VAMOS RAFA!!! :)

YES!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!!! I am so happy for Nadal, he played one of the best matches of his clay court career.  Roland Garros for the 5th time, only the second man to win the French Open that many times. Borg still trumps him with 6 all-time wins. Weird he won on Borg's birthday.

I think Soderling and the pundits underestimated Nadal, thinking that the win last year meant that Nadal was vulnerable and that he had nowhere left to go.  But what I saw today is the reason why I fell in love with this man's tennis: he is mutable, adaptable - never complacent, he is a perpetual innovator and harbinger of change.  And that is why he won 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 - he was never broken in the final and never dropped a set the whole tournament! He changed his strings, continued to work on his serve and cut out his tendency to play short when too far back in the court and playing with such top spin.  Such a class act.  I shed tears when he shed tears man it was beautiful!!!!! He is now ranked No. 1 too which bodes well for his draw at Wimbledon.  I really hope he and Federer can meet on the grass!!!

I'll let the man say what I have been saying throughout the two weeks in his own words:



Here is a video with the Final highlights:



You can find more videos on Nadal and the final here.  Click on the latest videos tab.

:)

Revenge On The Cards?

So it will be a Nadal  vs. Soderling final!!! Nadal played his best match yet, even with the little wobble in the third set.  Nice to see that he is not complacent about winning and that he is happily human, admitting to nerves and  how it still means a lot to him to reach the final.  I wonder if he is playing within his limits so as not get any body niggles.  I hope he will let it all out come Sunday though. Soderling had to take Berdych to five but got through.  We shall see if this will be a factor, he does have a whole day to rest though.

Venus and Serena claimed the doubles and are now also ranked number 1 and 2 in the world.  As happy as I am about their accomplishments, they also show what is wrong with the Womens' game.  The Williams sisters can come in and out as they please and no matter what can find their way to the top in the singles and doubles.  Everyone else just scrambles for what they can get which creates ebbs and flows of good play and bad matches :(. Is it a drought or are the younger ones either physically and/ or mentally just not as strong these days?!

Nadal Wins :) Serena Loses :(

Great tennis today.  First the shocker with Serena losing to Stosur, mirroring yesterday's events with Federer and Soderling!  Another number on trampled on by a dark horse.  I now have no real interest in the women's game.  I don't think that Jankovic has lived up to her potential and don't really follow the rest so I'm rather disappointed.  Nadal thankfully did not turn my angina into a full blown heart attack and played a very smart game against someone he really doesn't like playing against. Almagro brought his A+ game today, which made for a interesting Quarter-Final.

He may have started off slow going down 0-3 in the first set but I was not worried.  Nadal is notoriously slow at the start and can get bogged down in taking his time between points (he got a warning for it), but once he gets going he is able to break back and get on with it.  You need at least 2 breaks on clay to make sure you have a fighting chance against him because he always finds a way to bounce back.  He however only needs one, the others I think are just to break the opponents spirit.  The first two sets were decided by tie-breaks and that is where we were able to witness the Nadal of old that we love and know.  The King of Clay displayed beautiful shots, and his favourite play with the serve out wide and the inside-out forehand to the opposite corner came out  to party.  I hope that he gets used to the new strings that commentators have been saying give him less spin but more depth.  He is clearly having problems adjusting to the way his game matches up to his modified equipment.  But tweaking his game is what he does best, I'm sure he'll figure it out. :) You can read his thoughts on the match here.

Women's Semi's up tomorrow, and Nadal will be facing Meltzer, who was able to beat Djokovic to make it to the Semi's on Friday.  It seems the men's game is not done with surprises!

OMG What Is Going On In The World???!!!

