2011 French Open - The Women's Final

by Savannah



It will indeed be a Final played between two women. Francesca Schiavone will face Li Na for the Championship.

Li Na won her match against Maria Sharapova who in battling the wind ended up battling herself. It was not a pretty match to watch as both women, playing hard court on the red clay, battled the effect of the wind on their hard flat ball hitting.

By contrast Marion Bartoli and Francesca Schiavone had the wind as a backdrop but not a major factor in their match. There was court knowledge, surface knowledge, game knowledge and strategy on display in their match which was not as one sided or routine as the score would indicate.

It's going to be an extremely interesting match to watch.

End Note

NBC has somewhat bowed to the pressure exerted by tennis fans and has modified it's coverage of the men's semi final tomorrow.

NBC will add live Internet streaming to its broadcast of the men’s French Open semifinals this Friday for the first time, according to a network spokesman.

The move follows complaints in recent years from tennis fans who could only see tape-delayed tennis following the network’s Today Show, depending on the length of the matches and the time zone.

This year, Tennis Channel will broadcast the first semifinal between defending champion Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, which begins at 8 a.m. ET. NBC will broadcast the second men’s semifinal—between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic—in its entirety on NBCSports.com, according to Adam Freifeld, a network spokesman. The network will begin its television coverage at 11 a.m. in all time zones, after the Today Show, Freifeld said.

On the East Coast, NBC will begin live coverage at 11 ET. If the Nadal-Murray match is still in progress, NBC will begin its coverage there. (Freifeld said the Tennis Channel would be allowed to complete its broadcast regardless.) If the Federer-Djokovic match is in progress, NBC will join it in progress. It will stream that match live in its entirety on NBCSports.com in any case, Freifeld said.

The combination of Internet and television broadcasts likely will still leave many viewers on the West Coast without live tennis on their televisions. At 11 a.m. in California, the day’s matches could well be over in Paris. If the matches are completed, viewers in the western U.S. would see the Federer-Djokovic match on tape delay.

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I hope this helps you.