Booh yeah! Mighty Swiss!

Roger and his Davis Cup team caught singing after their round win over the Italians last week end...



O_O

Dinara Safina defeats Victoria Azarenka in 2009 French Open quarters : 1-6 6-4 6-2

Couldn't follow any RG match entirely today because of a busy schedule but managed to see Safina's last set against Belarus Azarenka. Dinara's serve today is the most beautiful I've seen in a long time on the women circuit. Funny because it so widely contrasts with her waddly grumpy grandma style. Seriously, that girl is a work of art. She just doesn't want to walk with her feet parallel and let her stiff hunched shoulders go down and relax, does she? ... That's her, two months ago, caught practising and doing her thing.

:O

Un petit message, vite fait, qui ne prétend ni ne veut rien, juste pour dire qu'un drôle de vent souffle sur le court central, décidement...

Rodg vient de l'emporter face à Tomi Haas. C'est comme si il avait joué contre lui deux matchs de suite. L'un perdu en deux tie-breaks, l'autre mené 6/4, 6/0, 6/2. Une pensée pour Tomi qui a visiblement perdu pied dans le troisième set, malgré sa belle première partie de rencontre. Le mérite revient toutefois à Rodg pour s'être engouffré dans une brèche comme il l'affirmera plus tard devant le micro de France 2 et Nelson Monfort.

A présent je ne pense qu'à une chose. Rodg est en quart dans un Roland Garros sans Rafa ni Djoko! Ouh la la. On se calme...

Un dernier mot pour conclure sur une note un peu plus studieuse.
Je ne sais pas pour vous mais pour moi, le temps des crocodiles semble révolu ou du moins plus tout à fait de saison. Je me souviens il y a dix ans que peu de gens misaient sur la réussite des spécialistes de surface rapide ou de dur sur la terre parisienne. Aujourd'hui quand j'observe Soderling, Monfils, Rodg et même Rafa qui est parvenu à se hisser jusqu'au sommet à Wimbledon l'an dernier, je me dis que tout est possible. Et que Agassi sera peut être un jour rejoint au Panthéon des détenteurs de Grand Chelem.

The knee strap was gone. So was his game...

I knew I wouldn't resist the temptation of reviewing a Roland Garros match this year. What I would never have thought though is that my first entry on this blog would be dedicated to Rafa. Yes, I have to admit it took me years to appreciate him and yet only a split second of a glimpse at him during a press conference interview, to fully understand that not only had I been ignoring pure racket genius but also a monster comedian talent. A comedian talent upon which I hope I am gonna dwell much longer in a future post. In the meantime...

... Sunday, May 30, 2009. My initial plan was not to watch TV but I eventually turned it on after lunch break, to find myself trapped in a match that was taking place on Philippe Chatrier. Let's say as an excuse that something called me, because something was happening there, obviously. It seemed on the paper like any other regular Rafael Nadal appearance on clay, expect that it wasn't. Swedish player Robin Soderling was indeed the one holding conversation and given their last meetings, he was certainly not up to any good and proved it by distillating some rather naughty shots.


Many might have noticed already that Soderling-Nadal is an implosive combination, which very often resumes off the court in interviews boxes.
When asked to explain the frequent friction between the two after their third-round encounter at Wimbledon two years ago, Rafa told the journalists Soderling had scant regard toward his opponents and ignored the number one rule of sportmanship, using the example from the match where he stumbled and fell on the ground, and where Soderling simply omitted to apologize or peek over the net to check if everything was alright. To which Soderling would reply he did not see why he would feel sorry for winning a point.

This is what a Soderling-Nadal show is about and today's episode at Roland Garros was just another sequel. With the result we all know. Rafa lost, for the first time in four consecutive years. I could describe how Soderling obstinantly cornered his opponent to knock on his weakened backhand. I could also elaborate on Uncle Toni's shrugging post-match comment, stating that his protégé was just starting to learn how to lose, but something else got all my attention. Nadal's white knee strap.Or should I say its absence, which had been discussed quite a lot since the beginning of the tournament and had me wondering as I watched him stagger and hop hesitantly on several occasions during the match. Maybe the removal of his long-time fetish was a little premature. Just like the spreading rumours of his however predictable decline...