1. Rafael Nadal won. There's really not much more to be said. The Hamburg loss was as irrelevent as most people thought (except maybe Roger). And watching him defeat Djokovic made it all the more clear that Nadal has put galaxies between himself and the other rising stars. Also that Nadal is barely a year older than Novak, and he's already won three Grand Slams. He might be the most phenomenal prodigy in tennis history.
2. 1st set: Davydenko leads Federer: 4-2, Roger serving 0-40. Nikolay failed to break.
2nd set: Davydenko leads Federer: 5-4, served for the set
3rd set: Davydenko leads Federer: 5-3, served for the set
final result: R FEDERER (SUI) def. N DAVYDENKO (RUS): 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (9-7)
Federer looking vulnerable against Davydenko had to help Rafael's confidence in the final. Battle of the nerves.
3. Bad loss but an overall good run for the Russian. although I sometimes feel sorry for him: he plays almost every week, he's losing his hair, he has trouble securing endorsements, no one knows who he is even though he's in the top 5. So a semifinal at the French must be a good consolation prize.
4. Serbia made an excellent showing, until Jankovic and Djokovic burned in the semifinals. Ivanovic waited an extra round to do that.
6. Disappointing and crushing women's final, especially after Ana's strong start. But I really think that in the wave of Rafael's domination, Justine's is a little unheralded. She's equally dominant. And television coverage did an excellent job of chronicling every last known detail of her off-court personal life; I was really pleased to hear about every second of her dramatic comeback from her divorce and her personal fulfillment and rediscovery of her estranged family. (aka no one wants to know, and I'm sure Justine doesn't want us to know.)
7. Guga Kuerten presented the trophy and gave a little speech in french, which basically cemented everyone's love (is love even adequate anymore? I feel like this has escalated to full scale mania and obsession) of him. Has there ever been a more beloved tennis player? Next thing you know, he'll be UN Secretary General. And I believe that he would be perfectly legitimate.
8. basically:
- Diego Hartfield (ARG) def. Robby Ginepri (USA): 6-4, 1-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
- Igor Andreev (RUS) def. Andy Roddick (USA): 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
- Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. James Blake (USA): 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5
- Laurent Recourderc (FRA) def. Sam Querrey (USA): 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-0, 6-7 (5), 6-3
- Roger Federer (SUI) def. Michael Russell (USA): 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
- Gilles Simon (FRA) def. Vince Spadea (USA): 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
- Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) def. Amer Delic (USA): 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-5
- Juan Pablo Brzezicki (ARG) def. Robert Kendrick (USA): 6-1, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
- Nicolas Almagro (ESP) def. Justin Gimelstob (USA): 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
so that brings the final score to clay def. American men: 9-0. seriously though. is there NO WAY for the american men to at least win two matches? is that so hard to ask? Even the french men were able to do that, and they've practically got Yannick Noah tattooed on their backs.
I'll end with the collection of the un jour a roland karaoke videos. In case you missed it, there was a French TV show that asks players to submit themselves to public humiliation by singing/lipsynching on television in front of hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of people. Some are successful, some are not. And if these videos are any indication, player parties must be dull until the Frenchmen get a few drinks in them and decide to take their clothes off.
UN JOUR A ROLAND:
Rafael Nadal (singing La Bamba): http://www.dailymotion.com/sportvideos/video/3504603
Novak Djokovic (ahhh the djoker, singing I will Survive): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x23gzl_novak-djokovic
Roger Federer (Simply the Best): http://www.dailymotion.com/sportvideos/video/x23ual_federer-is-simply-the-best
Gilles Simon (Hot Stuff): http://ma-tvideo.france3.fr/video/iLyROoaft6o8.html
Tommy Robredo (something unintelligible in Spanish): http://ma-tvideo.france3.fr/video/iLyROoaft6ov.html
Florent Serra (I believe I can Fly. not very good, but the man in the back is surprisingly good at making out with himself): http://ma-tvideo.france3.fr/video/iLyROoaft6oM.html
Michael Llodra (Night Fever. after all, this is the man who once hid naked in a locker): http://ma-tvideo.france3.fr/video/iLyROoaftQgu.html
Elena Dementieva (Lady Marmalade): http://ma-tvideo.france3.fr/video/iLyROoaftQg7.html
Alize Cornet (something in french.): http://ma-tvideo.france3.fr/video/iLyROoaftQgU.html
Justine Henin (something french) : http://ma-tvideo.france3.fr/video/iLyROoaftQk9.html
Marcos Baghdatis (Sex Bomb) : http://ma-tvideo.france3.fr/video/iLyROoaftQkw.html
Serena Williams (some rap song, it's very....'bootylicious.' for lack of any better word to describe it.): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x265m6_serena-williams-fait-son-show
Ana Ivanovic (upside down.): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26ts1_ana-ivanovic-upside-down
The Best of 2007 (really, there's no need to watch every single one. this one really does pick the best.): http://www.dailymotion.com/sportvideos/video/3726083
The Best of 2006: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bte2iKh83s
onward to london!
last one to Big Ben is a Vince Spadea!
thirty.love1@gmail.com