Volcanoes, earthquakes, sinkholes and Soderling that's what! Instead of Fed-Exing we saw Fed axed from the French, so he is unable to defend his title.  I had this horrible feeling that Soderling would do it again at the French and he did. He is the "Giant Killer", he has ousted the defending champ two years in a row now.  I have no words.  So here is Federer's take. He brings up Del Potro, whom I do miss, he's one of my babies. He has lived up to his potential quite nicely, it is a pity he is currently sidelined. Now more than ever it is pivotal that Nadal make it to the final, the thought of Soderling making it there and winning does not sit well with me at all!!!!!  There were a lot of winners from both players in that game, so if Soderling makes it to the final he know he has to have even more than that to win against Nadal if it is their destiny to meet again at the French. But that is not going to happen. Because I said so.


This chain of events has ramifications of great magnitude.  This play-by-play of the whole day's events gave a great synopsis of what this one game means for the men's game over the next few months:


"Robin Soderling – the era-ender. Nadal had won 31 consecutive matches at Roland Garros (in fact he’d never been beaten here) – then along came Rockin’ Robin. Federer had reached 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals (since losing to Guga Kuerten here in the third round in 2004) – then along came Rockin’ Robin. He simply did not miss a shot. He hit the ball with such alarming strength and absolutely unfeasible accuracy.


And now, if Rafa wins the tournament, Federer will be knocked off his number one perch and not break Pistol Pete Sampras’ record of 286 weeks in the top spot (he’s agonisingly on 285). And with Nadal having precisely zero points to defend at Wimbledon and Federer 2,000, we’re in for a sea change. Federer was toppled two years ago when Rafa “did a Borg” and won here then at Wimbledon. Roger came right back and “did a Rafa”, taking the two European Slams in 2009. And who knows what’s going to happen here now – I bet Rafa’s quaking! He’s always had the measure of Federer on clay, but now his road to the title – his Roland Garros title – has a certain Robin Soderling blocking the way. Oh yes, and the small matter of Almagro, then Djokovic or Melzer."


Soderling will play a resurgent Berdych in the Semis.  I always thought Berdych hadn't lived up to his potential.  He seems to be realising it now.  I guess I was complaining about there not being a shake up on the men's side. I got my wish unfortunately.  I do wish to see Nadal and Federer battle it out in a final, hopefully that will come at Wimbledon. I now have to go and consult my sangoma and make sure that Soderling's juju does not cause further damage and Nadal is protected for the rest of the tournament! ;}

Good News And Bad News

The good news is that the bull has been awakened, Nadal played a good and competitive match.  I know I was talking about him lassoing his opponents into submission with his forehand but I forget how good he is on the run with his backhand passing shot when opponents are up at net.  He showed this strength a coupla times throughout his match with Bellucci.  He made up for not closing the second set out the first time at 5-4 by breaking in the next game to go up 6-5 with a backhand passing shot that gave us not only a "Vamos!", but some serious fist-pumping.  You can tell he wants to regain his title as the King of Clay badly! :)  Check out the highlights here. Choose Highlights > May 31, 2010 > Highlights - Day 9 Part. 3.  He is set to play his countryman Nicolas Almagro in the Quarter Finals.

It also seems that the watch thing is not an anomaly, he wore it again throughout the match...

Serena is back to killer form and wasted no time with a straight sets win 6-2, 6-2, breezing into the Quarter Finals to face Samantha Stosur, the woman who cut Henin's bid to regain this title, post-retirement, short. It will be interesting to see if she will continue to upset top players - Stosur did this at the Aussie Open too.

I was wondering where Gulbis was, after his match in Rome against Nadal, I thought he would be a real contender and could cause a few upsets, spicing up the mix.  However, he pulled out in the first round due to injury, which is why there has been nothing on him. I wonder if he played out of his skin against Nadal and this setback is a repercussion.  He notched around 50 winners in that semi-final and still lost.  It always amazes me how people continuously play out of their skins and still lose on the clay to Nadal.

The bad news is that Essien is not going to play at the World Cup.  However the team is optimistic.  They were able to go to the Africa Cup Finals without their best players and were runners-up, so there are people to step up to the challenge.

