2021 Roland Garros...ATP 2000...Paris, France

[don_budge]

Now it is time for "Gay Paris". Did I ever tell you about the time I was there some five years ago? Paris is no longer Paris by the way. The influx of immigration has dramatically changed the look of the city and it isn't for the better. Police armed with automatic weapons were patrolling the streets as I sat in a sidewalk cafe with the Ugly American and newly made friends...a French gentleman and his Italian companion. My buddy and I were walking back to the hotel and she was walking in front of us the entire way. We could only admire her from the rear. Sitting at the same table was mesmerising and I'm certain her companion noticed but didn't seem to mind at all.

Where was I? Oh yes...the tennis at the French Open. I did manage to catch a match between Novak Djokovic and Milos Ranoic there in the quarterfinals. It was a literal snooze fest. I must have drank at least five cups of some strong French brew to stay awake. Between that match and a woman's grunt fest it was just dreadfully boring. The most interesting thing was the conversation I had with the attractive Russian lady next to me on my left. Putin, Obama, Sharapova...the whole gamut. I am particularly curious by all things Russian. I could never understand why the Americans have this consuming passion to vilify them. They are human too. They love their children too...I am certain of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHylQRVN2Qs

Back to the tournament though...it is so easy to get side tracked. The world is not all about tennis. Tennis is not just about tennis. It is a world wide phenomena. It always has been. As boring as that tournament was in person there was so much to take away. I saw this old timer bopping around the grounds with a wooden racquet swinging his backhand at make believe balls. I stopped him and engaged him in talk. He was somebody. An interesting character.

Roger Federer in the house as the eighth seed, slated to meet Berrettini. in the quarters. Or is it the round of sixteen? Fed is going to have his hands full from the get go. At least he will be the best dressed champion on the court. A lot of these guys look like they are going to the gym. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the side half of the draw for the first time that I can remember. The top half appears to be top heavy.

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/roland-garros/520/draws

Ho hum...all foreplay. All of the time. Particularly at the French where everything seems to be in a time warp. Slower and slower. Keep your eyes open. Have another cup of Java. Here's the draw. Make of it what you will. What do you think? Don't be shy now. ZZZzzzzzz.......

[don_budge]

Sebastian Korda did manage to take down #1 seed Lorenzo Sonego and he continued to dismantle the rest of his opponents as well. Took care of business in a very neat and tidy fashion to take his first ATP title at the age of 20. Soon to be 21. On to the French.

On to the French it is. So much foreplay in the draw. So many little stories and possibilities of 128 players...64 of whom are going to be cat food very shortly. Hopes and dreams dashed in the wink of a young girl's eye. Here's one little scenario that I find a bit interesting. Stefanos Tsitsipas at 22 years old has eaten his way to the top of the food chain on the ATP tour. Sebastian Korda is embarking on a similar mission and he has chosen to accept it. They are on a collision course in the second round, but each has to win a match in the process. I am wondering how their learning curves are going to compare at the end of the day. At least at the end of the second round. Stefanos is playing big tennis. He is flying with the eagles, yet there are moments when he looks to be mortal. Korda is just getting off of the ground. He is spreading his wings a bit and testing the currents. He wants to fly high. He made a really nice job of the tournament that he just one. Went about his business and finished up the whole shebang without dropping a set. A very nice job for the 20-year old son of Petr Korda.

Just musing a bit in between obsessing and fantasising about my golf swing. Hmmm...Sebastian Korda vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas. Interesting.

[stroke]

Tennishead: Second Service: Nadal unfazed by French Open draw; Medvedev assured.

https://tennishead.net/french-open-nadal-djokovic-second-service/

Thanks Boris. I had not realized Nadal was a half slower ha. That being said, he is the oddsmakers better than even money favorite to win this Major going in. Hardly ever happens. 4th round Nadal plays Sinner maybe, if Sinner gets there. Could be very interesting.

[stroke]

On to the French it is. So much foreplay in the draw. So many little stories and possibilities of 128 players...64 of whom are going to be cat food very shortly. Hopes and dreams dashed in the wink of a young girl's eye. Here's one little scenario that I find a bit interesting. Stefanos Tsitsipas at 22 years old has eaten his way to the top of the food chain on the ATP tour. Sebastian Korda is embarking on a similar mission and he has chosen to accept it. They are on a collision course in the second round, but each has to win a match in the process. I am wondering how their learning curves are going to compare at the end of the day. At least at the end of the second round. Stefanos is playing big tennis. He is flying with the eagles, yet there are moments when he looks to be mortal. Korda is just getting off of the ground. He is spreading his wings a bit and testing the currents. He wants to fly high. He made a really nice job of the tournament that he just one. Went about his business and finished up the whole shebang without dropping a set. A very nice job for the 20-year old son of Petr Korda.

Just musing a bit in between obsessing and fantasising about my golf swing. Hmmm...Sebastian Korda vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas. Interesting.

Yes that potential 2nd round could be a very tough match for Stefanos. Stef I am certain knows how dangerous Korda is.

[don_budge]

Naomi Osaka to Clam Up...Who cares?

Naomi Osaka will not be doing any interviews this year at the French Open. Apparently this is her cause "de jour". For once, I find myself agreeing with her. I really don't care what she has to say about anything and that includes her tennis. In the article she has been noted to support causes as in anti-police and racial inequality. Throw in the rapper boyfriend who was giving the camera the finger after her win at one of the majors. I could not care less about anything she has to say. She has made a spectacle of herself in the past and if she doesn't want to speak...so be it. Just shut up and serve. Another athlete turned activist. Nobody cares. Just disappear after your match and nobody will miss you...I promise.

https://www.oann.com/tennis-wta-would-welcome-dialogue-with-osaka-nadal-defends-media/

[stroke]

Could not agree more. She definitely needs a massive wake up call. Her wokeness is not a good look.

