The Tennis Thread

[Scott]

lena is such a class act....very honest about the injury and how it's affected her this entire fortnight and even in spite of the disappointment had very kind words to say about frannie.

Q. Just a word about the quality of Francesca's play. She certainly didn't seem uncomfortable in her first Grand Slam semifinal.
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I think she's in great shape, and she's been playing very well during the whole tournament beating some good players. I think she really knows how to play on clay courts, using all the shots to make you run.
I mean, I'm happy for her. It is a very big moment for Francesca. She's been playing the tournament for so many years, and this is her first Grand Slam final. It's a great moment for her.

rolandgarros.com

 

[NakedIfIWantTo]

Francesca's face when Elena went up and shook her hands was priceless
She was totally shocked.

 

[Scott]

okay so JJ made this remark yesterday about sam that's kind of being talked about today and it's kind of been taken out of context. JJ said she plays like a man because no woman has that style. then they are trying draw comparisons to the outright homophobic insults martina and lindsay made about amelie. sorry but to me saying one has a style like a man then going on to say great things about her is not the same as saying strictly one looks like a man and JJ clearly said nothing in regards to her appearance.

 

[Nonobstant]

AND HE DID IT!!! SODERLING IS IN FINALE AGAIN!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOO

6-3 3-6 5-7 6-3 6-3

 

[Chaky]

Francesca's face when Elena went up and shook her hands was priceless
She was totally shocked.

Didn't see it live but caught highlights last night. One of the weirdest ends to a match ever. I guess Lena was pretty good at disguising how injured she was through the tournament. Her chances of ever winning a slam may be ebbing away though.

Kudos to Melzer today for not giving up at the end of the third set. He kinda gave Rafa a little scare there for a second. You could tell the crowd really wanted a fourth set.

 

[NakedIfIWantTo]

^Lena was always so close, yet so far
I think in the end Rafa just decided to let loose and entertain a bit before getting the job done.
And Jelena was taken out of context for sure. But I'm sure Sam would've been flattered
She really has the best game in the women's tour. So go tonight, Mademoiselle Stosur!!!

 

[Nonobstant]

YEAH SODERLING-NADAL FINALE
can't wait to see it

 

[miu_miu]

Francesca was great today Awesome win for her & Italy!

 

[Chaky]

Surprised with how the final turned out but Fran is just a great girl. I was impressed how she approached the final with confidence and employed very sound tactics to actually outplay Sam.

Congrats Franny!

 

[Scott]

yeah,the truth is frannie just played better. no excuses whatsoever. and i don't think sam even against justine was used to these tactics. i still think sam played well whatever the case and should not be discouraged because fran won it. just like fran said,if she continues playing as well as she has been i can't imagine sam not taking one soon.

i'm very happy for frannie. it's nice to see her take that fire and fortitude we see so often from her in fed cup and utilise it in these moments of events and majors. it's quite simply a delight.

they're saying now frannie will probably move up to 6 or 7 in the world in her top 10 debut for winning this.

and how nice was it to finally see a closely played match after 9 years of utter drubbings and unfortunate meltdowns?

 

[Chaky]

and how nice was it to finally see a closely played match after 9 years of utter drubbings and unfortunate meltdowns?

Yes! RG women's finals have been awful for years. So nice to see a closer one where the match was won because the winner played better, not because the loser crashed and burned.

 

[xerq]

thank god Francesca won she truly deserved it!

 

[AnaBGD]

Yes! RG women's finals have been awful for years. So nice to see a closer one where the match was won because the winner played better, not because the loser crashed and burned.

Agreed!

The final was great, I didn't really believe Fran could win, but I'm glad she proved me wrong. She played amazing and was so confident especially about her volleys.
She so deserves this, for Sam there's still much time, and with her game she'll win a slam, sooner rather than later.

 

[constanceMafioso]

Agreed!

The final was great, I didn't really believe Fran could win, but I'm glad she proved me wrong. She played amazing and was so confident especially about her volleys.
She so deserves this, for Sam there's still much time, and with her game she'll win a slam, sooner rather than later.

I actually think that Sam let her chance go and she really had all the cards in her hands in that match but just couldn't execute correctly thus her worst match of the tourney.

It really was her tournament to win, she was like 20-2 w/l pre-RG and I'm not sure she'll be able to do better next year we'll see.

I also think that her game willn't be very effective on the faster surfaces but I only want her to prove me wrong but with the slow grass in Wimbledon she can maybe make something happen.

 

[AnaBGD]

Congrats to Rafa! He really brought something else today. I wasn't impressed with his game during the tournament at all, but today he was unstoppable, there was nothing Robin could have done, except maybe serve better but I'm not sure if that would have helped him. The first set was good though, I wish the other two were as close.
I'm glad Rafa is #1 again, with the clay season he's had he totally deserves it!

I hate it when Slams finish, I always forget what the life looked like before

 

[miu_miu]

^Lucky it's not too long till the next one!

Vamos Rafa Five titles & back to number one He saved his best match for last and handled everything really well...his emotion was so touching as always. I never had the best impression of Robin but his speech was nice and I had more respect for him than before
So happy today & I love this pic so had to post



daylife.com

 

[jomarlushka]

^great match! well done Rafa!

 

[Scott]

Congrats to Rafa! He really brought something else today. I wasn't impressed with his game during the tournament at all, but today he was unstoppable, there was nothing Robin could have done, except maybe serve better but I'm not sure if that would have helped him. The first set was good though, I wish the other two were as close.
I'm glad Rafa is #1 again, with the clay season he's had he totally deserves it!

I hate it when Slams finish, I always forget what the life looked like before

that's how i feel too. it's sad when RG ends for me.

good for rafa....it hasn't been spectacular from him these last weeks but once in a final,on clay,you'd pretty much have to expect he would step it up a bit.

 

[NakedIfIWantTo]

congrats Rafa!!
Now I can't wait till Roger beats him again!!

I do feel sorry for Sam though. She wasn't the same player in the final.
I wonder if Jelena's 'calling' her a man and her parents being in the audience had anything to do with it
I'm not blaming anyone but the nature of things, but I feel like Sam cleared the way for Francesca, who was obviously very lucky what with Lena's retirement and all. Although I have to admit Franny's wide serve is really effective. It's her best strength.

 

[Child_in_time]

Wow, I'm so happy there is this thread!!! Where have I been all this time?? I am OBSESSED with watching tennis, so much so that I had to go into a bit of a tennis withdrawal at the end of the season last year, because I spent pretty much the whole year watching it almost every day, amost all day. Anyway, this Roland Garros was for me one of the best out of all those that I've watched. So many unexpected results, top players beaten by the underdogs etc. I always men's tennis WAY MORE interesting than the women's but this RG has been the most exciting. I am bexond happy Francesca won, she was my favourite to win and displayed strength, will, guts and heart. I like Sam as well, but prefer Francesca (and her sincere huge 1000W smile). As Nadal is and always will be my favourite player ever, I was thrilled, I can't imagine how emotional he felt so that he started crying like that, I've never seen him so emotional. I am glad he once again shut Mats Wilander's mouth with his game and it was a great one. On account of Soderling, I've disliked him a lot, but I must admit that I softened up a bit seeing he was pretty gracious in his defeat and his speech was quite nice. Ok, now I see I wrote more than I had planned so I'll stop. Can't wait for Wimbledon!