French Open Day Eight Results

Rafael Nadal kicked the sole remaining French hope in the men's section out of the championship. Grosjean isn't grating at all, it's the crowd that really ruins the whole affair. What they are adding to the atmosphere isn't festive or positive cheering. They're turning off the neutral observers and making people wish that the French players would drop out of the playing field just so that they can turn on the telly and watch a good match-up without feeling the urge to stuff a few tennis balls down the throats of the Frenchies. Last year's finalists didn't make it past round 4. Coria is out, damn. Gaudio is out, yipee.

4th Round results :-

Rafael Nadal         ESP 6 3 6 6
Sebastien Grosjean FRA 4 6 0 3

Guillermo Coria          ARG 6 3 6 2
Nikolay Davydenko RUS 2 6 7 6

Nicolas Kiefer       GER Walkover
Guillermo Canas ARG

Mariano Puerta ARG 6 6 6
Jose Acasuso      ARG 4 1 1

David Ferrer      ESP 2 6 7 5 6
Gaston Gaudio ARG 6 4 6 7 4

Henin-Hardenne, Sharapova and Ivanovic are through to the quarters. Scary Schiavone is gone. At this point, the former two look like the favourites to win.

4th Round results :-

Svetlana Kuznetsova        RUS 6 6 5
Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL 7 4 7

Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 2 3
Maria Sharapova      RUS 6 6

Francesca Schiavone ITA 4 7 3
Ana Ivanovic           SCG 6 6 6

At the point in writing, Tommy 'The Who' Robredo is trying to avoid doing a Robredo against Marat Safin.          

French Open Day Seven Results

Most important result of the day, Roger Federer is through. Whoever wins the inevitable semi-final showdown between him and Rafael Nadal, that is the person who will lift the Roland Garros trophy for 2005.

4th Round results :-

David Nalbandian ARG 3 6 7 1 2
Victor Hanescu ROM 6 4 5 6 6

Roger Federer SUI 6 6 6
Carlos Moya     ESP 1 4 3

3rd Round results :-

Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA 3 6 6 7 6
Guillermo Canas ARG 6 7 2 6 8

Igor Andreev       RUS 4 6 6 4
Nicolas Kiefer GER 6 7 3 6

Kim Clijsters lost to Lindsay Davenport. What a pity it was only a 4th round match that they met in. Notable win, 15-year old Sesil Karatantcheva has reached the quarter-finals. Notable irritating win, Mary Pierce.

4th Round results :-

Mary Pierce   FRA 6 1 6
Patty Schnyder SUI 1 6 4

Lindsay Davenport USA 1 7 6
Kim Clijsters            BEL 6 5 3

Elena Dementieva        RUS 6 7 5
Elena Likhovtseva       RUS 7 5 7

Sesil Karatantcheva BUL 7 6
Emmanuelle Gagliardi SUI 5 3

Nadia Petrova RUS 7 3 6
Elena Bovina   RUS 5 6 4

French Open Day Six Results

Missed a chunk of tennis action but had a bellyful of good food and company at an old classmate's wedding. Highlight of the men's section - Guillermo Coria and Tommy Robredo are through to the next round. Hooray. Marat Safin had a tough time bundling out trying-to-comeback-kid JC Ferrero, but he did it in 4 sets.

3rd Round results :-

Juan Carlos Ferrero   ESP    6 5 6 6
Marat Safin             RUS    7 7 1 7

Guillermo Coria   ARG    6 6 7
Jurgen Melzer        AUT      1 1 6

Tommy Haas            GER    5 0 0
Nikolay Davydenko RUS    7 6 6

Tommy Robredo ESP     6 6 6
David Sanchez      ESP    4 3 1

Mariano Puerta        ARG    1 6 6 6
Stanislas Wawrinka    SUI      6 3 1 4

Filippo Volandri      ITA       0 Retired
Jose Acasuso       ARG     3

The French women fell one after another. The country's biggest hope, Mauresmo was beaten by a 29th seed. Beauty, youth and womanhood prevails. On a sad note, we won't get to see the much anticipated Mauresmo-Schiavone match-up. Anna Chakvetadze, who has the unfortunate luck of looking like a younger Mary Pierce, demonstrated the attitude not to have while playing tennis. She always looked on the verge of tears, walked around like she already lost 15 minutes into the game. She looks like the sort who would probably go back to the locker room and give herself a good whipping with her racket while wailing.

