Weekend Update 2/13/2011

by Savannah

"What I know is that I deserved to be the world number on in 2010, obviously, my results clearly show it. I mean, I've been the one who won more matches and more tournmaents on the WTA Tour than anybody else."

"I think that in every slam, I miss a little bit of luck and experience. It's not a big secret to play well seven matches in a row to win the title. And I learnt through my career that it's not that easy at all. But I'll do everything I can this year to work it out"

Caroline Wozniacki in Dubai as reported by French Eurosport. Fan translation by "MiiMo".

The French Open Will Remain in Paris

The USTA made $90 million at the gate for the 2010 US Open. Ninety million smackers just on ticket sales. That's not counting the overpriced and dreadful food, programs and other crap that's on sale during the US Open. What national tennis organization wouldn't see those figures and salivate?

That was the idea behind moving the French Open from it's present site near the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. Bigger site. More modern site. More people. More money.

Today the victory went to the traditionalists as the Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT) voted to keep their Grand Slam in Paris and update the site.

While many of us outside of France see this as a victory many French don't seem to think it is. They look at the money the USTA makes on the US Open and want to cram more people into their tournament.

The French Open and Wimbledon remain the most fan friendly of the Slams in terms of how tickets are sold and providing fans with a venue made for watching tennis. I've ranted about the horrors of the stadium named for the late great Arthur Ashe in the New York City borough of Queens in the past so I won't go into them now. Let's just say that the FFT made the right decision.

The Weekends Winners

I think we can safely say it's time to pay serious attention to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. She got on a lot of people's watch lists last year but being as she's part of the WTA that means nothing in the wider scheme of things. Blondes with long braids are a dime a dozen in the WTA and they've mostly turned out to be flashes in the pan.

That all changed today. Playing against a hostile French crowd - I know there's no other kind but it still has to be said - Kvitova held her nerves together and didn't allow the newly anointed WTA #1 Kim Clijsters to get into a rhythm and dominate the pace of the match. Clijsters had no answers for Kvitova's serve and groundstrokes and since Petra was not about to beat herself Kim once again showed that she is not much more than a glorified pusher. As I've said before she's just better at it than Wozniacki.

I watched the match online on Eurosport2 and the British commentary was full of St Kim adulation and pictures of her husband and daughter. I don't know if eating crow is done in Europe but I hope it was cooked to their liking.

Despite all the pomp and ceremony in Paris Clijsters can be passed by the Deserving One (see above) if she reaches the semifinals in Dubai. It's still the WTA kids. But watch out for Ms Petra Kvitova.

Flanked by Bahian priestesses Nicolas Almagro (r) and Aleksandr Dolgopolov pose with their trophies. Almagro won the crown at Costa do Sauipe.

Robin Soderling successfully defended his crown in Rotterdam. He defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Rotterdam doubles champions Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner flank Tournament Director Richard Krajicek.

It seemed as if Daniela Hantuchova was tuning up to sing her swan song. After all her game seemed anachronistic and she'd always been considered physically fragile. Besides she hadn't won a title of any kind in four years. That drought has ended as she defeated Sara Errani of Italy in Thailand. Some found fault with her commenting that the semi final against Vera Zvonareva was a "mini final" but truth be told it was. I can't speak for everyone but I didn't expect her to win that match. I understand that Vera got very upset about a call and that was it for her.

That leads me to wonder why there are still tournaments - some majors as we saw in Paris this week and during Fed Cup play last week - being played on courts without HawkEye. It's expensive but it makes for much cleaner matches and less conspiracy theories from people like me. Oh well. Guess I'm shoveling shit against the tide again.

End Note

The highly anticipated match between Milos Raonic and Fernando Verdasco at the SAP Open will be played later today. Raonic got a walkover from an injured Gael Monfils into the final while Verdasco routined Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4 for the chance to defend his title. Needless to say I hope to be watching and Tweeting about that match and posting about it later. I can't wait for Brad Gilbert to pronounce the young Canadian's name. On second thought I can.

The French Open - Ladies Day

by Savannah

The predicted all Russian women's final will take place Saturday. Both Dominika Cibulkova and Samantha Stosur were overcome by nerves and let their Russian opponents pull out wins to set up the final pairing many had predicted since the quarter finals. Safina survived horrendous serving and what appeared to be weariness (It was later revealed that Dinara is battling the flu) and Kuznetsova used her experience to outplay a nervous Stosur who had forced a third set.

I actually wish that Stosur had found a way to win. Sveta in a final is usually a disaster. She managed to beat Dinara in the Stuttgart final and then failed to show up the next time they met in a final. Stosur would've had nothing to lose and would've made an interesting opponent for Dinara.

