Monthly Archive for May, 2010

The week that was

Published by Rebecca on May 31, 2010 in ATP and WTA. 0 Comments

It’s the second Monday of Roland Garros and there are a lot of matches to be played to decide the remaining lucrative quarter final spots. The top half of the ladies draw will be decided today, weather permitting, along with the bottom half of the men’s draw.

Andy Murray was forced to pack his bags a little earlier than he would have hoped after a strong performance by Tomas Berdych last night. It was too much to expect the Scot to come back from two sets down like he did in the first round, especially when the conditions weren’t great in the French Capital and the match was played late.

Murray waits for rain to pass during his fourth round match

Given that Venus Williams and her conqueror Nadia Petrova were modeling clothes from their winter collection in the middle of the day, I’m sure all Andy was thinking about was tucking up with a hot water bottle and perhaps a hot whiskey to ease the pain of the fourth round loss.

Roger Federer has set up a quarter final clash with Robin Soderling, a repeat of last year’s final whilst Justine Henin came through in three sets against Maria Sharapova. The women’s tournament remains as open as a can of worms on a fishing trip on the River Bann.

Surely though Justine must be motivated and content in the arena that has saw her raise the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen four times in the past. Serena may be attempting to go for the Grand Slam having won Australia but she will have to be more patient on the surface that she has only won once. 

There has been plenty of debate about the need for a roof over Court Philippe Chatrier after rain has caused havoc with the scheduling in the first week. I bet the top guys at Wimbledon are smirking as they look out at the shiny white roof on Centre Court.

It’s hard to imagine the French Open being played outside of Paris so clearly there are a lot of decisions to be made in terms of the future for Roland Garros. But that’s probably on the back burner until the tournament get through all the matches they need to over the next seven days…

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Novak does Gyspy, Love Game in Paris

Published by Peter on May 30, 2010 in Fun & Games and blog stuff. 0 Comments

Andy was funny but biggest joker on the ATP tour is definitley Novak Djokovic. Check out his take on Shakira’s Gypsy.

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Murray gets a little Eurovision Fever!

Published by Rebecca on May 29, 2010 in ATP and Fun & Games. 0 Comments

It’s become a bit of a tradition – but not the kind you would find at Wimbledon! Roland Garros provide a karaoke area for the players to chill out and try out a few tunes during the tournament. Over the past few years it has enterained fans with Novak Djokovic as ever always up for a laugh!

This is Andy Murray’s attempt to make it big in the music world- just in time for Eurovision this evening!! I’m sure you’ll all agree he should stick to the day job though!

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French Open Day 6

Published by Peter on May 28, 2010 in ATP. 1 Comment

A sunsoaked Roland Garros on Day 6

Rain rain go to Spain! Unusual for this time of year in Paris but the rain has wrecked the Roland Garros order of play and scheduling. Most of us spent yesterday glued to those green ‘ Wimbledon’ tarpaulins covering the courts, looking skyward wondering if we were ever going to see some play. Eventually we did, Andy managed to cruise the 3rd and 4th sets in his second round match against Juan Ignacio Chela and book a safe passage into round 3.

Ana Ivanovic’ fall from grace has accelerated of late, the 2008 Champion was humbled by Russian 28 seed Alicia Kleybanova 6-3 6-0, despite Ana having break points in every one of her opponents service games. I wonder will she ever reestablish herself in the top echelon of the women’s game. The Monfils Fognini match left so delicately poised at 5-5 in near darkness on Wednesday evening, resumed and despite the partisan home support La Monf lost 9-7 in the decider. Fernando Gonzalez last years semi finalist, was surprisingly beaten by Ukrainian Doglopolov Junior.

Rafa took to the court today and resumed were he had left off against Gianni Minna, winning 2-3-2 against fellow clay court specialist Horacio Zeballos. Big serving American John Isner was comprehensively beaten by Czech Tomas Berdych. More major shocks in the ladies draw, as 8th seed Aggie Radwanska beaten by little known Shevdova, Katerina Bondarenka and Vera Zvonareva also suffered defeats to lower ranked opponents.

Rafa is yet to drop a set

Stosur, Henin, Sharapova and Serena all made light work of their 2nd round opponents today, whilst Dementieva, Venus and Wozniacki all made serene progress into the last 16. Tie of the 3rd round for the ladies must surely be Justine Henin vs Maria Sharapova. The little Belgian must be favourite especially on clay, however on the back of winning in Strasbourg last week Maria is certainly not short on confidence.