3rd Round results :-

Emilie Loit                     FRA     6 3 3
Emmanuelle Gagliardi SUI     4 6 6

Tatiana Golovin       FRA       3 5
Elena Bovina         RUS       6 7

Ana Ivanovic           SCG    6 3 6
Amelie Mauresmo      FRA    4 6 4

Nathalie Dechy              FRA     6 3
Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP    7 6

Anna Chakvetadze   RUS     1 4
Maria Sharapova   RUS     6 6

Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS     6 2 6
Marissa Irvin                USA     1 6 0

A. Medina Garrigues         ESP     6 2 3
Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL     4 6 6

Anna-Lena Groenefeld    GER     6 5
Francesca Schiavone   ITA       7 7

Nadia Petrova RUS     6 6
Shahar Peer      ISR     3 1

French Open Day Five Results - Women

Kim Clijsters looks like a strong contender for the championship this year although she said she isn't 100% fit. Her next match with Lindsay Davenport should be a test, but looking at the way each is playing so far, Clijsters should triumph. Davenport had to once again, play a 3-setter for her weak win. The biggest upset was a 15-year old Bulgarian girl bundling Venus Williams out. The days of the Williams' sisters dominance is long over. Youth prevails, except at Court Chatrier, where the crowd and Mary Pierce bullied Vera Zvonareva to tears, leading to the win of an irritating, out-of-shape woman who insists that her opponents wait for her while she adjusts her ponytail whenever she pleases. The girl who still doesn't know the existence of hair conditioners, Patty Schnyder, beat Flavia Pennetta, the Italian girlfriend of Moya.

3rd Round Results :-

Daniela Hantuchova SVK     4 2
Kim Clijsters         BEL     6 6

Vera Zvonareva RUS     6 5
Mary Pierce    FRA     7 7

Lindsay Davenport  USA     7 4 6
Virginie Razzano       FRA     5 6 4

Venus Williams        USA     3 6 1
Sesil Karatantcheva BUL    6 1 6

Elena Dementieva RUS     6 4 6
Akiko Morigami       JPN       3 6 3

Flavia Pennetta   ITA     6 0 1
Patty Schnyder SUI     4 6 6

Silvia Farina Elia     ITA      5 6
Elena Likhovtseva RUS     7 7

French Open Day Five Results - Men

Hype surrounding the match between Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet reached a feverish pitch, mainly due to the belief of the French media that their boy could be the one to bring Rafa down. It turned out a one-sided affair, with Rafa trouncing the wilting flower Richard mercilessly. It was a blast to watch the crowd being silenced for a change. Fernando Gonzalez looked like a threat on paper for Roger Federer but on court, it wasn't a problem. Moya was almost bundled out, losing focus completely in the 3rd and 4th set and finally waking from his sleep-playing to win the deciding 5th set. Gaudio won, but it won't be much longer before he gives up when he meets someone closer to his seeding.

3rd Round results :-

Roger Federer      SUI    7 7 6
Fernando Gonzalez   CHI    6 5 2

Rafael Nadal     ESP    6 6 6
Richard Gasquet    FRA  4 3 2

Sebastien Grosjean FRA     6 4 3 6 6
Radek Stepanek      CZE     1 6 6 3 4

Fernando Vicente ESP     4 6 7 6 4
Carlos Moya      ESP     6 7 6 0 6

Felix Mantilla     ESP     4 4 3
Gaston Gaudio ARG     6 6 6

Hyung-Taik Lee KOR     3 1 5
David Ferrer     ESP     6 6 7

David Nalbandian ARG     6 7 6
Mario Ancic           CRO     4 6 3

Victor Hanescu ROM     6 6 6
Luis Horna           PER     3 4 4

Clay Court Dirt

Dirt #1 - Freakin Frenchies
Hail Kiefer for not crumbling to the pressure of the crowd cheering their homey, Clement, on. They jeered his questioning suspiciously-out looking balls that were not called and clapped enthusiastically everytime he missed a shot. He reveled in their displeasure and blew kisses when he eventually won the 5-setter, probably muttering 'screw you very much' as he waved and grinned at the crowd.

