Running French Open thread

[sportschick]

Petrova was wearing my favorite dress so far yesterday. Navy blue and white, very classy.

 

[sportschick]

Serena's orange and gray thing should be burned. Hideous, and it makes her boobs look weird and her waist look ginormous.

Roddick advanced to the third for the first time since like 2001, so good day for Americans (minus the Williams sisters outfits).

 

[Mark2010]

Couldn't agree more about Serena's outfit. What passes for fashion these days, I have no clue.

Venus in a world of hurt, down 0-6, 2-3 to Agnes Szavay in the third round.

 

[Mark2010]

Heard it here first: Szavay or Dominika Cibulkova reaches the semifinals.

 

[Mark2010]

Szavay wins 6-0,6-4. Good, up-and-coming player.

This is what ALWAYS happens to Williams on clay. She can dominate for a couple of matches (although not this year), but to ask her to put together seven consistent matches against dirtballers is just too much to ask. The clay neutralizes her power shots.

Same thing will happen to Serena eventually. Maybe to Kuznetsova in the quarters, maybe to Jankovic or Dementieva in the semis. Serena is the most talented player in the field, but, sooner or later, she'll beat herself, like she almost did against Zakopalova in the first round.

 

[Mark2010]

Maria Sharapove broken three times in the first set, losing 6-1 to Yaroslava Shvedova, quite possibly the best female player in the history of Kazakhstan.

And don't count out Ana Ivanovic, who again wins easily in straight sets.

Rafael Nadal, looking ever so macho in his bright pink shirt, grinds down Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. Hewitt fights well enough, but just no weapons with which to hurt Nadal. The streak is now 31 straight for Nadal at Roland Garros.

 

[GB-Hack]

Slowish start for Murray, but he rallied to win the first set in a tiebreaker, then the second before Tipsarevic, who was hurting pretty badly it seemed, retired.

This is the first time he's made the fourth round.

They've got a running blog on the BBC, complete with some amusing graphics.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8072807.stm

 

[Mark2010]

Figures that Azarenka vs. Suarez Navarro would have to be the last freakin match of the day.

 

[U.Fester]

Put me down for 10 Euro on Big Tits Malloy.

 

[sportschick]

Well, Venus played like absolute crap today, least it appears that way from the tape delay. She got bageled? She NEVER gets bageled.

 

[U.Fester]

She does in Paris

 

[Mark2010]

Go back and look at her early-round loses through the years and they all have one thing in common: loads and loads of unforced errors, especially off the forehand.

Clay makes it even worse and the young gals figure out after a few games that if they can just keep the ball in the court (easier said than done sometimes), Venus will beat herself. Same for Serena, although I don't think four-name Martinez Sanchez has the game to pull the upset on Saturday.

I give Venus and Serena credit for showing up in Paris, year after year, when it would be awfully tempting for them to say "screw the clay; I'll play a couple of big-money exhibitions and practice for Wimbledon".

Prediction: Roddick loses to Marc Gicquel on Saturday.

 

[sportschick]

Roddick makes the second week but the Djoker doesn't. How very strange.

 

[Mark2010]

Roddick had a much easier draw, too.

 

[Mark2010]

Dominika Cibulkova with an easier-than-expected win over Agnes Szavay, the player who ousted Venus Williams.

Cibulkova has the game to beat Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals (assuming Sharapova makes it that far) if she doesn't let Sharapova get in her head.

Dinara Safina continues to play incredibly well on clay. I take back all the stuff I said about her not being a legit No. 1, although it still remains to be seen how she will do in the big matches. Could get Ivanovic in a rematch of last year's final, as early as the quarterfinals.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

The entire French Open women's draw, except for the Williams sisters, reads like a roster of villainous Bond women.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

The entire French Open women's draw, except for the Williams sisters, reads like a roster of villainous Bond women.

***** Galore v. Rosa Klebb


Saw where Serena Williams called her opponent a cheat, after losing of course.

 

[lisa_simpson]

Rafa is a tiebreak away from getting bounced from the Open for the first time ever ...... is it possible that the tournament loses both of its defending champions on the same day?

 

[Point of Order]

Yep, down 5-1 now as they change sides. I guess this is nowhere on TV, right?

 

[Point of Order]

Wow! Robin Soderling def. Nadal 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (2). Nadal had won 33 sets in a row at Roland Garros.