But that's all water under the bridge. Can Sveta beat Dinara? Of course. Will she play the kind of tennis that got her to the Final? I hope so. Sveta at her best can beat anyone.

On Court Coaching

Once again Dinara was looking to her coach after every point just like Justine Henin used to do. Mary Carillo spoke on it during the match again today. It's annoying. I can understand that at a critical juncture you look to your coach for reassurance (and maybe a hand signal or two) but after every point? Isn't part of the coaches job to teach on court strategy? It seems that today's coaches want their charges to be totally reliant on them for their every action on court. Tennis is about one on one combat, mano a mano, mind against mind. It's not supposed to be a video game where the on court players become mere two dimensional extensions of the game players will. I don't think I've ever seen either Williams sister constantly stare into the stands at either of their parents during a match. Their gaze is always inward. They search their memories for times they've been in the same situation or to think what tactic they should use at a particular point in a match. It's why they're so dangerous and beating either one of them is such a goal among their peers. People like me lament the state of women's tennis now. When Venus and Serena exit the stage things are going to be bad for a very long time.

Americans in Paris and Other French Open News

The Bryan Brothers are gone from the Men's Doubles Competition. The team of Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman escorted the twins to the Chunnel winning a three set match. The Bryan twins have played a lot of clay court tennis unlike the other American players male and female.

Junior Sloane Stephens has made it to the girls semi finals. She played Junior Fed Cup in Italy and won the Rome junior title.

Surprisingly the team of Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor were also shown the exit by the team of Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy in straight sets. Zimonjic and Nestor have dominated men's doubles.

American Vania King is playing Mixed Doubles with Braziian Marcelo Melo against the American team of Bob Bryan and Liezel Huber.

The Women's doubles final will feature the team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascaul against Elena Vesnina and Victoria Azarenka.

This and That

Martina Navratilova has spoken out about the howling some of the WTA players make when striking the ball.

"The grunting has reached an unacceptable level. It is cheating, pure and simple. It is time for something to be done."
(...)
"A player is in a difficult position because if they make too much of a fuss, the crowd can turn against them,” she said. “It is the umpires who have to act because if they start enforcing the hindrance rule and give point penalties, it will soon stop. The grunts are louder and lasting well into the opponent's strike zone."

The Times Online reports that the Grand Slam Committee is meeting today in Paris and that the situation will be on the agenda.

(FROM L to R) Chairman of All England Lawn Tennis Club Tim Phillips, French Tennis Federation (FTT) President Jean Gachassin, Unites States Tennis Assosiation (USTA) president Lucy Garvin, President of the International Tennis Federation Ricci Bitti and Australian Open President Geoff Pollard pose on June 4, 2009 at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris following a meeting of the Grand Slam federations.

The article notes the noise made by Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Michelle Larcher de Brito. Maybe it's me but I don't find Serena's grunting on the same level as the other three. And of the other three Michelle Larcher de Brito is by far the worse followed by Victoria Azarenka. Aravane Rezai's complaints about Larcher de Brito were justified in my opinion. My ears were still ringing an hour after her match ended and I'm sure there were calls to the emergency services of Paris by citizens thinking someone was being attacked. Azarenka's noise level is not far behind. Anytime Maria Sharapova gets ranked third in this category you know something is wrong.

Kim Clijsters talked about motherhood, family and the new girls on the block during an interview with the BBC. The interviewer called the up and comers "young machines". Kim's comments about the locker room, getting along and thinking on court are pertinent. Listen and enjoy.

It's Time To Get Down and Dirty

by Savannah

They come from all over. The elite and the wannabe's, the pretenders and the real deals. They have all converged on the City of Lights, Paris, France, to play in the tennis worlds second Grand Slam of the calendar year. They come like overgrown children to play the sport they love on the crushed brick surface known to all as the terre battue.

It doesn't matter if you are injured.

You come and get the red dirt in your hair, eyes and lungs. You slide around on it because you know the reward is tennis immortality.

You come to prove that there is still greatness in your body and mind.

You don't care that the world will see what you are deep down inside.

It doesn't matter if everyone sees you turn yourself inside out. You're here to win, and to do whatever it takes.

Does it matter if commentators call you out of your name? Nope. Your fans, and fans of the sport know exactly who you are.

Do you care whether people like the dress you've chosen for this momentous occasion?

Does the dress play or you?

What does it matter that you answer questions no one was asking?

You may know what they're asking and continue to do what you want because you can.

You may show unexpected grace under fire.

