French Open '12: Point by Point Coverage

[breezybee]

I too am a fan of Almagro's although since I'm a fan of all the Spanish players that isn't a big stretch.

I just read this blurb, from Tennis.com about my favourite Spanish player the wee Ferru and it appears he is getting married!

After he finished his fourth-round win over Marcel Granollers, he scrawled a little more than a hasty autograph on the lens of the courtside cameraman. When asked what he wrote, he replied:

"What I wrote was 'happy birthday.' It's my fiancée's birthday"

"Like Rafa?" someone asked—

"No," Ferrer quickly shot back. "Rafa was yesterday. You know, I like Rafa very much . . . but not that much."

[harry24]

"What I wrote was 'happy birthday.' It's my fiancée's birthday"

"Like Rafa?" someone asked—

What was the "someone" getting at with "Like Rafa?"

[francienolan]

Jun 6, 2012 17:07:26 GMT harry24 said:

"What I wrote was 'happy birthday.' It's my fiancée's birthday"

"Like Rafa?" someone asked—

What was the "someone" getting at with "Like Rafa?"

The interviewer thought he was referring to Rafa's birthday, which was day before.

Funny that the weather in Paris has looked like what is happening here in FL today. Except I doubt the humi1dity or temps are in the same neighborhood!

[lt]

That was a weird question from the person who asked him that. But congrats to Ferrer--if this is her, she's purty.

[breezybee]

I can't open your link lt but she is very pretty. I've seen her at some of Ferrer's matches. She's not always there because she's an eye doctor or something and has to stay home and work sometimes I would guess.

[francienolan]

I don't think I've ever seen Ferrer's gf so thanks for pic LT

And I took ESPN's coverage off of mute so I'm listening to JMac criticism of Muray's CA slide. A term I immediately understood but had never heard before.

Pam is asking "What man before Murray faced such pressure at Wimby?"...I'm no tennis historian, ala Bud Collins , but really Pammie?

[lt]

hitting the sauce again, isn't she? Meanwhile, Tim (and all those before him) have just slapped themselves sharply across the face.

The radio folk were saying that if Ferrer makes it to the semis it will be the 2nd longest it has taken any player to make it that far at the French. (The longest was Gomez--who did go on to win one.) That tells me two things: 1) Although I'm kinda rooting more for Andy, I'm going to cheer happily for David if he wins and 2) David has been around for a very long time.

In the end, I just want the person who can beat Rafa to win this match and I just don't know who that would be, if it is even either of them.

eta: congrats to David! I hope he gets into the finals and his fiancée comes to the match. Yeah! Since I'm watching the EuroSport feed I now get Game, Set, Mats. I love Game, Set, Mats.

eta2: Roger is visiting the set! Whheeeeeeee

[chestylarue]

I don't see any outcome except Nadal winning but I hope that Almagro has a moral victory He has really grown on me over the last couple of years. He seems fit and committed and I hope it continues to pay off for him

I am a big Nico fan as well. He gave a very candid and honest interview about Davis Cup last year that was quite impressive.

I could only listen to the match but it sounds like he played quite well in the first set and he did push Rafa harder than anyone else did. It is a pet peeve of mine when Spanish players get slagged for getting beaten by Rafa on clay when just about everyone else gets beat by him too.

I love that JCF is a mentor of Nico. Nico was watching JCF paly Fed (in I think Rome) and it was adorabler. Nico was about five seats away from Mirka during the match and he looked all nervous and biting his nails during the match while Mirka looked totally non-plussed.

And after JCF retires it would be great if he could somehow be on Nico's team becaue I want to see JCF's face on my tv screen whenever possible. I think with each passing year he gets even more handsome.

Speaking of Spaniards- I am so happy for Ferru in reaching the semis! Woot! He really has been one of the best clay court players this year. I like Murray but I totally wanted Ferru to win this.

brezzybee- have you seen some of the other quotes by David this week- adorable:

Ferrer has said, “Every year I try to improve my personality,” and that if writers want to call him “Little Beast,” that’s OK, “but my name is David Ferrer.”