Dirt #2 - Battle of the Bods
Mauresmo must be pleased that she had been handed opponents she can steamroll pass so far. The last one was a 15-year old scrawny local girl who has Mauresmo's poster hanging in her room. Just another small (French) fry to devour. If Mauresmo beats her next opponent, 29th seed Ivanovic, and Schiavone scares Groenefeld away with her unearthly grunts, there will finally be an even match. Mano-e-mano.

French Open Day Four Results - Women

The French women, although some (namely one) may not necessarily look it, continue to post wins. Dechy, (Mauresmo) and Golovin are through. Gorgeous and gifted Sharapova had no trouble with swiping one French girl out of the court though. Let's hope she does the same to the rest. Henin-Hardenne looks like she's set to make a strong comeback along with her fellow Belgian, Kim Clijsters.

2nd Round results :-

Nathalie Dechy   FRA       6 6
Samantha Stosur AUS       3 3

Aravane Rezai      FRA       3 2
Maria Sharapova RUS      6 6

Alize Cornet           FRA       0 2
Amelie Mauresmo FRA       6 6

Virginia Ruano Pascual    ESP      1 4
Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL       6 6

Nadia Petrova     RUS       6 6
Severine Beltrame FRA      1 3

Tatiana Golovin       FRA       6 6
Antonella Serra Zanetti ITA       0 1

Nicole Vaidisova         CZE       2 6
Francesca Schiavone ITA       6 7

Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS      6 6
Sofia Arvidsson           SWE      3 4

Ana Ivanovic SCG       6 6
Iveta Benesova CZE       3 1

Kristina Brandi              PUR          6 0
Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP       7 6

Marissa Irvin USA       6 7
Gisela Dulko ARG       4 5

Magdalena Maleeva     BUL       3 4
A. Medina Garrigues ESP       6 6

Tathiana Garbin ITA      1 6 4
Elena Bovina RUS       6 1 6

Anna Smashnova           ISR       1 0
Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER       6 6

Anna Chakvetadze RUS       6 6
Klara Koukalova       CZE       4 3

Kveta Peschke CZE         1 6 4
Shahar Peer   ISR         6 1 6

French Open Day Four Results - Men

Coria marches on, JC Ferrero is still standing and Tommy 'The Who' Robredo is not showing signs of his trademark tremors in closing out matches. Upset of the day was Andy Roddick losing to hunky Jose Acasuso, who did shot after brilliant passing shot. Kiefer kicked out Arnaud Clement, who dressed better than he played.

2nd Round results :-

Guillermo Coria ARG 4 6 3
Novak Djokovic     SCG 6 2 2 Retired

Arnaud Clement FRA 6 2 2 6 4
Nicolas Kiefer   GER 4 6 6 4 6

Jose Acasuso ARG 3 4 6 6 8
Andy Roddick   USA 6 6 4 3 6

Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA 6 6 6
Chris Guccione        AUS 3 4 4

Tommy Haas     GER 6 6
Vincent Spadea  USA 4 3 Retired

Lukas Dlouhy CZE 7 3 5 1
Marat Safin   RUS 6 6 7 6

Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP 6 6 6
Jan Hernych               CZE 4 4 2

Albert Montanes       ESP 1 3 4
Guillermo Canas  ARG 6 6 6

Jurgen Melzer       AUT 6 6 7
Mikhail Youzhny RUS 3 4 6

David Sanchez       ESP 6 3 4 7 6
Thomas Johansson  SWE 3 6 6 6 4

Filippo Volandri  ITA 6 6 6
Flavio Saretta       BRA 4 1 2

James Blake             USA 7 7 1 3 4
Stanislas Wawrinka SUI 6 5 6 6 6

Olivier Rochus           BEL 6 5 2 3
Nikolay Davydenko RUS 3 7 6 6

Tommy Robredo ESP 6 6 6
Dick Norman        BEL 4 2 4

Mariano Puerta  ARG 6 7 6
Kristof Vliegen       BEL 3 5 2

Jarkko Nieminen FIN 2 4 7 2
Igor Andreev   RUS 6 6 6 6

Clay Court Dirt

No dirt for today. I'm hurling it all towards Liverpool. Cesspool ! Boo !

