The Missed Shot, And About Being A Target

by Savannah

You be the judge. Bad bounce? Whif? I've seen it several times now, no thanks to TennisChannel since they didn't even show it on replay if you were watching live - and I'm still not really sure what happened.
Federer Missed Match Point

Aravane Rezai
Some see her as the second coming. Others see her as a ball basher who had a nice run on the relatively fast clay court in Madrid. I simply find it ironic that the two French women who have caught fans attention as well has having had some good wins are not the ones the FFT was touting. Rezai's personality is prickly at best and Marion Bartoli has a testy relationship with her Federation. Alize Cornet was thought to be the heir apparent but she's been slumping as of late.

Aravane has already picked up on Marion's vibe and said that she will be not a target but the target at Roland Garros. That is the translation of a comment she made that is reported by L'Equipe, the French online sport site. First the original French, then the translation by Google.

Roland-Garros justement, vous y serez très attendu...

Je sais que ça va être très difficile dès le premier match car je vais être la cible. Ce sera une nouvelle expérience pour moi d'arriver dans ces conditions, avec un titre dans la poche. Il va falloir que je me batte, sans trop penser au futur, et prendre match par match, comme ici.

Avec Henin, Jankovic et Venus, vous avez battu trois anciennes n°1 mondiales cette semaine, quelle victoire vous aura marqué le plus ?

Celle contre Petkovic. Ce n'est peut-être pas la plus grande joueuse sur le papier mais il y a eu beaucoup d'émotions dans ce match. Après l'avoir gagné, je savais que j'allais pouvoir mettre la deuxième vitesse. Je n'avais plus rien à perdre.»

Roland Garros precisely, you will be eagerly awaited ...

I know it will be very difficult from the first game because I'll be the target. This will be a new experience for me to arrive in these conditions, with a title in the pocket. He'll have me to fight without thinking too much about the future, and take match by match, as here.

With Henin, Jankovic and Venus, you've beaten three former world No. 1
This week, what victory will mark you the most?

The one against Petkovic. This is perhaps not the greatest player on paper
but there were many emotions in this game. After winning, I knew
I was going to put the second gear. I had nothing to lose. "

In the first answer I think the "he" she's referring to is her new coach.
Seriously though I think it's wise for Rezai's coach to put the fact that now everyone will be taking her seriously into her thought process. It isn't easy to breathe the air of a top ten player, let alone a top five or higher player. You do become a target. Everyone comes on court primed to beat you as badly as they can. You will either fish or cut bait. Some have faltered despite all the desire in the world while others seem to flourish and revel in the battles. All eyes are going to be on Aravane for the duration of the European swing and onto the American hard courts in the summer. We should know how she's handled things by the end of the summer.

Let's just hope she has a new kit ready for the French Open, one that doesn't resemble a pillow in the boudoir of a lady of the evening.

I mean between Venus Williams modern French Maid's outfit and Rezai's, well, whatever it is, a casual fan who stumbled onto the match could be excused for wondering if someone was remaking the video for "Lady Marmalade". And I like Venus' dress.