Sunday's Winners

by Savannah

Victoria Azarenka won the women's championship and holds her second Sony Ericsson Open trophy.

Novak Djokovic continued his undefeated 2011 by winning in Miami.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are the men's doubles champions.

The team of Daniela Hantuchova and Agnieszka Radwanska won the women's doubles crown.

The Patty Schnyder Story

Patty Schnyder has played professional tennis for a number of years. Her winnings total about $10 million. But reports surfaced this week that Swiss authorities are looking for the player and her husband because of outstanding debts totaling CHF 379'260 .86. The creditors include banks, credit card companies, debt collection company, a trust company and tax authorities - even the Billag wants money according to the Swiss tabloid Blick. It's rumored that the police investigation began when Schnyder's husband was unable to come up with eight Porsche's he'd promised to a group of investors. How this will affect her at Charleston this week remains to be seen. As many know Rainer Hofmann, Patty's husband, has been implicated in fraud before. No charges were pressed.

For details of Hofmann's past this article gives the details.

Patty had been talking about retiring from tennis.

The French Open Day 1

by Savannah

Before I get to the pictures I want to understand something. It was known that Viktoria Azarenka was injured going into the French Open. Well known. So why is it that her loss is being talked about as a major upset while this result - Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) d. (20) María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) 62 64 - is being ignored? MJMS was hot coming into Paris and many expected her to go deep in the tournament. Instead she's out to a woman who barely played any tennis during the clay season.
Meanwhile Azarenka left the grounds without granting an interview to the press. That means that in addition to not defending her quarterfinal points from last year she's being fined. Not a good day for Miss Azarenka.

I also need to understand how Chris Fowler could talk about Janko Tipsarevic being a contender when at the time this comment aired Tipsarevic had already lost? When did they record this stuff?

I watched Ernests Gulbis spraying shots all over the court and thought it was nerves. Instead he retired with an injury.

And finally I need to know who the hell told Svetlana Kuznetsova to wear shorts that do nothing but call attention to her derriere and not in a good way. I'm also guessing that Aravane Rezai is wearing that horrid gold thing. The only picture I saw of her was on the RG official site and she was in it.

Glad to see butts in the seats for Venus Williams match against Patty Schnyder.

The Frenchmen rained catcalls on Venus when she revealed the black lace version of her French Maid outfit. The skirt appears to be see through. They liked it. A lot. Especially since the shorts are skin toned. Venus skin tone.

It was a bright sunny day in Paris and the courts needed to be maintained.

The French Tennis Federation turned down Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's request to start later this week. They were consistent and turned down Richard Gasquet's request as well. Gasquet cited the Nice tournament win and Tsonga cited illness. It took Jo five sets but he prevailed over a determined Daniel Brands of Germany.

The Big Yellow Ball Brigades were out in force. When they're on the move you know a match is over.

Despite her loss it's good to see Anne Keothavong competing again.

End Note

I've been spoiled. I lasted an hour listening to the announcers on Tennis Channel/ESPN today. Not one of them seemed to have been watching any of the clay court season and Chris Fowler wasn't the only one who suffered from foot in mouth disease. When one of them commented that a player was sliding into his shot instead of using a more traditional approach I'd had it. I don't remember if this was before or after John McEnroe waxed poetic about how a day like this would play on the hard courts at the BJK Tennis center in New York.

Sure Robbie Koenig , Jason Goodall and their compatriots had their fanboy moments but in the end it was all about the tennis. The thing is when you wake up at five in the morning and are still lying in bed what happens is that you fall asleep. Oh well.

The Champions 9/14/2008

by Savannah

Fed Cup

The Russian team, led by Shamil Tarpishev, defeated the Spanish women in what can only be described as a comprehensive beat down. I was able to watch a few matches on WebTV and could only shake my head as the Russian team used their size advantage - the average height of the Spanish team was 5'4" - and fire power to win point after point. Congratulations to Team Russia on their victory.


The Other Winners


Gilles Simon of France hoists his third championship trophy of this year, the BCR Open Romania

Patty Schnyder of Switzerland won the championship in Bali, her first title since Cincinnati in 2005. Congratulations Patty!

Wei Hsieh-Su of Taiwan(left) and Peng Shuai of China won the doubles in Bali

In a marathon the French team of Nicolas Devilder and Paul-Henri Mathieu defeated Polish top seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in an epic 7-6(4) 6-7(9) 22-20 match.

They saved a total of six match points to pull out the win. Congratulations to the French men for scoring a sweep at Bucharest.

Was This Year’s French Open a Bust?

by Savannah



I’m not a big fan of grass court tennis. Sue me. It takes me about two weeks to get my head around the ball flying off grass at meteoric speed and that just when a game is getting interesting it’s over. That means by the second week of Wimbledon I can pay attention and reconcile myself to the fact that the clay court season, that beautiful time of year when men and women don’t only have to hit the ball but have to think through and execute a game plan against someone who is doing the exact same thing is over.