French Open Day Three Results - Women

How did Mary Pierce win ? The crowd must have collectively blew the ball out of play everytime her opponent whacked it to her side of the court. Haven't had the chance to see her in action really. Staying glued to the telly 7 hours straight is too much even for me. Kim Clijsters looks like she could go far. Lindsay Davenport won but she had to overcome the spectre of a billion Chinese willing Shuai Peng on. Maria Sanchez Lorenzo didn't make it but she has F Lo's strong, warm arms to run into. On a sidenote, AC Milan is leading Liverpool 3-0 :D

2nd Round results :-

Jelena Kostanic CRO 1 0
Mary Pierce     FRA 6 6

Venus Williams USA 6 3 6
Fabiola Zuluaga COL 3 6 3

Ludmila Cervanova SVK 2 1
Kim Clijsters       BEL 6 6

Sandra Kloesel    GER 2 3
Patty Schnyder SUI 6 6

Elena Dementieva RUS 7 6
Sanda Mamic          CRO 6 2

Lindsay Davenport USA 3 7 6
Shuai Peng              CHN 6 6 0

Amy Frazier USA 4 4
Emilie Loit FRA 6 6

Clarisa Fernandez ARG 1 1
Virginie Razzano FRA 6 6

Sesil Karatantcheva BUL 7 6
Shinobu Asagoe         JPN 5 2

Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6 6
Catalina Castano       COL 4 3

Akiko Morigami JPN 7 6
Karolina Sprem    CRO 5 3

Silvia Farina Elia       ITA 7 6
Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 5 2

Emmanuelle Gagliardi SUI 6 6
Maria Sanchez Lorenzo ESP 3 3

Vera Zvonareva RUS 4 6 6
Eva Birnerova       CZE 6 3 0

Mariana Diaz-Oliva    ARG 1 6
Elena Likhovtseva RUS 6 7

Flavia Pennetta       ITA 6 6
Marta Domachowska POL 4 3

French Open Day Three Results - Men

Rafael Nadal had no problems sweeping Xavier Malisse out of the court. He next meets the French punk, Richard Gasquet. Even with the crowd egging him on, Rafa's going to squish him good. Roger Federer swiped Nicolas Almagro out of the way. No chance. Gaston Gaudio got a walk-over. How convenient. That's what he does best when he's down a few breaks. Just aim the ball anywhere outside the court so that it looks like he's giving the match away instead of losing it, like the schmuck he is. Go home Gaston, even if Argentina isn't crying for you. Henman has to go back home to England. Was rooting for him. He exudes this proper air, what I imagine a traditional Englishman would. He's one of the last in his breed of serve-volleyers. God save Tim Henman. Oh, on a sidenote, God might save Tim and the Queen but there won't be any favours for Liverpool who has just conceded a goal to AC Milan, courtesy of Maldini. Forget all the talk of changing the rules to defend the title, Milan's going to win the Champions League.

2nd round results :-

Rafael Nadal    ESP     6 6 6
Xavier Malisse     BEL     2 2 4

Peter Wessels           NED     3 6 1
Richard Gasquet      FRA     6 7 6

Roger Federer      SUI        6 7 6
Nicolas Almagro     ESP       3 6 2

Sebastien Grosjean FRA     6 6 6
Davide Sanguinetti       ITA     0 3 2

Luis Horna     PER     7 6 6 6
Tim Henman    GBR     5 7 3 4

Florent Serra         FRA     3 4 1
Radek Stepanek CZE     6 6 6

Jiri Novak          CZE     3 2 6 6 5
Felix Mantilla  ESP     6 6 0 3 7

Janko Tipsarevic        SCG     3 6 6 3
Fernando Vicente    ESP     6 1 7 6

Juan Ignacio Chela     ARG     5 1 6 5
Victor Hanescu         ROM     7 6 3 7

Robin Vik         CZE     6 7 3 1
Carlos Moya    ESP     7 6 6 6

David Nalbandian     ARG     6 6 6
Tomas Berdych            CZE     3 2 1

Oscar Hernandez      ESP     6 1 2 3
Mario Ancic             CRO     4 6 6 6

Robin Soderling        SWE     2 3 4
Hyung-Taik Lee      KOR     6 6 6

Clay Court Dirt

Dirt #1 - Take a bow
Agassi lost to Niemenen in the first round, citing an injury. I don't think you could classify ageing into that category. Bow out in dignity, bald pate.