Or find yourself in a match that will ensure your name is mentioned in those "were you there when" conversations of the future.

So what if what your part in the magnum opus takes place miles away from home?

You've arrived and the world has taken notice of you and your talent even if some of the home folk don't appreciate it.

The sun has set on Day 2 of the French Open. It's been called the Artistic Slam. I call it the Heart, Mind and Guts Slam. You need all three to stand triumphant on it's dirt.

Does American Tennis Suck?

by Savannah

At one point during NBC’s broadcast of the match between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, John McEnroe casually stated that Donald Young had been invited by the Nadal family to come and work with them for three weeks in Mallorca. Now I’m sure many tennis parents heard that and immediately began emailing the family saying their precious was the best thing since sliced bread and would gladly take them up on the offer the Young camp refused. That’s right, they refused. I’ve said here before that Young has the potential to become an all court player, a man who will not run screaming into the night at the mention of terre battue, or whine that he just can’t learn how to slide the way “they” do. “They” of course are the European and South American players who have become the stars of the ATP, the men, and women, who grew up on the red dirt – not ground up tires or whatever “green” clay is, but real crushed red brick. You know them. They can construct points, think their way through a match, are patient enough to hit to the same spot, or near to it, until their opponent, frustrated, goes for too much and makes an error. Yeah, those people. They change speed and direction on the ball too.

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you’ll remember I posted about why the United States changed their surface of choice from clay - ! – to hard court. Economics? I mean it must be hard to keep up clay courts right? Forget the fact that many clubs had clay courts back then. It has to be economic right? Well, no. It had to do with the rise of some young Spaniards and South American’s who were bold enough to challenge the United States on a tennis court. They were christened “clay court specialists” and the United States tennis establishment made the move to hard courts.

So when the Nadal family made their offer to the Young camp imagine the alarm bells that went off in the United States. One of their own, recently exposed as being used and abused by the powers that be of U.S. tennis and who despite all that happened is now making his way up the rankings, go to Spain?! It would be the straw that broke the camels back, the exposure of the United States tennis system as a teetering house of cards. It could not, and would not happen. And it didn’t.

So will Donald Young’s potential be sacrificed on the altar of mindless ball bashing? Will he become like the generation that is now moving into the later years of their careers, unable to compete in Europe or South America? That remains to be seen. I should mention in passing that Young arrived in Europe in time for The French Open and played maybe one warm up event which he crashed out of early. Needless to say he was out of the French and on his way to his next event early as well.

So what happened to the American’s in Paris? Let’s see. Young we’ve discussed. Blake, who to his credit played a fairly full, for an American, clay court season, unraveled and departed. An injured Andy Roddick did not even make the trip to Paris. He headed back to the States after Rome and will presumably be ready to compete at Queens. I believe Andy is injured. He never misses a Slam.

Ah but on the women’s side we had Venus Williams and Serena Williams. Venus hadn’t played in weeks and not much was expected of her. The rustiness showed and she bowed out to Flavia Pennetta who played inspired tennis against her. Serena? I think the Serenabot made the trip. That woman who was spraying balls all over the place and didn’t seem to understand what to do with an opportunity when one presented itself lost to Katerina Srebotnik. Do I have to say that both Pennetta, and Srebotnik, lost to their next opponents? It seems beating one of the Williams Sisters is still something players want to do. The question is do the Williams sisters want to beat anyone they have to play these days? Ennui? I don’t know if I’d go that far. I have no inside track so I don’t know what is going on in their lives.

So not one American made it to the second week? Yes, one did. The oft maligned Robby Ginepri will take the court on Monday. It’s funny to me how when all the other American stars crash and burn somehow it’s a guy like Ginepri who emerges from the smoke and ruins. John Isner was a surprise to the tennis establishment. I often malign Sam “Kid Porsche” Querrey but I have to give the boy his props. He too played a decent clay court season and even paired with Isner in doubles. He has nothing to be ashamed of. And neither do the other American players who went to Europe and stayed trying to make their bones on the red dirt. When the top American man, James Blake, after playing horribly, finds nothing to do but pick a fight with the chair saying he deserves a “competent” chair umpire I have to say I wasn’t too sorry to see him go. It’s one thing to think someone is an idiot. It’s another to open your mouth and reinforce the ugly American stereotype overseas. For a Harvard man Blake can sometimes do, and say, the dumbest things.