The clay court season on the main tour was dubbed The Road to Roland Garros by those clever folks at The Tennis Channel and in my mind it was a roaring success. You have smaller tournaments, then Monte Carlo, the tournament held in a jewel box setting on the Mediterranean Sea. True it is a country club but there is no stiff upper lip here. The fans, to borrow a phrase, get down in the dirt with the players creating an electric atmosphere for tennis. Barcelona is the next jewel and then it’s on to the Eternal City of Rome for the event that has produced the matches voted the best in both 2005 and 2006. There is a stop in Hamburg, cold and damp in the spring and then it’s the City of Lights – Paris and the second Grand Slam of the year.

Before you can catch your breath there is the grass court “season” which ends with the third Grand Slam of the year, Wimbledon. Players and fans have to make the mental adjustments necessary to play this surface. My blogmate Craig hates the clay and prefers the speed of the grass court game. We disagree. He’s gone so far as to say this years French Open was boring. I’m not quite sure what he means.

This French Open saw the American men and women go down in flames leaving Serena Williams the last American standing. When she took the court against Justine Henin people expected a heavy weight fight. Instead Serena joined her compatriots in going down with barely a whimper to the eventual women’s champion. This left the stage to the Europeans and South Americans. That’s right. Quiet as it’s kept Maria Sharapova, when she deigns to, plays Fed Cup for Russia not the United States. Did this make the French Open dull? I don’t think so. Gael Monfils seemed to be finding himself again. Gaston Gaudio has to decide if he's got the cojones to continue playing the main tour or if he needs to give himself a chance to regroup at a lower level. Willy Canas showed that while he is good on clay his game is probably better suited to the faster surfaces ahead. The Serbians announced that they're in the house and plan to put their feet up and stay awhile.

I know I sound like a broken record but clay makes demands on a player the other surfaces, excluding rebound ace, can’t. You can’t wander onto a clay court and think you’re going to improvise your way into winning a match. You have to know the person across the net, and know what they’re going to do if you present a certain situation to them. It’s then up to you to counter their move. I could bring up the last two French Open men’s finals but I won’t do that here. I will say the chess match has been interesting.

And let’s not leave out Justine Henin. Say what you will about her, and there is a lot to say, on the court she outsmarts and as a result outplays women who should be blowing her off the court.

I think the story of the French Open this year was the Draws. There were three cakewalks, two overt and one not.

Amelie Mauresmo's draw was, well, a piece of cake. It's just that no one told that pesky Lucie Safarova she wasn't supposed to win. Safarova, instead of taking the momentum and moving into the quarters or semis lost to Anna Chakvetadze, someone who continues to underwhelm me. There was a lot of chatter about AnnaC taking it to Sharapova. I have no idea what the French did to the wine this year. Anyone who thought Chakvetadze was going to take out Sharapova was delusional.

And that brings me to the stealth cake walk of the tournament. People started posting all over the place that Emilie Loit was a tough cookie for Maria in the first round. Now that was laugh out loud funny. I have nothing against Mlle Loit but she was not going to take anything to Sharapova. That should have made the red lights start flashing but obviously everyone had drunk the same Kool Aid, uh vin. Maria didn't face a single player who could hurt her, including Frau Schnyder, until she stood eye to eye with Ana Ivanovic. Ana obviously came in with a plan and I think we can all agree she executed it quite well. For the second time in a year Sharapova found herself a spectator at her own match. The scores were almost the same come to think of it. And in no time she was on her way to Birmingham England and what I guess are the safer confines of grass courts. Justine Henin, normally taciturn, made a point of saying she did not have an easy draw. Jelena Jankovic made a comment about it being a shame Venus had to go out so early. Needless to say she kept her thoughts to herself after that one made the halls of the ITF and WTA run red with blood.

There was another cakewalk draw. In my opinion cake walks do not champions make. Anyone who could possibly pose a threat to Roger Federer was no where near him in the draw. They threw a couple of guys under the bus to make it look good but when your semi final opponent comes into the match having said he can't beat you should anyone really be surprised at the result? And then he ran into the guy who blew through people who were good players including the vaunted Serbian Novak Djokovic to reach the final. I'm not quite sure what the people who had Roger hoisting the Coupe des Mousqetaires before the first ball was struck in the final thought Senor Nadal was going to be doing while Roger was running rings around him but he showed up with a game plan and proceeded to quietly demolish the man seemingly everyone had crowned king.

So why was this French Open dull? Hard work won out in the end for both the men and the women. The women's final was admittedly one of the worst finals ever played but who can deny the drama of the men's final especially when Roger came back to win the second set. Rafa however seemed to shrug and say "that's it?" before going on to win the next two sets rather easily. No five set classic but one that emphatically let the world know just who was wearing the crown.

So now grass season is upon us. Forget thought provoking points and play from now on. The hit it hard and if it doesn’t work hit it harder school of tennis will be in session. Not that it doesn’t demand it’s own skill set and have it’s own peculiar beauty. Some people seem to forget that grass court play is just a different way to play. It’s not better than any other surface, it’s one of the four main surfaces a player has to master in order to be called great.



I don't say everyone has to think the way I do. I actually like tennis played on any surface and admire the adjustments the top players make from one surface to the other. But we all have our preferences. Mine is clay. Craig's is grass. I don't weep and moan during grass and hard court season like some do during the clay court season. I'm too much of a tennis head to do that.
The French Open allows you to see into the hearts and minds of the top players. You have to play or go home to steal a phrase. And that is what the clay season, and the French Open is all about.