[stroke]

Thiem is not looking like a FO threat at all 1st round vs Andujar.

[stroke]

Thiem out. Just not a good showing. Alex lost the 1st set to Oscar Otte, a German ranked in the 150's who is comfortably hitting with Alex. This match looks like a complete toss up, once again highlighting the talent depth in men's tennis.

[don_budge]

It is going to be very interesting/fascinating to watch Pierre-Hugues Herbert try to serve out the third set here against Sinner. He misses his first first serve and double faults. Hmmm....

[don_budge]

If at first you don't succeed...try, try again. Herbert fortunately had two breaks of service in this third set. Let's see if he learned anything from his first failure to serve it out. Look...you get to this point and you can't pussy foot around. You have to be decisive and get it done.

[don_budge]

Herbert manages to hold on to his cool and win the set in a tie-break. Now an uphill battle for Sinner but he has the type of game to go in "lockdown" mode. Whether or not he does is sort of up to Hebert as well. He has to be aggressive now. He cannot afford to pussy foot around. He will have to continue to take it to Sinner. Hebert has been impressive with changing the tempo and maintaining pressure on his opponent. He goes from one handed slice backhand mode to the two handed. He has been aggressive with his forehand and he has made considerable forays to the net...which is in itself a revolutionary act. I like Hebert for all of these reasons, but I cannot say that I dislike Sinner. It would be interesting to see it go to the fifth and if that is the case I highly recommend that Hebert ends it in the fourth.

[stroke]

Herbert is a very good player. Really like his whole game, serve, movement, volley and hand skills, and very good ground strokes, particularly for a serve and volley player. I would say his movement and ground strokes are better that Pat Rafter, who he most reminds me of. Match is a toss up. Sinner stays cool and engaged all the time, and has the game to go with it.

[stroke]

Speaking of very tough 1st round matchups, Medvedev due up vs Bublik.

[stroke]

Bash is looking very good up 2 sets. He could be a problem for anyone including Nadal when he is on, a lot like Karatsev.

[don_budge]

Another Day of Foreplay...at Roland Garros in Gay Paris

Quite an exciting day of foreplay if I do say so. That match between Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Jannik Sinner was most entertaining. I left for the golf club just as Herbert took the third set in a tie-break. He was most fortunate to take that set too. He served for it twice and failed. Serving for the set or the match or the championship can take on the eeriness of the twilight zone. Twilight being that moment that separates the day from the night. Paris is nearly there this evening. But everything changes in the mood of a match at that point. There is really nothing quite like it.

When serving for the set it often becomes a supreme test of nerves. Pierre-Hugues flirted with disaster in the third set when he failed to close out Sinner twice. Although Sinner finally did succumb in the set it seemed to invigorate him. He wasn't at his best but he hung in there and showed good nerves. Herbert showed some nerves as he nearly had the cat in the bag. But horse just didn't want to go in the barn for him. It kicked and rebelled. That happens you know. Although my horses always seem to be so happy to go in their boxes. Maybe it is the little chocolate I put on their pillows every night. Tonight they stay out in the fields in the Swedish summer night.

I understand Roger Federer electrified the crowd once more. The perfect sacrifice was served up to him in Denis Istomin. Roger is now umpteen and zero head to head against Denis. But it was a great opponent for Roger to get some rhythm against. To get the feel of the court. I don't miss many Federer matches. That repost of the 2019 Miami Open got me to thinking just how much I have written about nearly every single match he has played in the past ten years. What a pleasure it has been. Watching the Swiss Maestro. Being Roger Federer. Trying to get into his head and understand how he works. Yeah...it has been fun.

So yada...yada...yada. Yawn. I'm tired. No sleep. The sun in Sweden is coming up at four in the morning. It is getting light out around three as far as I can tell. It's tough to sleep. My wife hasn't been feeling well these past few weeks. It started a week after her COVID vaccine. I told her that I would have done everything short of physically restraining her from taking it. I certainly won't be. And I won't be catching any virus either. Unless it isn't really a virus and it's a bioweapon that can be directed at somebodies discretion. Who knows these days? The ordinary man doesn't have a clue as to what the reality of things are. It's like a "Truman Show" if you ask me. Even tennis somehow feels surreal. Compared to the history of the game. Naomi Osaka doesn't want to do interviews. I wonder if she could convince both Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal to take part in her boycott. Those two are poster children for mental illness in the sport of tennis if you ask me.

More foreplay tomorrow. It's a long fortnight. Best of five on clay. Not that the clay is all that different than the grass at Wimbledon. The grass is green and the clay is orange. I think that is the biggest difference. Tomorrow is another day. Golf tee time at 7:40 AM. First ones off. We should finish in three hours. Great way to start of the day. Walking the fairway. Taking some swings. Get happy...get sad. A lot like life come to think of it. Metaphors. Only metaphors.

Sleep good Roger. He's watching every step. He has purposely understated his presence here. He was in the semis in his last appearance I think. He had a legitimate shot at El Donkey. It may have been the windiest tennis match I had ever seen. It's great he is here. Even the foreplay has some climactic feel to it when he is around. Don't you think so?