[falafaclese]

Jun 6, 2012 22:21:47 GMT chestylarue said:

Speaking of Spaniards- I am so happy for Ferru in reaching the semis! Woot! He really has been one of the best clay court players this year.

I'd even say he has been top three on clay for the past 3 years. Last year in particular, he kept on running up against Rafa and losing, but other than that he was pretty unbeatable on clay. I almost always root for him, and even if he's paying a favorite of mine, I can never really root against him.

[chestylarue]

Adding to my earlier praise of Almagro- I have really enjoyed his pressers this tournament and I liked this comment after today's match.

Almagro was asked by the Spanish press afterwards if he threw in the towel after losing such a tight first set.

“If I dropped the gloves in a quarterfinals in Roland Garros, I deserve to go back to school,” Almagro responded. ”When Rafa starts attacking he’s an excellent player. When he’s dominating, he knows the game perfectly. But me dropping the gloves? No way. At no stage.”

The little meathead is all growned up!

As for the women- I keep switching around who I want to win. At this stage I would be sad for any of them who lost. Maria is not my favorite tennis player but my respect for her has grown in leaps and bounds with the way she has come back from her surgery a few years ago. I like Petra and her dorkiness off the court- she just seems like she is very down to earth. I think Sam has the best game on clay when she is clicking. And I tend to like the scrappers and Errani is a scrapper. Plus- she has inspired me to wear a headband when working out- which is so much better at holding back hair in the ponytail than the bobby pins I was using.

[harry24]

I want to see JCF's face on my tv screen whenever possible. I think with each passing year he gets even more handsome.

I second this. I think I've said this on this site before, but I can totally see JCF in a portrait by Velazquez (whose birthday is today). In fact, I can imagine almost any of the Spanish players portrayed by Velazquez. Although they might not look quite as purty, they all are so interesting looking too that they'd make great subjects.

[oopssorry]

Sad that I have to miss the women today.

Amen to the JCF choir.

[francienolan]

Considering the weather you might not miss anything oops
I would be ok with anyone winning ( I really miss rooting against Henin ) but my order of preference is Petra, Errani,Stosur, Maria
And I would be thrilled if Ferru downed the two Goliaths in his way!

[lt]

And I would be thrilled if Ferru downed the two Goliaths in his way!

And I would even go so far as to say that even if he met my precious Roger in the final I might root for David (maybe, I'd figure that out when the match started).

Rain, ooh boy, rain. Lots of it today. Even if they do get play, the conditions are going to be ridiculously heavy. The radio guys were saying the only Errani of the four women would want to play today because the other three need some more speed in their court to do well.

Filling in the rain delay time the radio folk aired some John McEnroe interview stuff and if he cannot get over his personal history with Lendl he needs to stop talking about him. He said that Andy not doing well is because Andy needs to scream at his box but since he can't with Lendl he can't release the pressure.

Oh, Roger said something very pro-Nole in his interview on Game, Set & Mats: that between him, Rafa and Novak all going for records in this tournament it is Nole going for the Novak slam that is the most impressive. He said that both he and Rafa tried for it and came up short so if Djoker can do it, that would be incredible.

eta: oh, wait. . . they're playing!

[francienolan]

I said it yesterday and will say it again, this heavy rain followed by sun is very FL like!

Errani is holding her own and then some! Wonder if she had a chat with Schiavone

I would love to see a new Men's champ which given the number of years I have adored Fed surprises me.

ETA Must call my Dad so we can have a chuckle over the continued bad blood between JMac and Lendl, at least on JMac's end. My dad was a big Lendl fan and always despised the behavior of Connors and JMac.

And Jimmy's son is on twitter trash talking Murray, which is his right. But it always rankles me when sons & daughters of privilege are catty. Which is my right