Dirt #2 - Who's got the balls ?
When Sharapova and Linetskaya engage in a long rally, viewers would pray Sharapova won't try to end it with a drop shot. Seeing Linetskaya run, jiggling all the way, would make anyone wonder how sports companies can put microchips into their shoes and yet have not found a way to control bouncing appendages.

Dirt #3 - Man aboard !
I've always had the suspicion that Mauresmo and Schiavone might actually be men finding it hard to make it in ATP. Schiavone confirmed it today by pulling off her top at courtside and putting on a fresh shirt. She must have forgotten that usually the women don't do that.


Mauresmo


Schiavone

For some remedy, you'd have to go here

French Open Day Two Results - Women

Notable wins - Sharapova grunted to a win against her fellow countrygirl and direct counterpart, a short, stout, round brunette, Evgenia Linetskaya. Henin-Hardenne got through in 3 sets, beating Spain's Conchita Martinez 6-0, 4-6, 6-4.

Winners/Losers :-
Amelie Mauresmo /Evie Dominikovic
Justine Henin-Hardenne / Conchita Martinez
Tatiana Golovin (bleh) / Lilia Osterloh
Maria Sharapova /Evgenia Linetskaya
Svetlana Kuznetsova / Mathilde Johansson
Nathalie Dechy / Michaela Pastikova
Nadia Petrova /Mashona Washington
Ana Ivanovic /Stephanie Foretz
Francesca Schiavone /Jie Zheng
Nuria Llagostera Vives/ Ai Sugiyama (Ai ? First round dah keluar ?)
Iveta Benesova /Pauline Parmentier
Anna Chakvetadze /Paola Suarez
Elena Bovina/Maria Vento-Kabchi
Anna Smashnova /Jelena Jankovic
Alize Cornet /Alina Jidkova
Magdalena Maleeva /Rika Fujiwara
Shahar Peer /Marion Bartoli
Gisela Dulko /Sania Mirza
Sofia Arvidsson/Eleni Daniilidou
Anabel Medina Garrigues /Petra Mandula
Antonella Serra Zanetti /Marlene Weingartner
Virginia Ruano Pascual/Anastasiya Yakimova
Kveta Peschke /Dally Randriantefy
Tathiana Garbin /Martina Sucha
Marissa Irvin /Nicole Pratt
Klara Koukalova /Mervana Jugic-Salkic
Anna-Lena Groenefeld /Roberta Vinci
Samantha Stosur /Silvija Talaja
Nicole Vaidisova /Lucie Safarova
Kristina Brandi /Youlia Fedossova
Severine Beltrame /Abigail Spears
Aravane Rezai /Camille Pin

French Open Day Two Results - Men

Coria won against Carlsen as expected, posting a breezy 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Other notable win - T Ro, Tommy Robredo won despite looking like he wouldn't even manage to do a 'Robredo' (winning and then deflating, failing to serve out the match) by losing the first set 4-6. After that, he decided stop smiling and play proper. Gave it to Peter Luczan 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Winners/Losers :-
Jarkko Nieminen/ Andre Agassi
Andy Roddick / Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Marat Safin / Raemon Sluiter
Guillermo Canas / Gael Monfils
Guillermo Coria / Kenneth Carlsen
Paul-Henri Mathieu / Feliciano Lopez (Damn!)
Jan Hernych / Fabrice Santoro
Mariano Puerta / Ivan Ljubicic
Filippo Volandri / Cyril Saulnier
Mikhail Youzhny / Gilles Muller
Thomas Johansson / Scott Draper
Nikolay Davydenko / Sasa Tuksar
Nicolas Kiefer / Ivo Karlovic
Albert Montanes / Sargis Sargsian
Kristof Vliegen /Antony Dupuis
Stanislas Wawrinka/ Nicolas Massu
Juan Carlos Ferrero/ Karol Beck
Arnaud Clement / Alexander Popp
Jurgen Melzer / Wayne Arthurs
Flavio Saretta / Greg Rusedski
Hyung-Taik Lee / Alex Calatrava
Olivier Rochus / Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
Lukas Dlouhy / Thomas Enqvist
Jose Acasuso / Max Mirnyi
Chris Guccione / Santiago Ventura
Igor Andreev / Jonas Bjorkman
James Blake /Tomas Tenconi
Tommy Haas/ Florian Mayer
Dick Norman/ Jean-Rene Lisnard
Vincent Spadea/ Albert Costa