Balls And Genethlia

Very eventful day today on  Court Philip Chatrier. Fed had no mercy for his countryman Wawrinka and has set up a quarterfinal with Soderling, and hopefully will get the better of him as he did in last year's final.  Soderling has never beaten him and I'm sure Federer would like to keep it that way. I also really don't like Soderling, he had always rubbed me the wrong way - his history with Nadal is long, and I'm still not recovered from him being Nadal last year and if Nadal can't avenge himself, I'm quite happy to have him Fed-Exed instead! Tsonga unfortunately had to retire, clearly the pain was too much to bear poor guy, hope he is able to recover in time for Wimbledon :(.  Doctors think it's his thigh, he has to go in tomorrow for tests to figure out exactly what he has done to it. Venus continues her bad luck at the French and went out in straight sets and Henin ended Sharapova's hopes.  I think it is time to spend less time thinking about outfits and more about tennis girls.  Venus seems more focused in the doubles, and her outfit is better there too!

Here is a transcript of Nadal's interview after his match yesterday.   He dismisses people talking about him being the kryptonite to Federer's Superman.  He has a great perspective, a good head on his shoulders. A champion already and set to be one of the greats in years to come, just like Federer.  He also excited about the World Cup and is of course supporting Spain (who I will be following as their play impressed me when they won Euro 2008). However I am all for an African country holding the trophy come July 11th. More to come on that later :)

Tomorrow we have Serena and Nadal up on Philip Chatrier.  I expect everything to go according to plan, today was enough craziness, my heart can't take it.

And here is something to ponder: If Marcos Baghdatis were a song he would be called Genethlia. Do with that what you will...It means birthday in Greek people! ;}  He also would be Wayne Rooney if he were a football player. Again do with that what you will....

A Little Rain, Lots Of Fire

Serena started off well, then seemed to have a brain fart in the second set and then came back to fighting form to make it through to the fourth round and Nadal had to battle "Never Say Die" Hewitt, wind and a little rain to make it through in straight sets.  I think this match was a good one for Nadal, the elements, Hewitt included, seemed to awaken the sleeping bull.  Even though he conceded more games, he definitely improved on his previous performances, despite the conditions.

The Lakers are the Western Conference Champions, after coming close to being scorched by the Suns.  This game reminded me why football and tennis are top on my list and I can only watch basketball during the play-offs.  This was a particularly dirty game. The Lakers had the upper hand from the start scoring the first point and by the 3rd quarter had a 15 point lead.  And then the dirtiness came.  Playing on rivalries with the Slovenians caused a flagrant foul against the Lakers' Slovenian dude that was then the catalyst that turned the game into a lot of fumbling on the Lakers part and a lot of bravado on the Suns' part. The Suns' Slovenian went on a scoring frenzy (which eventually made him too big for his britches and he started going for really ridiculous shots) and Lopez, an awkwardly tall dude, was being all "in your face" from the bench every time more points were added to the Sun's tally, lessening their deficit.  Kobe did not appreciate this chain of events, as he expressed in his interview on-court post-game.  If you hear he has been arrested for murder, there is evidence to show it was premeditated.

Steven Nash however was all class, trying to rally his team and Frye was awesome with his 3-pointers throughout the game.   Kobe may be an awesome player but when he scored that ridiculous 3 while being double-teamed, smacked Gentry on the butt and then put out his hands and glided towards the Lakers huddle after the timeout was called was just so crass.  Really! Really! I don't find that sort of conduct sportmanly.  And it got worse, especially at the end when it really got down to poor Grant Hill having to do the whole "yes  I know I'm pulling on your arm but I have to foul you Kobe" dance,  Gentry calling a timeout  to gain ground, Steve Nash hauling to the other end to try score a 3 or Kobe going up to foul line.  Such play just chops up the game, although not as badly as in American football (and don't get me started on that).  That last minute was really stretched into what felt like forever - it was excruciatingly painful to watch, not nail-biting like in game 5. The whole" in your face" things is a huge part of strategy but I think it takes away from the talent and fun of the sport. And timeouts really just break up the flow of the game - let them hash it out!  Like when Stoudemire scrambled for the ball and ended up on the floor, Gentry called a time out to save him from a travelling call -that seems like messing with fate man. It just puts a bad taste in my mouth. But I'm sure all the Lakers' care about is they had enough water to put out the fire the Suns' tried to start towards the end.