But I digress. Will American kids learn to play on clay? One of the announcers calling a match I believe in Rome or Monte Carlo, said that clay is the ideal surface to learn on. It teaches patience, point construction, how to think your way through a match, and hones both your physical and mental abilities. Both have to be peak in order to play well in the dirt. If Brave New World goes into effect, the importance of the clay court season will be diminished. The tournaments that count will be played on American or Asian hard courts. I guess if you can’t compete the answer is to sandbag the opposition and reduce their favorite tournaments to second class citizenship during the tennis year. I’m sure that the Young camp was made aware of this as well.

All of this is not happening in a vacuum. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are all running for the Players Council currently headed by Ivan Ljubicic and James Blake. The same guy I was talking about further up. If they succeed in making the council I think things will change. Already the argument is being made that they’ll only look to make their situations easier. It’s no secret that life at the top of the food chain is very different from life at the middle or bottom. Most tennisheads know this. The argument is spurious in my opinion but I’m not a guy staying at a Best Western on my own dime while Roger and Mirka dine on five star cuisine if they so desire. The election is taking place during Wimbledon.

So back to my question. Does American tennis suck? Will Venus, Serena, Lindsay, Andy and James have to play until they drop? Where are the American Jeremy Chardy’s or Carla Suarez-Navarro’s? Hell, do we have an Alize Cornet? Not to my knowledge. And that is the problem. Stacking the deck against the “others” is not the solution to the problems in American tennis. Patrick McEnroe has been tasked with turning the American System around. That is why I found his brother’s comments so intriguing today. John McEnroe said it was a mistake for the Young’s not to take the Nadal’s up on their offer. It was. If the McEnroe’s are allowed to reach out to those offering to help, if the American tennis establishment will admit it needs help, then maybe in a few years tennisheads won’t have to ask if American tennis sucks.

Idle Chit Chat

by Savannah



It's time to put up or shut up. The eyes of the tennis world are fixed on Paris, France, the City of Light. Some interesting men and women made it through qualifying. The draws, in some cases twice, have been made. The players have done their publicity work. Tomorrow morning this time my eyes will be glued to both television and internet coverage of play from Roland Garros.


Sooo about that two draw thing. On Friday May 22 I dragged my butt out of bed to log and and watch the interactive draw from Paris along with some online friends via chat. If you ever get a chance to do so it's worth watching. It's exciting to see a draw put together.
Enough of that. It finished, the seeds were placed, and I ran around to get out in time to catch my preferred express bus to work. Imagine my surprise when I logged in and saw the draw. I know I'm getting old and have lost a few brain cells but the draw that was posted was not the draw that had been made while I was watching. This was what was made while people around the world watched.

Due to space constraints you may not be able to read the names. A clearer version is HERE
The official explanation is that Tommy Haas and Sebastian Grosjean withdrew just before the draw ceremony and that the computer still had their names. I'm easy. Everybody has to take the okey doke at some point in their lives so I'll go for that explanation. I still find it odd that when the draw was redone the seeds stayed in the same place. One and two are fixed but everyone? Just sayin'.
There are, as one person put it, a few "challenger draws" inside the main draw. When your top seed doesn't face a top ten player until the quarters, or the top half of your draw seems to have every qualifier known to God and man in it eyebrows should be raised.
Oh yeah, and for those who say draws can't be fixed, please re read what I posted above.

This is an idle chit chat post, the first in awhile, and the last for awhile unless something major happens so here it goes.

Novak Djokovic's father, Srdjan is reported by The Serbian Press to have attacked a broadcast journalist in Serbia for not supporting his son enough on the air. Thanks to a tennishead who goes by the name of "Kitinov Rules" there is this translation.

Srdjan Djokovic, the father of the best Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic , has used a force to enter (inroad) in TV studio of RTS last Saturday , unhappy with the way the commentator broadcasted Novak’s match against Nadal at the Hamburg Masters.

During the second set of the aforementioned match , Srdjan Djokovic unexpectedly came inroad into the TV Studio , and started to yell and verbally attack the commentator Nebojsa Viskovic.

The reason for Srdjan’s verbal attack was that the commentator didn’t cheered enough for his beloved son and being a Serb he must cheer more for Novak . Also nervous Srdjan told the journalist that “ he is not doing his work in a proper manner”

Novak’s uncle (brother of Srdjan) went even further ,and after the match called Viskovic and started to curse and threat personally the commentator.

I don't know how things work in Serbia but I hope Srdjan doesn't think this will win his son fans elsewhere in the world or in the press for that matter.


The drama of the Spanish Davis Cup Team vs Pedro Munoz continues. Four players, Carlos Moya, Nicolas Almagro, Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo met with Jaime Lissavetzky, the Spanish sports minister on Thursday. Nicolas Almagro confirms that they were told Munoz will not run for reelection when his term expires in December but that they have no way of knowing if this is true.
For those of you who speak Spanish here is the quote.

