The French Open

[AIWANNABE]

to all those tennis fans out there! The French Open is now upon us and we have some early upsets. Headlines so far include:

Blake continues comeback
Injured Agassi falls, gutsy Sharapova survives
Henin-Hardenne, Safin battle through
Roddick easily into second round
Davenport, Clijsters cruise to victories
Federer, Nadal ease in
Defending champion Myskina sadly flames out
Henman returns victorious

Sad to see Agassi out, and not surprised to see Myskina out. I wish Sharapova was out and am glad to see the two Belgiums back. Sad that Serena is out because I would like all the big guns to be playing.

ETA: Really sad to see Ai Sugiyama and Paola Suarez.

[Mariner]

Thanks for starting the thread. Damn I forgot to watch this morning while I was getting ready for work.

[Critical]

I completely forgot! Thanks for starting the thread AIWANNABE! Now I have to remember to turn it on at whatever weird time it's being aired here!

I'm actually not unhappy that Serena is out. I don't really care for the Williams sisters. I like watching tennis matches that aren't just two baseliners whacking the ball back and forth. Plus, at the French, on clay, players like Serena and Venus don't do as well because you do have to have a bit of finesse and know how to serve and volley. My mom used to do business with Lindsey Davenport's dad, so I usually root for her.

The French is usually pretty hard to call (especially since Steffi retired). The winner is often someone that most American's haven't even heard of. Clay court success is how all the players from Spain and South America get up into the top ten. They win the French and then they're out in the first round of Wimbeldon (my personal fave of the Grand Slams). As long as it's exciting, I really don't care who wins. I do enjoy it though, when the "wealth" is spread around. It's no fun to watch the same person win everything, imo.

I miss the days of Martina and Steffi and Becker and Edberg. *sigh* Boris Becker had really great thighs

[Mariner]

Looks like it is on ESPN2 at 7:00 am PDT tomorrow. Davenport was looking a little shaky on clay from the highlights I saw. Mary Carillo was predicting she'd lose soon at the French but win Wimbledon. Apparently, Lindsay didn't play any of the warm up clay court tournaments.

[Critical]

Yeah, I think a lot of the older players have trouble on clay because of the toll it takes on the ankles, knees and hips (as well as back). Davenport's tall too, so that's a lot of body to be sliding around the court! I'd love to see her win Wimbeldon one last time so she can really go out on top. She said last year that it would be her last season. I'd be surprised if she didn't leave the game this year.

[Mariner]

Woot! Rafael Nadal and his 1950's pedal pushers are back. He could very well win this tournament as he's very comfortable on clay. If he wasn't young enough to be my son, I'd add that he's hot. Lindsay Davenport is in trouble in the second round. She's down a set and down 3 games to one in the second. Maybe Mary Carillo will prove to be right.

[AIWANNABE]

Some higher ranked players who were eliminated day 3:

Tim Henman
Shinobu Asagoe
Karolina Sprem

In round round Kim C. and Lindsay D. may be facing off. That should be a good match.

[AIWANNABE]

All of the American men are already out. I am happy to see number 2 seed Andy Roddick eliminated. He lost in a fifth set after winning the first two. I am quite upset to see James Blake out after 5 sets. He also won his first two sets. There were no big upsets on the woman's side.

Some good matches coming up. If Davenport wins her next match she will either be facing Hantuchova or Clijsters. Mary Pierce () will be facing Vera Zvonareva. And if both Henin-Hardenne and Kuznetsova win their matches they will face each other.

Hope everybody is enjoying!

[AIWANNABE]

Today was my first chance to catch some live matches, and they all have been great. No big upsets on the men's side with Federer, Moya, and Nadal all advancing. I was able to catch Nadal's match and he is quite impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if he won the whole thing.

On the woman's side both Kim and Lindsay won their matches meaning that they will play each other next round. Last years runner-up Elena Dementieva won her match and Elena Likhovtseva (16) beat Silvia Farina Elia (18).

Currently Venus lost the first set to 15 year old Karatantcheva. Venus just seemed out of it first set. She had 23 unforced errors, 6 double faults, and only two winners. It seems that she has some more momentum now in the second set.

V.Zvonareva (9) and Mary Pierce (21) are having a greta battle. Mary won the French Open in 2000, and has won the first set in a tiebreaker againest Zvonareva. I really hope Mary can pull it out.

Anybody else watching? (I feel like I am talking to myself)

[AIWANNABE]

Venus just lost to 15-year old Karatancheva in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. Though Karatancheva is a good player I think Venus ultimately beat herself. Mary Pierce ended up winning her match againest Vera Zvonareva 7-6, 7-5. And Patty Schnyder won her match after dropping the first set.