I am curious to see what the next chapter of the Celtics and the Lakers rivalry holds.  I just hope there will be less of all the bravado and more of just playing the game.  To get ready for the first game on Thursday, keep up-to-date here.

Which reminds me, I didn't really appreciate Hewitt in the game today - throwing out expletives, throwing his racquet and basically throwing tantrums.  Nadal was having to deal with the same conditions - get it together, just play the game man, just play the game. To make it worse Hewitt didn't get a warning, but Nadal did for time violation. Not a happy puppy about that.

This is completely unrelated but it really bothered me that Nadal was wearing his watch today while playing.  He never does that.  What does it mean?  As an admirer of his little quirks on-court I was quite perturbed by the whole thing - silly I know :}.  He usually puts it on after the game just before he signs the camera when he wins. But he had it on, and he didn't sign the camera until he was almost off the court.  At least it didn't affect his play.

Sharapova and Henin finish up tomorrow, followed by Federer and Tsonga, all on Court Philip Chatrier! YAY!

Tennis, Tennis And More Tennis :)

Nadal and Serena are through to the third round and Venus, Federer and Tsonga to the fourth! :)

Nadal played another solid game with moments of flair but it is clear he has not calmed those nerves yet. I am waiting to see him lasso his opponents into submission  with his forehand as he did in 2007-8, before the little blip that was 2009. As he said last year he was considered a fav and ended up losing so you never know- but he was injured last year and as he also said conditions were different you can't compare. It always amazes me how humble and human he is even though he has superhuman muscles, i mean talents he he he ;}  

Federer is not worried about the World Cup interfering with Tennis or Wimbledon, which I think is perfectly valid - that is what TiVO/ PVR or however you may refer to the device you use to tape tv while watching something else, is for.  Also I think they are scheduled at different times in the day. Federer is also confident he can win a second title, which is true to his style - cool and confident. I personally feel he needs to win against Nadal to really win the French Open in this era, because if Nadal makes it to the final and wins he will have never lost a final at the French and that's really saying something.  And it will remove any doubts that people have in Federer's win last year, which some attribute to him not having to play Nadal seeing he was trounced in the 2008 final - there was no contest, it was quite beautiful to watch.

A bit worried about Tsonga, most of his press conference was focused on pain. He had a back injury that had him pull out of Madrid and he had to fight through pain to get this win.  But I can't remember which sports player said this but they were like you are never 100%, you will always have a little niggle here and there so you need to know how to play through those to be a champion. And it seems he found a way to get to the next round, I hope he continues to progress, without pain prefereably...

I don't know what was going on with Venus's hair in her press conference but it is nice to see her relaxed and focused. At least she is not being distracted by the lack of focus on her game at the beginning of the tournament. I am glad Serena seems to have both her on and off-court game on because that is what I admire the Williams Sisters for - being able to be stylishly brilliant at tennis and life in general.  

Saturday is going to be a great day.  Serena followed by Nadal playing for a second day in a row due to the rain delay, as well as Henin going up against Sharapova! 

And the 6th game in the Western conference :)

French Open Update...

Rain caused delay, so Nadal didn't play today :( but that means that tomorrow is going to be great with him up first on Philip Chatrier and Tsonga to follow sometime in the afternoon, as well as Federer up second on Suzanne Lenglen, so it will be a great tennis day!!! :) So pray for NO RAIN!

Unfortunately true to form Monfils is out, I still hope that he fulfills his potential and then he lets me down :(.  Justine Henin and Serena Williams are also up too.

You can read a lovely article about Nadal's resurgence here. And here is a completely useless video of Tsonga.