Almagro ha confirmado también que el compromiso de Muñoz de no presentarse a la reelección "está escrito", pero agrega que "no se sabe si será verdad o no"

.
And here is the SOURCE

Serena Williams made her usual pre major stir by stating the obvious.

PARIS (Reuters) - Former world number one Serena Williams said on Friday that Justine Henin's retirement made it the right time for the American to win a second French Open title.

Williams, who was victorious at Roland-Garros in 2002, is the only former winner in the draw for the second grand slam of the year which starts on Sunday.

"It's definitely the right time to win, obviously. It's always the right time but it's unfortunate one of the best players on clay won't be here," Williams, who starts her campaign against compatriot Ashley Harkleroad, told a news conference.

Henin, who won four French Open four titles in the past five years, retired from tennis last week as the world number one, leaving Paris hopefuls with greater expectations than last year.

I really don't understand why people have such a problem with Serena when she says things like this. She's getting more static from fans about her comments than Maria Sharapova did for telling Larry Scott, and the Tour, where to go and what to do when they get there.
The Full Article

The French have proven that it isn't only the USTA that can create cupcake draws. The women's draw for Roland Garros resembles the women's draw from the 2007 US Open. The real action is in the bottom half of the draw which features Serena, Venus, Jelena and Ana. Meanwhile Justine Henin has made the following comments. I'll post in French and then an English translation.

Justine HENIN : «Il est très difficile de prédire qui va remporter le trophée dans deux semaines. Personne ne domine à 100% aujourd'hui. Ma favorite de coeur est Svetlana Kuznetsova. Je l'apprécie énormément. Maria Sharapova ? Elle le peut le faire, évidemment. Elle a les capacités, surtout une grande force de caractère. Elle croit beaucoup en elle, ne baisse jamais les bras. Mais la terre battue est beaucoup moins sa surface. Quinze jours sur terre battue, c'est long, c'est dur, il faut s'accrocher. Elle a moins de maîtrise, moins de contrôle sur cette surface. Cela dépend beaucoup de la forme du moment et elle n'a pas beaucoup joué ces dernières semaines. Je ne miserais pas sur elle à l'heure actuelle.»

She is saying that it is hard to predict who will win. She would like to see Svetlana win it all. As for Maria she says it's not her best surface, she doesn't have the control she needs on it, and that fifteen days is very long and hard. She also says she would not bet on Maria to win it.
From L'Equipe
It should be mentioned in passing that Justine never, ever, got a cakewalk draw in any event she played while ranked number one.

I want to take a minute here and give a shout out to all the fan boards that provide tennisheads information day in and day out, 365 days a year. It is not easy to keep track of Main Tour events for both the WTA and ATP as well as Challenger events, Futures and Exhibitions. Davis Cup and Fed Cup play are also covered.Many fan boards also provide up to date ranking information. This is why so many fanboards have become the go to place for fans needing to know something quick, fast and in a hurry. There are usually small teams of people who cooperate in getting this information to notoriously finicky tennis fans. Good work to everyone involved.

End Notes

Marcos Baghdatis is returning to play at Roland Garros after an almost season long break from match play.
Richard Gasquet is playing in Paris after threatening not to do so. I always thought that he would play his home slam.
Andy Roddick is missing his first Grand Slam in many years due to injury. Make all the jokes you want about Americans and clay but Andy always shows up for Slams no matter what. He is expected to be fit for play by Queens. And keep that snark to yourself!
Nicole Vaidisova is looking to turn her so far disastrous season around on the terre battue. She doesn't have a bad draw but methinks her favorite position right now is prone. Until she gets over that she can't be fully focused on tennis.
I don't expect Marion Bartoli to do well here at all. It would be nice, but I don't think it's going to happen.
Venus Williams is another player I don't think will go far. She's just coming back after a self described hiatus. European clay is not the best place for her but she's there. In the bottom half along with her sister and everyone else who comes to play. All the qualifiers seem to have made it into the top half of the draw. I know I'm back to the draw thing. I'm just sayin'.
Will any American man make it past the second round this year? To their credit James Blake, Sam Querrey, John Isner and other American men have been in Europe for quite some time. Blake has been doing well in doubles play going very deep in some events. Too bad they didn't do this three or four years ago. Donald Young is conceding he has no chance by arriving so late. Of all the Americans I think he has the best chance to become a force on clay.

For a look at both the Men's and Women's draws Craig has posted them both.

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.