French Open '09: Point by point coverage

[apocalipstick]

If I'm watching 'pova, I want her to lose. When I think about her objectively, I'm okay with a win.

[apocalipstick]

Uh....is Rafa starting out 0-40? Seriously?

Okay....Rafa won the next 5 points to hold.

Safin...SAFIN. What is he doing out there? I want to kick his butt.

[falafaclese]

Bracket Pool Update:

After the conclusion of the first round, ilsabing and agentx are tied for first in the ATP pool. I believe that mooncreek(?) leads the WTA pool. I've looked over how my bracket is shaking up, and things could get ugly. This has been a pretty good tournament so far though.

[lt]

Marat! Yikes.

[omophagia]

Admin, thanks for the reminder e-mail about these boards. I lost all my bookmarks in the Great Water-and-Laptops-Don't-Mix Debacle of 08, and it's been great to get caught up on the discussion here.

RG thus far? Despite the lack of major upsets, it's been a good ride, even if I've had to mute a good deal of the ESPN2 and TTC commentary.

Particularly after taking out Petrova today, I think Screamapillar has a great shot at the quarters. I'm no fan of her one-dimensional game or her on-court persona, but I definitely agree with the poster upthread who noted that it's nice to have someone on the WTA (besides the Williams sisters and, now that she has something to prove, Safina) who doesn't seem terrified by the very thought of winning a title or moving up a couple of spots in the rankings. I'm hoping that Clijsters, once she returns, has gained that kind of drive in her absence, since the number of head-cases on tour seems to have tripled while she was out.

I've resigned myself to the fact that Roger will likely lose to Beaker in the semis, assuming they both make it to that point, but I'm still holding on to my more-irrational-with-every-passing-day hope that he might actually win RG before he hangs it up.

Glad that I missed the cutoff for the Bracket Pool this time, since I had Safin reaching the quarters... Way to be, Marat. Or, just as grammatically correct: Way to be Marat, Marat.

[francienolan]

Is anyone watching/listening to the Safin match? He just had a nail biter of a hold to consolidate his 5th set break.

[skyz]

Venus is finally on! Just when I have to go to work. And it's raining. At least Rafa won and I think his pink shirt is growing on me.

[lt]

And on to a fifth set tiebreak we go. Wow, Marat. Try to make your last French Open interesting, why don't you?

eta: oopsie, forgot. No 5th set tiebreaks in Paris. I'm now listening on Roland Garros radio and is it weird that I always pronounce "swing volley" as "sehwiiiiiiing volley?" It's a baseball thing I guess.

eta2: DAMN!

[curlywhirly]

C'mon Venus! I was very worried about her facing Safarova and I was right to be. So. Nervous. I've got no dog in the Safin-Ouanna fight, even though Marat's my babe. I hope it goes forever! Marathon matches are crazy. The French will lose their minds if Ouanna pulls this out.

ETA he did it! Ouanna 10-8 in the fifth.

[mooncreek]

If I'm ahead in the WTA bracket, I certainly won't be after today. I had Petrova to the semis!

Down goes Marat.

[whyistherumgone]

Woohoo! Go Ouanna! I like that boy.

And how cute was Gael cheering him on?

And the best part is - No More Marat! I know I'm in the minority, but I don't care. Can't.stand.him. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

ETA:

May 27, 2009 18:57:01 GMT francienolan said:

I'm happy for Ouanna and the French fans... But PMac and Co. is 23 really considered young in tennis years?

I think it is. At least for male tennis players. I consider 23 young. 25 is kinda middle age. 27 and up is elder statesman.

All of that is a bit different for the women, I think. The women are middle age at 23. Elder states(wo)man at 25. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that the women seem to turn pro earlier.

[francienolan]

I'm happy for Ouanna and the French fans... But PMac and Co. is 23 really considered young in tennis years?

I don't think it was bad weather wise but it was late when Flav took Vee out last year...

ETA Play is suspended, so Vee won't go down in twilight...

[tikigirl]

It's truly amazing how many ways Marat can find to disappoint us.

Sharapova won? Fabulous. (/sarcasm) I too had noticed that MartinaN had taken up residence in her ass, and coincidentally, it's also the first time I felt that Martina was totally full of shit. Sharapova is a hard-core fighter, but on-court she is also a shrieking, delaying, petulant bitch. (I don't care how many players do it, the shrieking and grunting should be stopped.)

ESPN2 is showing Murray again -- apparently just to remind me of how they chose not to show two minutes of Santoro earlier. I'm so infuriated, I might watch a rerun of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" instead.

[lt]

ESPN2 is showing Murray again

I'm really happy about that actually because I don't get TTC and I really wanted to see Starace. I actually recorded ESPN2's coverage just to see a little Starace.

[tikigirl]

I'm getting a free preview of TTC throughout RG (I have Dish network, but not the package that includes TTC). Actually, I seem to get free previews of TTC during all the Slams. They're making it very easy for me not to upgrade.

I actually made good on my threat and am watching Law & Order. Sometimes I think the only reason I watch tennis is to enjoy the snarkentary here.

apocalipstick, thanks for the latest Santoro installment! They're all collected, with some extras, in a looooooooong post on the Haiku thread. People are going to start thinking we're crazy. Or have their suspicions confirmed.