2011 French Open

Snipeye

EGO Is My Life!
=(e)=
Level 2
Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
4,867
Anyone else going to be (or has been) watching the 2011 French Open?

Sad to see Milos Raonic already out the first round. I remember watching him play in the Australian Open and enjoyed his run then.

John Isner gave Rafael Nadal a scare, forcing him to win in 5 sets, the first time Nadal ever lost a set in the French Open in the first round, and having to ever play 5 sets in the first round.

Caroline Wozniacki looked completely at ease playing, winning her round easily. Same goes for Schiavone and Sharapova. Wozniacki's 2nd round seems to be interesting just because of the match name itself: Wozniacki (BEG) vs Wozniack (CAN)

Ana Ivanovic was the women's upset seeded player, losing in three sets to Johanna Larson 6-7 (6-7), 6-0, 2-6.

Kim Clijsters looks like she's ready to play, though she does look a lil bit rusty in some of her forms (especially her serves, having double faulted five times versus her opponent's four (though she did serve one ace).

Ryan Harrison was the lucky loser, having been inserted due to a medical withdrawal by Benjamin Becker of Germany. He gave Robin Soderling a pretty good match, forcing him to win in four sets, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 5-7.

Andy Murray won in straight sets (6-4, 6-1, 6-3), but looked annoyed and uncomfortable against his opponent, Eric Prodon (FRA), who mixes his play intermittently with strong forehands, and a LOT of drop shots, never letting Murray get into a comfortable rhythm throughout the match.

For Americans, Mardy Fish and Sam Querry advanced, both winning in 4 sets. Fish is the highest rank American in the tournament, after Andy Roddick's run of losses in opening matches at the last three tournament he competed in. He's sitting out the French Open due to a shoulder injury. Good news? This is Sam Querry's first time advancing past the first round in the French Open, so he's already beating his personal best at the Open.

And on the third day of the tournament, American Vania King (interesting name, no?) defeated 22nd-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in three sets (6-7 (10), 6-2, 6-3). The 22 year old King is currently ranked 115th. Her next opponent will be Elena Baltacha of Great Britain.
 
I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to it, but I feel like even Nadal is going to have a hard time beating Djokovic, even on his "home court".
 
I get into it so much that I actually grunt when they hit the ball.


I'm glad Roddick is sitting out, he makes me sad every tourny.

I'm pulling for Fish.
 
I'm cheering on Novak, Nadal and Federer to go as far as they can until the meet up against each other. Andy Murray going far would be nice, but I want Djokovic to win the entire tournament (and extend his winning streak past Pete Sampras' record). And of course, I'll be cheering on Sam Querry and Mardy Fish to play well too. (Bryan Brothers too for Men's Doubles!)

Women's side: I want to see Caroline Wozniacki vs Kim Clijsters. Be nice to see Schiavone and Sharapova reach the semi-finals as well. Unfortunately, there's no American women I'm cheering for, as Schiavone easily defeated Melanie Oudin. And Christina McHale, who looked like she was gonna win her match, blew her 5-0 lead in the third set and ended up losing 9-7.
 
Know what? I'm adding Bethanie Mattek-Sands (ranked 34th) to my list of players to watch. I just saw her play a tough match against Varvara Lepchenko, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Just watching her play, you can easily tell she's super athletic, and built more like a soccer player or even a rugby player. Also interesting to see that she wore an outfit better suited to a flag football player, with soccer-style socks and eye black on her face whereas Lepchenko wore the usual tennis outfit that most people see. Oh, and did I mention that this is only the second time that Mattek-Sands advanced past the 2nd round in a Grand Slam, and only the third American to advance to or past the third round in the French Open since 2006 (Venus and Serena Williams are the first two). Oh, speaking of the Williams sisters, did you know with this victory that Mattek-Sands will now pass Venus Williams (ranked 30th) to become the new US No.2 player?

Though it looks like no American may have a shot at the singles title, looks like they will put in a pretty good showing at the tournament. And yes, I'm including both men and women. No offense to Sam Querry or Mardy Fish, but against Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and the roll Novak Djokovic is on, they'll have a very tough draw. Good news? Mardy Fish should at least reach the quarterfinals with his draw (Sorry Sam! You got Verdasco to play before that!)
 
Back
Top