So, between the Tennis Channel and ESPN, I’ve been recording something like 13 hours of tennis each day during the French Open and sitting down to watch what I’ve recorded around 10:00 PM each night. Of course, the math doesn’t work, unless I want to avoid sleep and work altogether and I haven’t figured out how to pull that off. But it is fun to pick and choose what I watch—something the Tennis Channel has given me the opportunity to do.
Did you catch any of the Andy Roddick vs. Gael Monfils fourth round match the other day? Over the past couple of years, I’ve watched Monfils progress up the rankings (he’s seeded 11 at this tournament) and I could understand why he was headed toward the top. He’s loaded with talent and he really seems passionate about the sport. I wasn’t too impressed with his antics against Roddick though. As it got dark, Roddick began telling the umpire he couldn’t see. Monfils must have believed Roddick wanted play suspended solely because Monfils had a big lead. And there may have been an element of truth in that. But Monfils didn’t handle it well. He began making all sorts of incredulous faces, trying to stir up the fans (Monfils is from France, so he was playing in front of a home crowd). Roddick didn’t take the bait though. He got beat soundly, but somehow he kept his focus throughout the match and he didn’t respond to Monfils’ actions. I’m guessing that things might be a little different at the US Open if they happen to meet up in a night match in New York.
The tennis world was stunned to see Rafael Nadal lose in the fourth round to Robin Soderling. I was hoping for another Nadal vs. Federer final because the drama would have been so thick, but Federer is still in the tournament and therefore still in the hunt for his first French Open title. He breaks down in tears now every time he wins or loses a final in a major and I don’t expect anything different from him this time if he can get past Juan Martin Del Potro in the semi-finals.
On the women’s side, Dinara Safina looks to have things well in hand in the top half of the draw. At the bottom half, Samantha Stosur has been a huge surprise. She’s seeded 30th, but she’s in the semi-finals against Svetlana Kuznetsova. I’ll be rooting for the winner of that match to win the tournament, but I don’t see Safina losing unless her nerves get the best of her. She’s mentally tough and she seems like she is on the verge of securing her spot at the top of the women’s game for a while.
