Sunday, June 2, 2013

Paris Pondering





Wonder if she knows about Rafa's football connections and that he is really just a tennis leftie.





They just happen to be ranked in the two spots ahead of her boyfriend. Also this happened.... yes that would be Benoit Paire himself retweeting it.



Bold choice Andy. 

While he has been away from Paris Andy Murray won the first week with his tweets. He is a Aga fan, possibly invented the hashtag of the year, complained about commentators . Which lead me to the conclusion is really bored sitting in home or he is just letting his inner tennis dork free while he can. 


I am still not sure if he confused Ula with Aga here but maybe the ninja skills are genetic. Also blonde Aga confuses things. 


He really goes wild on Saturday night

  • Extended fifth sets are not a Grand Slam problem. It is a John Isner playing Grand Slam tennis problem. That is two years in a row that he has lost in an extended fifth set at Roland Garros alone. 
  • Tennis coverage on weekends & holidays (Memorial & Labor Day) is rough. They show what they think will catch the casual viewers eye. It is unfortunate for the hardcores but they do what they think will make them the most money. If you pay for tennis tv, tennis channel or possibly both and for those few hours that the Slam is getting national network tv exposure then I really don't think the tennis gods will smite you if you pop open a stream to watch a match or two. Yes it is not ideal but it is a better use of the time the match is on to be using a yes somewhat shady resource to get to watch what you want. 
  • Serena is looking amazing so far but the quarterfinals are the obstacle that has stopped her from adding to the only single trophy in her Grand Slam collection. She faces Sveta next who beat her in this very round on the way to winning in 2009. Will there be a different outcome Tuesday? 
  • In Rafa's first two matches especially he has not had the edge that he usually does and there have been some unexpected happening for someone who has won an event seven times but of one who is coming back from a extended break from the game. When he stepped on the court Monday he had not been on the grand slam stage in eleven months. Do the reaction to the results have more to do with where they are happening rather than what actually happened? Say that this was the US Open, would you look at Rafa dropping a set to Brands and in real threat of going down two sets to love in the first round with the same shock. Then in the second round again losing the first set to Klizan another hard hitter who he had never faced. In a way it takes me back to Wimbledon 2011 Serena in her first Slam back from her long heath battle and to my memory the talk was that she was going to come back and win "because she is Serena", "because its Wimbledon". Which while I think it was a good for them to time their come backs before their most successful Slams. It makes the expectations seem even greater because of the history they have at these events. There were improvements in the Fognini match and he can only improve and gain rhythm going into the second week. The sun is all expected to be shining on Monday at least. 
  • This is shaping up to be the year of the 30- something Tommy. Both Haas & Robredo are through to the quarterfinals.