French Open '12: Point by Point Coverage

[breezybee]

I didn't realize Hewitt was playing the tournament. I guess he wants an Olympic slot too. He's only 31 but it feels like he's 40 he's been around so long.

I've never been a Hewitt fan but have grown a grudging respect for him in his later years and quite honestly I just wish he'd retire. It reminds me of Andre in his later years. It pains me to see him constantly injured. His body just keeps breaking down.

I have to go out of town for a few days. Don't know if I'll see any tennis or not but I'm not leaving until tomorrow morning after Feli's match! Out of curiousity I'd like to see the "feel good story" Brian Baker's match but I don't know if that's a televised court. It would be hilarious if he was the last American standing.

[mooncreek]

If we're going at tennis kits, can we start with the mint-green-and-bright-orange on Ivanovic? I don't remember seeing any other female adidas players today so I fear how many will be wearing that color combo in the next two days.

As for fit, I have two words: Ormaechea's Boobs. Also, I've hated the fit on everything Stosur has worn since switching to Asics.

Baker/Malisse is on Court 6. Tennis Channel listed the match in its coverage for tomorrow but I'm not sure that's normally a televised court.

ETA: Just woke up to an interview with Lauren Davis. How on earth does Mona Barthel get blown out by a twelve year old? All 7 American women have won - with Serena and Varvara yet to play.

[lt]

Poor Feli! Hopefully he'll be better for the grass but a "side muscle strain" (I'm guessing oblique?) will be a terror for him and how he plays.

Just woke up to an interview with Lauren Davis.

And Chris Evert continues her WTF'ery--"I'm still stunned she won." WHAT!?! Right in front of the girl too. But, boy, did Davis drink the "how to answer questions with non-speak" kool-id because *yawn* there was just nothing to work with there. "I've got a big heart." "I have passion for the game." She came to life when thinking about getting to play soccer with Rafa though. I want to see more of that.

The world is ending--I agree with PMac about something. Potito Starace is indeed the best name to say. Of course I love Starace for that grand Roman nose as well though. I do wish he'd follow JCF and get rid of the headband--they both have too small heads for that thing. Oh, and I also agree that it's nice not to have to look at Djoker's dragon pjs.

Isner: am I currently angry with my look-alike sales guy? Nope. So, Go John!

eta: oh, apocolipstick, one thing in Djoker's favor about his name on his ass--it isn't on the shorts, it's on the shirt. Less trampy, more odd.

What color is Mattek-Sands hair? And is that a long extension braid?

[skyz]

I read that Barthel was injured. Of course I didn't see the match. Sloane Stephens is playing right now too and won the 1st 6-4 over Makarova. Good showing for the American women right now.

It's shocking not to see Nole in his pajamas and in regular tennis clothes.

And I just read that Serena and Bob Bryan are playing in the mixed doubles here. Will be interesting if it's true.

[lt]

They were just talking about Mattek-Sands having hip surgery so I looked up to see what it was: (NY Times)

but then she needed hip surgery to repair a torn labrum, bone spurs and floating cartilage.

That's the exact same hip surgery I had in December--woo hoo! So I've got to choose between the player who has my hip and the player who has my GF intolerance. What to do? Well, I guess since this is the end of tennis on my TV I should root for Lisicki to win this set so I can get to watch some more.

Darn it all. TTC's stream is not available to me. I should get it the rest of the week when I'm at work but those smart programmers know I'm coming from a Cablevision household here.

On court 6 Anderson is finally serving for the match at 10-9 in the fifth.

Because I have no clue, when does the US have to choose their Olympic players for the women? It's on grass but I'm guessing they can't wait until Wimbledon to see who has the hot hand on grass. Is it straight ranking plus Fed Cup participation? Something else?

eta: Hey, for those people with DISH who don't have TTC (Tiki, you there?) you've free preview for the length of the French. Looks like it's on channel 400.

[skyz]

Looking at the ITF website there are two dates, lt. No later than June 14th for direct acceptance due to computer ranking. Then no later than June 21st for the countries to submit a list of their players for singles and doubles.

[falafaclese]

Our BFF Sloane won her first round match against Makarova in straight sets, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won hers too. They'll be playing each other in the next round. Bethanie said Sloane's forehand and serve are her tough shots. For some reason I thought Sloane's serve wasn't as big as the rest of her game, but i must be wrong.

I like them both, so it will be hard to root too hard for anyone. One thing's for sure, it will be an athletic match on both sides of the net.

[apocalipstick]

Novak's name is clearly on his butt in this photo, not on his shirt.
dailychuckle.typepad.com/tennistoday/2010/02/novak-djokovic-has-his-name-on-his-butt.html

Has he changed it up? Did he just get his own name tattoo-ed on his ass with roses with thorns entwined around it? Is an upper pec butterfly soon to follow?

Poor Feli. He's not terribly strong on clay. I want him to be healthy for the US hardcourt season.

Ryan Harrison was doing so well and then he just lost it at the end of the second set. He's broken in the first game of the third though. Maybe he can turn it around. They are showing Baker on TTC but I'm getting no sound. I get sound on 707 though. Weird. He's up a set. Sweet.

The American women make the American men look weak. Those women go out their and jam out with their clams out. Agree about Lauren Davis. She's about 12 and a reedy looking 12 at that. Total snore of an interview until talking about playing soccer with Rafa.

My unexplainable crush, David Nalbandian, lost. Remember when everyone though he was the man to challenge Federer?