and last court, Court 17

Tommy Robredo / Peter Luczak

Myskina Ousted

Defending champ Anastasia Myskina has been kicked out of the French Open by Spain’s Maria Sanchez Lorenzo. She won in 3 sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. Myskina's been having injuries and personal troubles so the loss really wasn't too surprising. Maria Sanchez must be pretty happy though, all the more cos she has that Greek God of a man to celebrate with, F Lo. She's the same age as me and she snagged him, a 1981 baby. Miroslava, Federer's girlfriend is also older than him by some years. Makes me wonder if I could actually have a shot with Rafa :B

French Open Day One Results

Nadal's not wearing orange. He's wearing Kawasaki green, the same one his hero Carlos Moya is wearing. Didn't change his winning form any though. Won 6-1, 7-6, 6-1 against Burgsmuller. Federer steamrolled over Sela 6-1, 6-4, 6-0. He didn't look like an Israeli to me, this Dudi Sela, but I have no idea what one would look like. It's one of those stereotyped looks. If I look at Moya, I'd think 'That looks like a Spaniard'.

Kim Clijsters's through to the next round. I like her style of play, all those sliding splits she does. Watched Dementieva win against Strycoza, she's irritating to watch. The unknown Strycoza that is. With 2 match points against her, she made a big deal out of a slip she had, strutted back to her seat, washed her knee with her bottled water, plastered it, taped her other knee, towelled herself and all this while smiling like the schmuck she is. Matches should be won with sportsmanship, not with a warlike do-whatever-it-takes to win attitude. Go join politics for that.

Other 1st round Men's Singles winners so far - Grosjean, Moya, Almagro, Ancic, Stepanek, Serra, Berdych, Wessels, Vik, Hernandez, Vicente, Tipsarevic and Malisse.

1st round Women's Singles - Davenport, Mary Pierce, Razzano, Asagoe, Karatantcheva, Sprem, Cercanova, Hantuchova, Domachowska, Kostanic, Santonja, Morigami, Castano and Shuai Peng.

Some of these players, I've never even heard of. Mary Pierce will have a lot of support because she's French. When I look at her, I can't think of her as an athlete because she looks all dowdy and flabby. She can still play though.

Myskina's wearing micro-shorts and an orange top, baring her midriff. Somehow when she wears it, it doesn't look as vulgar as Golovin. Dementieva's sporting a pretty blonde pigtail and a pretty pink dress. Venus should have something interesting on.

The Head's one of the commentators. Can't recall his name, but he used to host La Liga games and MotoGP. Completely bald and pleasant to listen to. The rest seems alrite too. Nothing as jarring as Irupam who does Wimbledon.

French Open Day One

The coverage of the French Open here is by SuperSports. Runs from 5pm to 1am local time. Looks like I'm gonna miss a lot of it since I start work at 4pm. Crap. First round - Nadal will be playing Burgsmüller from Germany, Coria against Danish Carlsen and Federer will be pitted against qualifier Israel's Dudi Sela. Should be a breeze but first round jitters are pretty common. They'll make it. The Force is with them :B

Was watching ESPN just now. Nadal and Ferrero in the Open Seat GODO Final last month where Rafa won. Taken of the Tennis Channel. The commentators were American and somehow in a tennis match it just sounds off. Kept saying 'Nay-dal' this, 'Nay-dal that'. I'll take the lesser of two evils and stay with old fogey JD.

Hamburg Champ

Set the alarm for 10:15 am cos I knew I was going to punch the buttons for 5 more minutes of sleep. Finally staggered out of bed at 11:30, the Federer-Gasquet match was into its second set. Snoozed on the sofa, listening to commentary from Jason and an old fogey. This old fogey has been around for ages it seems, he refers back to tournaments back in the 60s and it sounds like he was actually there to comment on them back then. Jason sometimes refers to him as JD, or something that sounds like that. He recycles his comments too because so far, I must have heard about Coria and his lovely wife (as JD likes to call her) maybe 10 times. At least. Or how Nadal has filled out ever since he first spotted his talent when he was 15. Sometimes I think he must be suffering from a little dementia (if that's possible), or if he's just catering to first-time viewers of tennis all the time. Nevermind him for now.