Nadal faces off against Lleyton Hewitt in round 3. Fresh from his hip surgery in Febuary, Hewitt is eager to make up for lost time, but should prove no match for the might Matador Rafael Nadal on the hallowed clay of Philippe Chatrier. All the higher ranked players should make it through, will the majority of the clay court specialists still in the draw, there could be some very tasty 4th round ties come Monday!

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Paris Courture

Published by Rebecca on May 27, 2010 in Feature, Fun & Games and WTA. 1 Comment

Ok girlies, this one is for you! (Guys you can read this too, no one will ever know, honest!) Fashion Week normally hits Paris in March and September with Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Valentino and Givenchy all showcasing their latest couture designs on catwalks across the French capital.

This week it’s the turn of Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Lacoste, Fred Perry and Fila to take to the courts of Roland Garros with the world’s best tennis stars their models.

Now we at LOVEtennisBlog don’t profess to be fashion experts or super stylists but blame it on the impending release of Sex and the City 2 if you like (the movie is out on screens tomorrow!), we thought we’d look at the latest outfits and give them the once over.

La Vie En Rose

Plain Jane in Pink - Justine Henin

This classic French saying actually means life through rose coloured glasses, literally ‘life in pink’ which is exactly the colour Justine Henin and defending Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova have gone for in their bright Adidas and Fila outfits respectively.

Both girls are like Steffi Graf before them – a big if not predictable fan of the plain two-piece. No fancy frills or cut outs for these pair, oh no, they let their rackets do the talking and stick to t-shirts and skirts time after time.

Vogue – Strike a pose

The Williams sisters along with Maria Sharapova are at the other end of the scale when it comes to how they look on court. There is always a new bag for Serena, a new outfit Venus designed herself as she attempts to raise the profile of her own brand EleVen and new Tiffany designed earrings for lucky and lanky Miss Sharapova.

Serena this year in Paris has opted for my favourite colour – blue! Vibrant, full of life – a bit like the American herself then, the 2002 champion gets noticed in her custom made Nike number.

Venus sports her LBD whilst Serena goes for Bright Blue

Nike also has fashion-conscious Maria on their books and the two champions are never dressed alike, reflecting their individual style and preference. Maria’s Paris ensemble is a mix of and soft grey and deep burgundy to ‘compliment the clay courts of Roland Garros’. Nike’s words, not mine! Now although the wrap detail is quite nice, I’m not so sure about the colour mix. Hmmm, the fashion jury is still out on this one…

Sharapova's New Nike Dress

As every girl will know, when all else fails, stick to black. It’s the classic look that never dates. Venus models her very own little black number with an orange piping, perhaps relating to the colour of the court surface Miss Williams?

LBD Campaign

That leads me nicely to an idea I have to propose to the French Federation of Tennis. You all know that the All England Club at Wimbledon enforces an ‘all white’ rule for tennis players during The Championships. Now I’m aware of the complaints and the annoyance it causes to some of the players who hate to be told what to wear, but really it does look super smart against the crisp green green grass.

Soooo, I propose the FFT ask players to wear predominantly black outfits.

I remember back in the late 90s a host of tennis stars including Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Iva Majoli and Mary Pierce all wore black creations and they looked so sophisticated and striking against the bright red clay.

How special it would be for Paris to impose this new rule in the city which Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel herself gave birth to the LBD and Hubert de Givenchy designed many a little black number for Audrey Hepburn, the queen and perfecter of the Little Black Dress. Do I have any supporters behind me on this one?

Fabulous Frock Awards

Big upset by Dulko

Winner of the Fabulous Frock Award Giesla Dulko

Hold onto your handbags cause here come the awards! Yes, Mesdames et Messieurs, the LOVETennisBlog Fabulous Frock Award goes to (drum roll please) Giesla Dulko. Wearing the French label Lacoste, we couldn’t help but marvel at her chic classy navy shift dress with white piping. The epitome of cool, understated glamour on the court, we just had to salute her effortless style.

If the FFT don’t go for all-black rule, I would happily settle for an all-navy rule given the French Connection with all things navy and blue. LND doesn’t have the same ring to it I’m afraid, but we could work something out.

Alas with every winner must sadly come a loser (it’s the harsh world of tennis I’m afraid, I didn’t make this rule up). Now black and gold is normally an acceptable colour combination, screaming expensive taste but the worst dressed accolade just didn’t conform to Parisian grace and allure – this outfit simply screamed out ‘999’ to the French Fashion Police!!!