Tennis And Basketball

Nadal made a good start today.  6-2,6-2,6-2 but don't be fooled by the numbers, he had to work harder than I'm sure he expected to "breeze" through to the second round.  I was very impressed by his opponent, the young Frenchman Gianni Mina, who eerily reminded me very much of his fellow countryman Gael Monfils.  Same body structure, same dressing, although now Monfils has been dropped by Nike.  The sleeveless shirt reminded me of what John McEnroe dubbed Nadal's "pirate" days.  He needs to go back to wearing the malanga mpamvu, which literally translated means showing power.  This conventionality of dressing he has employed in recent years after he became World no 1 is not on, and I liked the checked shorts he was wearing in the tournaments leading up to the French.  I digress. I was talking about Gianni Mina.

I just hope that Mina does not follow in Monfils footsteps and becomes all flamboyance and flash and no substance with the gifts bestowed upon him.  I had such high hopes for Monfils, who along with Tsonga showed a lot of promise.  Tsonga managed to make it to the top ten, while Monfils continues to lounge at the brink of greatness.   His mental game is terrible.  He clearly has the fire power and plays to be a greater player.  Instead he chooses to showboat, with unbelievable gets, tumbles to the ground, and ridiculous splits on hard courts to reach balls. Or he does the complete opposite, cowering in a corner when he should pounce and being aggressive when he should be cautious.  I hope that Mina only uncannily resembles him superficially.

I have now been sucked into the Western Conference play-offs and watched the Lakers lose to the Suns which now ties up the series at 2 apiece.  Kobe Bryant was not very nice in the conference following, and rightly so - the commentators were asking stupid, repetitive questions and clearly he was angry at the loss.  And he said that the team needs to defend and it's not about offense so many times really why ask the same question in a different way?! However, he said something with regards to something I always wonder about - the validity and virility of stats.  I mean some of them are really interesting but what does what happened in years before got to do with anything?!  Especially with teams because its not only a different set of circumstances, its also a matter of different players altogether.  When someone talked about how in game 5, the Lakers have put the pressure on in the last few years, Kobe completely dismissed them and said what happened before doesn't matter, its the present that he has to worry about, or something to that effect. The Suns are a powerful team and they can beat the Lakers so that should not be taken lightly. Which reminded me of Nadal and how he seems to play as if every point is in itself is the most important thing, he is able to shrug off the past so easily and never gets carried away into the future either, nor does he seem to think or care about what he has done before. He's a very in the moment kind of guy...Hence the post: Tennis and Basketball :)

Roland Garros - Roger Federer And Venus' Outfit

Unlike Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who had a horrible 5-set win in the first round :(, Roger Federer has started off the French Open in true defending champion style, breezing through his first round match.  He Fed-Exed his opponent back to Australia in straight sets: 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.

Federer is both a Swiss and South African citizen and it is quite clear that his je ne sais quoi is directly linked to his mother's South African blood ha ha ha ha! He has been active in promoting tennis in South Africa and his foundation currently has projects in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ethiopia as well as in Switzerland. I wonder if it is a coincidence that South African Airways is an official Sponsor of the ATP World Tour?

The Williams sisters are both off to a great start, with Venus causing a bit of a stir with her outfit. She seems to have raided Sharapova's wardrobe, she is usually bang on with her designs.  I don't understand the lace and why did she have to wear nude underwear, if she wore black she wouldn't have been looking like she was flashing everyone! I'm all about fashion, style as well as comfort on the court but this time you went too far, and being in France, the fashion capital of the world does not excuse your silliness Venus I'm afraid...

The French Open Starts Tomorrow :) - Jo Wilfried Tsonga

I'M SO EXCITED I JUST CANNA HIDE IT :)!  Roland Garros starts tomorrow!!!!!! We have an African connection staring off play with Jo Wilfried Tsonga last on Philip Chatrier (centre court) against some German I have never heard of.  Although he plays for France, he is half Congolese (DRC).  His father moved to France in the 1970s to play handball.  He plays with the a pendant with the African continent on it :).

Check out the video below.  Definitely has some African blood, he is all about colour and matching his skin tone and looking good on court ha ha ha...