So the match turned out to be rather uninspiring. I never ended up biting my fingers or cursing Gasquet. Federer didn't play too well, and Gasquet wasn't half-bad. It didn't feel like the match was really won, unlike the Italia Masters. Great for Roger Federer anyway, 3 time champ of the Hamburg title.

Revenge is best served a month later

Even if my sis was sitting courtside, with a loudhailer, yelling 'Baby, I believe in you' like Jordan Knight in his unbuttoned, billowy white shirt, it would have been futile. Roger trounced Tommy pretty good, although Tommy looked like he was enjoying it, grinning from time to time.

Roger went on to kick Coria out of the way, in the quarterfinal. The match I had been anticipating wasn't even aired live though because of a soccer preview programme. What the hell. Previews, discussions when the match is going on, reviews. Just chuck the preview after the match, couldn't you StarSports.

Roger breezed through semis with Davydenko after a shaky start, and the final will be a Burnout: Revenge affair with the French punk, Richard Gasquet. He just looks annoying. The final won't be aired live either, but this time it won't sent me hurling insults at football panellists, cos it's for MotoGP. Settle for the delayed telecast on Monday morning then.

Roger that, Tommy

Tommy's my sister's Chosen One. She has a knack for selecting 'underachievers' though. Roger has a 5-0 head-to-head record with Tommy and she has decided not to put any hope on him tonight. Stand by your man, I'd say !

All Hail King Juan Carlos

JC Ferrero is back with longish hair and a white headband. Looks like he has decided to align his look with the rest of the Spaniards in a bid to regain his place as King of Clay. He seems more slender than ever and you would doubt that he could pack any sort of punch into his swings. He's just beaten that giant Marat Safin though. 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Safin sure has temper with him. Challenging a line call, he climbed up the umpire's chair, arguing, with their faces probably 5 cm apart. Wonder what he's like off-court.

Rolling on are Federer and Coria. Fed trounced Berdych 6-2, 6-1, revenge for his loss at the Olympics. Coria won 6-2, 6-3 over Youhzny. All going as planned.

F Lo With The Flow

Feliciano Lopez trounced the ailing Agassi 6-2, 7-6. It's about time Andre takes a dignified bow out of the tennis world. Better to leave while you're still remembered for the great plays rather than the shaking of that bald pate at every pass that whizzes by.

Deserted island one choice scenario. Board rescue ship or stay marooned with this ?

F Lo looks like yet another one of the Moya-inspired Spaniards, blazing their way in clay courts. Shoulder-length hair, white headband, smouldering dark good looks. In his case, his face is so striking, it looks like it could be chiselled from marble. Perfectly symmetrical, Roman nose, piercing eyes. He could pass of as a man or woman and yet still be breath-taking. Maybe that's the mark of an exceptional beauty, huh ? Strangely, I feel nothing at all looking at him. His is a beauty that doesn't stir.

Coria gave Spadea a good ol' drumming. 6-0, 6-2. Probably released some of that bitter anger at losing the final to Rafa by a mere 2 points (who by the way, has gone back home to Mallorca, probably for a good rest before some serious partying, and then off to Paris on the 19th of May to prepare for the GrandDaddy of clay tournaments, the French Open).

Hamburg doesn't seem to have an official site. Wanna take a look at the draws to check at which stage Federer and Coria would play each other. A match to savour. That would be worth pre-preparing a pot of teh tarik and a bag of potato chips for.

FedEx to Hamburg

Roger Federer is back to grace the courts. And that's exactly how he plays. Poetry in motion was catch-phrased to personify him in his element. Roger completes the trinity of terror in my world of tennis players to hoot for. His looks sure din't strike any chords, but when you see him execute shot after unbelievable shot, he suddenly radiates a halo that can't be shaken off with his goofy grin.