Winner of the Frumpy (what were you thinking) Frock Award - Aravane Rezai

She is French, she is a rising star of the clay court season this year winning the Madrid Open but Aravane Rezai ain’t winning no style awards in her two- piece so she goes home with the Frumpy (what were you thinking) Frock Award. It’s published here in black and gold for you all to see – am I being too brutal on my assessment? Let me know what you think out there.

That’s all for now my fashion friends, Au Revoir! Mwah Mwah!

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Roland Garros Wrap up

Published by Peter on May 25, 2010 in ATP and WTA. 0 Comments

Andy is top seed in Football Tennis

Day 3 of the French Open and all of the first round matches have been completed in both the mens and womens draws. First round shocks saw clay court favourites Tommy Boredo, Juan Monaco, Feliciano Lopez and hotshot from the European clay season Ernests Gulbis all defeated. Murray showed some enormous character, desire and hunger to come through against hugely talented and in form Richard Gasquet.

In the ladies draw, 10th seed Victoria Azarenka was the first major casualty, some had tipped her to go deep into the draw but she was demolished by mens favourite Gisela Dulko. Safina went out with a wimper against (80 year old) Kimiko Date Kim, not quite as old as that  but clearly had enough court craft to keep Dinara at bay. Spains Martinez Sanchez also slumped out against yet another Eastern European with a rather unpronouncable name. The womens is shaping up to be one of the most open events in years, nobody is putting their claim in for the title at this stage, it could be one of ten that could lift the trophy come Saturday week.

Round 2 sees quite a few big names face off. Alicia Kleybanova meets former winner Ana Ivanovic. Sharapova who was ever so impressive against Pervak faces up and coming Kirstin Flipkins, sure to be a good match. Maria is on a bit of a roll having won in a lower tier clay event last week. On the mens side, all the top guys have winnable matches, most of all Rafael Nadal who faces clay courter Horacio Zeballos. Andy Murray having beaten Juan Ignacio Chela in Madrid 2 weeks ago, again faces the Argetinian for a place in round 3. Check out the BBC website or eurosport for live coverage!

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Del Potroed!

Published by Peter on May 23, 2010 in ATP. 0 Comments

Juan Martin Del Potro dealt the tennis world a bombshell this week and it wasnt one of his devastating forehands either. He has decided to  miss the remaining three grandslams of the year as to allow a full and proper recovery from wrist surgery. The Giant Argentinian has been out of action since the Australian Open in January but had been expected to be back in action at the French Open. The injury mirrors Andy Murrays injury suffered on the clay courts of Hamburg when the young Scot had to miss RG and Wimbledon. Murray decided to err on the side of caution to allow a full recovery, but the power on Murrays forehand has never been the same since. Del Po has built his game around his solid forehand and when he returns hopefully in the Autumn he may have to change his gameplan somewhat to take all the pressure from his forehand.

Del Potro isnt the only tennis star injured at the moment and with Roland Garros beginning who knows what kind of state the runners and riders will be in as we enter the most congested period of the tennis calendar

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Encore Une Fois

Published by Rebecca on May 22, 2010 in Feature and Fun & Games. 0 Comments

“Mesdames, Messieurs, le disc-jockey Sash! est de retour…”

Besides being a massive and might I add mega dance tune, Encore Une Fois is also French for ‘Once Again’ and here we are, once again on the eve of Roland Garros. C’est magnifique!

Tour Eifel

The extent of my French in school that I can remember is: “J’mappelle Rebecca. J’habite in Irlande du Nord. Je joue au tennis.” Come to think of it my Spanish, which I studied to GCSE, isn’t hot either. Such a pity, I could converse with Rafa in his mother tongue if I had kept it up now…

I struggle whether the French Open or Wimbledon is my favourite Grand Slam. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to both and so can compare them like for like.

Paris is a beautiful city and I love the language even though I can’t understand it all. La Tour Eifel, La Seine, Montmartre, the Champs Elysees all major landmarks in what’s become one of the most romantic cities in the world. The mystique of another language, a city one is not familiar with and the desire to explore it more seems to rate higher than London, where the Cockney language and monologue although familiar is not near as appealing.

Paris, home to Chanel, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and the like, automatically means the style stakes are a little higher especially for the VIP box which always attracts an array of high profile and well tailored guests.

