with excitement, when there is a buzz in the air that lets you know that even in this amazing tournament: today is something special. This is because there are two world class semi finals being played out today. Andy Murray will be playing Rafael Nadal to make it into the French Open for the first time, and Novak Djokovic is up against Roger Federer in a delectable set up to who will reach the finals this year.
I’m not sure even sure if predictions is the best thing for a day like today. This is going to be a day to be remembered, until of course the final comes and likely blows these competitions out of the water. The four top players in the world do battle, and then there will only be 2 left to fight it out for the ultimate title.
On the one hand, there are the Andy Murray doubters; myself among them. He is not the best on clay, he is struggling with an ankle injury, and his quarter final against Juan Ignacio Chela was hardly an epic match up to test his strength. Troicki unnerved Murray, and if that can be done by a low seeded player then what will Rafa, the King of Clay, do to him? On the other hand there are the Murray-believers (made up predominantly of the British press who would have dropped interest in the French Open if it weren’t for Murray, but that is a different debate for a different time), who are stalwartly behind him. This is his moment. He has played well so far, he has a certain grit, and Raf more »
Fourth Round and Quarter Finals
The action and drama at Roland Garros has yet to abate, and it will only get better, With the weekend being full of the typical tears and tantrums of the advancing rounds, today will be the culmination of many player’s best efforts. Today is the first quarter final day, and the mood is excitable.
The events leading up to this point in the tournament have been just as exciting. Andy Murray had to battle his way into the quarters after a laborious game against Viktor Troicki, who played probably the best tennis of his life but was unfortunately undone by a halt due to poor light, and then nerves at the prospect of advancing as he started the match on the next day. Andy Murray was at times desperately poor as he struggled with an ankle injury. But experience and grit pulled him through against a player whose experience in these late-stage rounds is considerably less. Congratulations are definitely deserved for Troicki though, a valiant effort at very nearly putting off the British number one. Andy Murray now faces Juan Ignacio Chela to reach the semi-finals.
Despite the Brit’s frothing at the mouth at this quarter-final match up none is more exciting than the semi final which was decided yesterday. Roger Federer defeated Gael Monfils in straight sets, and then Novak Djokovic beat Fabio Fognini after the Italian retired due to a thigh injury. Yes that’s right, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will be squaring up o each other in the semi-finals tomorrow. Just thinking about more »
Round One
Now that the first round has been tied up, we can start to enjoy the excitement that the second round on a glorious day four at Roland Garros brings. The first round was not, as usual, without its upsets. But my heart broke for my fantasy team when I saw that Thomas Berdych, who has reached the semi finals in this tournament before, fell to the French qualified Stephane Robert in five sets.
Winning 3-6 3-6 6-2 6-2 9-7, Robert whipped the French crowd into a frenzy as he won his first ever match in his home country’s greatest tournament. He is ranked 140th in the world and got a raucous round of applause for his victory over the Czech who currently stands at number eight.
Apart from the Berdych upset, there were few losses for the big names at Roland Garros . Gael Monfis beat Phau of Germany, and Mikail Youzhny of Russia and Viktor Troicki of Serbia made their mark on their tournament in straight set wins over their first round opponents.
The big American John Isner, who will always be remembered for taking part in the longest running match in tennis history at Wimbledon last year, pushed his opponent to the limit in his first round. Was his opponent a gutsy no-namer who eventually battled past the huge American forehand and got through to the second round in an epic upset? No, his opponent was one Rafael Nadal. You may have heard of him. The fact that Rafa could drop a point on clay is still something of a shock. Television viewers with high sensitivity o more »
Pre-first day build up
So what can we expect for the first day of the French Open? Not an awful lot, it seems. The start is relatively low key, with the highest seed playing on the first day being David Ferrer at number seven. There is some excitement though, particularly for the French crowds with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mathilde Johansson both stepping up for the first round. But it is only until day two that we still start the really exciting matches warming up.
In a bizarre turn of events, more attention is being paid to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal than it is Roger Federer at this year’s French Open. In fact if he goes out early (‘early’ for Federer usually being quarters or semis) he could be almost forgotten until the next grand slam. It’s the competition between Djokovic and Nadal that has become the ‘new’ rivalry, until someone pulls their socks up and beats Djokovic off his wild run. And of course if no-one does, then Roger Federer will be the third person in the top-3 party, much like Djokovic had been until the beginning of this year.
I have always joked the various tennis shocks we see throughout the seasons are signs of the apocalypse, but seeing as we are apparently in for the Day of Rapture today there could be some truth in it. Maybe the fact that Roger Federer is playing third fiddle in the rivalry of a new era could be the last sign before the righteous go to heaven. That said it is past six o’clock in my own time zone and I have located all of the true believers I know o more »
The French Open excitement is well under way
As I brace myself to write my first blog since the end of the Australian Open, I can feel that familiar wash of nostalgia and enjoyment come over me. Things have changed, quite hugely, since the end of the Australian Open, but coming back to the sport after such a long time is like putting on your comfiest pyjamas, pair of slippers, and favourite television show. It just feels right.
Like I said, things have changed since the last Grand Slam, particularly in the men’s side of the game. Where did this fantastic form of Djokovic come from? 36 straight wins? I wonder what sort of pep-talk this man had with himself on New Year’s Eve. We were all pleasantly surprised by his win at the Australian Open; Djokovic has always hovered around the top end of the rankings, but he has only had one title to his name and after a while people started to wonder how long it will be before he started to drop like a stone. And then he nabbed the Australian Open title seemingly from the blue.
A few months down the line, and he has yet to come down from his superb high. We’ve had another sign of the Apocalypse as well: Novak Djokovic even managed to beat Rafael Nadal on clay in Madrid last week. My face still hurts from the slack-jaw that news gave me. Nadal had been on a two year-winning streak when it came to clay. For all intents and purposes the man’s official name was Rafael Nadal King of Clay. And then Djokovic, who had always been much better on the hard courts and was rarely ‘the one t more »