When did Radwanska get to number three? Good for her. I remember that USO a couple years ago when she totally psyched out Maria by stepping inside the baseline when expecting the serve. Maria totally fell apart. I know she's known for being a fighter, but I just can't forget how easily a young Polish girl was able to rattle her. She looked pretty fragile that day. I remember her father, the douche, got up and left the match it was so bad.

I like the mint green and orange kits. I would never wear either color, but it looks fresh and springy and is a play on the red/orange clay and green backboards of the tournament. I also like the fit of it. I do think it would look good against a blue hardcourt though.

[mooncreek]

Now we know what's the story with Mardy Fish. Let's just say that I think I'll take the mono over that. Scary stuff.

[falafaclese]

May 28, 2012 17:25:38 GMT apocalipstick said:

Those women go out their and jam out with their clams out.

Haw!! This is now my own personal theme for the 2012 French Open! How have I gone this long without having heard this? I wonder if Serena would have said this if she had thought of it when she was giving the men the piss for complaining about the blue clay in Madrid? Apoc, did I mention that I'm glad to have you back?

When did Radwanska get to number three? Good for her. I remember that USO a couple years ago when she totally psyched out Maria by stepping inside the baseline when expecting the serve. Maria totally fell apart.

2007. I remember, because I was in west Africa at the time, and when I checked the results at the internet cafe, I thought maybe I'd been bitten by something obscure and tropical.

I was glad to see that Na Li blew through her first match. Cristea could have been a problematic first match for her, but she seemed strong.

Ps. Speaking of Madrid, it's ABSOLUTELY much easier to see the ball on blue clay. I keep losing it in the back court on these long rallies .

[GrandSlamGuru]

Nice win for Baker. Roddick who?

[mooncreek]

Ever since he got the US wild card, my simple hope was that Baker would get a match on the main stage at RG. He's far surpassed that as we all now know but that's been accomplished as well - he's won his first round match and will get Simon next. Given Harrison should have gone up 2-sets-to-none on Simon but self-destructed, well, it could get crazy.

[chocula]

As soon as I heard that Fish had a heart problem, I figured it was some kind of an arrhythmia. From the article, I gather it was something called "Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia" which just means that he had sudden episodes of rapid heart rate not precipitated by exercise.

It's fairly common in athletes, and in particular, in athletes who have had a relatively acute change in weight or cardiovascular fitness. (We typically see it in very thin Gymnasts and Dancers, who have recently undergone significant weight loss). The change in weight/cardiovascular fitness along with electrolyte imbalances can unmask the small anatomic aberrations that can cause these types of arrhythmias. In most young people, it's typically not dangerous or life-threatening, but because it causes so much distress and anxiety, it's treated nonetheless.

It sounds like the hospital decided to both definitively diagnose and treat Mardy with a pretty simple procedure that loops a wire through the groin up into the heart. They then give a local chemical in the heart to try to induce the arrhythmia and localize it, then they treat it by "zapping" the aberrant tissue pathway.

It's a surprisingly simple procedure with almost no recovery time, so Mardy could be back playing as early as Wimbledon, or even earlier.

I'm not a big Fish fan, and I respect Llubicic a lot, but I have to agree with Fish that Lluby needs to shut it about the Americans and the Euro Clay court season. Yes, the Americans suck on Clay and don't treat the Clay season very seriously, but it's also legitimate for players with niggling injuries or sickness to decide to take time off during the weakest part of their year to take care of their body.

[lt]

It's fairly common in athletes, and in particular, in athletes who have had a relatively acute change in weight or cardiovascular fitness.

Yeah for having a doc in the house! Thank you, chocula for the very helpful info. Mardy did have quite the swing in weight a couple of years back. I'm glad it isn't a super-serious situation and that he can come back without repercussions. I'm guessing it will take a while and a lot of convincing that he's okay 'cause it's scary when your heart does stuff you aren't expecting it to do.

My issue with the whole Americans-on-clay thing is that if they won't compete on clay then they can't expect to have American players get to the top of the sport again.

[apocalipstick]

I did not coin the phrase "Jam out with my clam out." I just like it a lot. It's the female equivalent of "Rock out with your cock out." I'm glad to be back.

I do feel bad for Mardy even though I still loathe him and his stupid short socks. Just because I think he sucks as a human being and is a poor ambassador for the sport doesn't mean I want him to have health issues. A good friend of mine had a similar issue and her surgery took 9 hours. Very scary.

I think most twitter comments are stupid and ill-advised. Twitter makes it way to easy to shoot off your mouth and have the world know. The US is so far away from having a legitimate No. 1 threat because of the emphasis on hard court play and the "home run" serve. Europe and South America are well-served by the emphasis on foot sports, leading to stronger foot work skills. I know there are lots of different ideas on how the US should bring up new players. I'm not saying I have a plan. I just think what we are doing isn't working. Part of me thinks that as a culture, we don't appreciate the long, steady climb to the top involving hard work. Instead we want a fantasy rise to the top based on an insane amount of talent like a movie. You don't build a great tennis player with a montage. Or perhaps I'm just miffy because I went to a sports bar for dinner, may have been getting hit on by the waiter and when I said something about them not having the French Open on he said, "What's that?" Waiter. At a sports bar. Didn't know what the French Open is. The stupid. It burns.

Moving on, can someone shove one of Lauren Davis's sweat, clay stained socks in Chris Evert's gaping piehole?

I do love Vee's dress. So much better than her lingerie-inspired looks of years past.

Yay for Brian Baker.

I want Roddick to retire. He's working himself into health issues. He looks thin and sickly. Sure, I mock his balding, but he's looking like an extra in the Walking Dead lately.