Paris Underground System, not a Womble in sight

The Bois de Boulogne in which the French Open Championships are played in is a beautiful ‘arrondissement’ (city district to you and me) that even got a mention in Audrey Hepburn’s classic film Sabrina.

Back to the tennis, j’adore watching tennis on the red dirt as some may call it. I love the long rallies it accommodates, the grueling environment that permits double digit shots to and fro players’ rackets. The tennis ball is taken on a crazy journey from corner to corner, sculpted into angles you didn’t think existed and then out of nowhere, the clever craftsman or woman yielding a racket decides to pull off a drop shot, forcing their opponent to race to the net or lose the point.

Men’s tennis is way more watchable on clay than on grass (I know plenty out there will disagree with me). At Roland Garros, the guys keep the ball in play more and it’s not a matter of ace-double fault-second serve- unreturned serve-ace-double fault!

French Legend Suzanne Lenglen and the court that bears her name

Even when the score is announced in French, it just seems so more glamorous and attractive than bog standard English. One can watch a match and drift off into another little world as the umpire calls out ‘quinze-quarante’ and ‘egalite’.

Perhaps Paris holds a special place in my heart because that’s were I won my first Grand Slam– hadn’t you heard?! Oui, it was wii buns for me few months back. Roland Garros is possibly my favourite Slam on the Grand Slam Wii game, it’s were I seem to play my very (Wii) best.

I beat Martina Navratilova in the quarters, Serena Williams in the semis and Justine Henin in the final. It was a tremendous tournament that sadly none of my family were there to experience (my Mum was too busy in the kitchen eating her dinner, more appealing than watching her daughter compete at such high virtual level but I managed to get photographic evidence to prove I did in fact win).

Step aside Svetlana, there's a new ladies champion in town!!

Thankfully the real deal in Jankovic, Henin, Serena & Venus Williams, Kuznetsova, Azarenka and Rome Winner Martinez Sanchez are all in the draw for the 2010 title.

Long Rallies, French fans shouting ‘Allez’, croissants, frequent views of the Eifel Tower, the mouth-watering would be battle between Rafa and Roger and the hope of another dramatic ladies final (a la Martina Hingis & Steffi Graf 1999), what can I say?

Without sounding too much like a Teletubby: Encore Encore!!

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French Open Poll

Published by Peter on May 19, 2010 in ATP. 0 Comments

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Rafa and Roger, the verdict!

Published by Peter on May 18, 2010 in ATP. 2 Comments

So the tennis purists got their Federer Nadal final and a good final it was at that. Federer showed that he still has the hunger and desire to keep on winning and if anything the man that is driving that is Rafael Nadal. Nadal has had a new lease of life this clay court season, winning his 18th Masters 1000 event in total and 3rd in a row, an incredible feat considering his injury trouble and personal family problems last year. Surely Nadal must now be considered favourite to lift the Roland Garros title in 3 weeks but it sure wont be easy. I was surprised ( on current form) that Federer wasnt simply steamrollered by Nadal. The matches tend to follow a pattern, points in Nadal and Federer matches are played like chess, Nadal peppers Federers backhand, Roger looses patience and makes an approach to the net with a hard flat groundstroke and seemingly from nowhere Nadal scrapes the ball past a dispairing Federer. If only Roger would learn, but in the same situation we would probably make the same mistake ourselves. Its very easy to be an armchair critic watching these matches easy to point out the obvious, if only it were as simple.

Who is likely to challenge the established order at Roland Garros this year? There is a strong Spanish challenge in JC Ferrero, David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco all at their most effective on the red clay. Big serving americans Isner and Querrey have had a good season on the dirt thus far and with that in mind could go deep into the draw. Cilic is a guy who has as yet failed to make any impact on the bigger Masters series events, many have been tipping this guy for superstardom, similarly built to Delpo but with a more all round game, surely he must start doing the business soon. Latvias Gulbis could also do damage having had high profile wins lately against Federer and taking Nadal to 3 in Rome. Murray is coming to the boil just nicely and with the absence of several high profile clay courters such as Gonzo and Delpo a lucky draw could see him make the semis even the final, but a win in Roland Garros would certainly be a distant possibility. A question mark also surrounds Djokovic, having pulled out of his Belgrade semi with hayfever and then the subsequent event in Madrid, what kind of shape will he be in, not having played a game in several weeks…….

Check out our poll tomorrow pick your winner of Roland Garros 2010

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