On a downside, the bouncing orange ball of energy actually had reached its limits of Energizer Bunny relentlessness. He's probably gonna save himself for the French Open. The gruesome cut on his hand couldn't have helped either. This reminds me of 'The Long Walk' by Stephen King, which remains to be the most read-again book I own. The contestants of this race were supposed to walk, and walk. And walk on. Just outwalk the others. There could be only one winner, while the rest are 'ticketed out'. One of them was well-built, rippling muscles and all, but he was booted off because of blisters. After all that preparation, it was his socks that let him down.

Let's hope that Rafa find some way to thicken that skin on his palm.

Telecom Italia Masters Champ !

Yeahooo ! Tie-break it went down to. He nailed it at Championship Point numero quattro. 5 hours 14 minutes they were whipping, sprinting, absolutely running each other ragged. The momentum tipped from side to side discernably, just with one winning inside-out forehand or a missed lob.

I could feel a coldness around my heart during the final few minutes, it's like the blood pumping had turned icy and sluggish and every beat was an effort. Dramatic yeah, it really is strange how something which has no real effect on your own life could touch you like that. That's why sports has so many fans after all. Fanatics.

Vamos Rafa. You're gonna go on to many more victories in your life, and hopefully I'm gonna be around long enuff to see many of them. I gotta start on that petition to StarHub.

Runnin' Out Of Steam

2 sets apiece. Did I say clash ? This is getting to be a titanic tussle. Last set going on. Rafa down 3 games to love, now back on even terms. 4 hours and counting. The poor boy has weeping blisters on his palm, it's like he's sweating blood. Both would probably wake up with their bodies screaming in pain tommorow. It's nerve-wracking to watch. Point after point. Shot after risky shot.

Full Steam Ahead

Almost 2 hours in. 1st set 6-4 to Rafa. 2nd set 6-3 to Coria. 3rd set in progress. Cheering on every point for Rafa. Guess this isn't like the conundrum parents face when asked which of their children they love most, eh ?

Versus

Rafa and Coria in the end. The final I'd been hankerin' for. What bugs me is that I missed their semis. Damn Star Sports. In this part of the world, soccer is what people watch, read, bet on, argue about, analyse, wear, play - and according to one old fogey who claims that the Football Association of Singapore don't care about the state of soccer here - eat, sleep and shit too. Soccer on ESPN, soccer on StarSports, soccer when I glance at the grassy knoll outside my window. Not that I have anything against soccer, I actually do watch it. Premier League, La Liga, Serie A. Once upon a time I even took up Italian in the name of Demetrio Albertini. It's just overkill, week after week, the dissection of what this kick did, what substituting that player meant, how this coach is bitchin about that other coach. Wonder if I could persuade StarHub to get the Tennis Channel.

It's a funny situation when you see your favourite players battle it out. Guess the plus side is whoever wins, you don't feel like trouncing his opponent. Gaston Gaudio wins hands down the player who I'd love to pelt with something rotting. His attitude when he's losing, his antics, his socks, his anything, is just grating. No such problem tonight, 3 hours to go.

Gioco Rafa

Rafa's through to the semis in Rome. He ousted Stepanek after losing the first set. As I was watching this funny-looking bloke, I wondered if I could ever root for him if it wasn't Rafa he was playing against. As unsporting as it sounds, I picked out 2 out of my 3 favoured players just by a chance glance. That would be Rafa, back when he was actually wearing baggy shorts and not the white clam-diggers he has taken a fancy to. And Coria, when he had this sorta bowl-cut. Spotting them this way and then taking an interest in their history and later on following their progress closely may seem like a strange way to turn into a fan, but it got me thinking how other fans came to be. Not just in tennis, but in soccer, motogp or any other sport. Do you pick out the current favourite and root him on ? Do you single out an athlete from the way he plays, see his potential and go on to follow his rise ? Or do you just pick out one that looks appealing and cheer him on ?

Can't say that I picked out Rafa or Coria because they were particularly good-looking either. Rafa looks slightly horsey (although he's Spanish Stallion in my eyes) and Coria looks like a pale, squinty-eyed imp (not my usual image of tanned, sultry Argentinians). It's just that look, maybe it's the sort of thing that's programmed into my DNA that makes them attractive to me.

However he had been picked, he's one of the Chosen Three. So, after angry clenched fists at Stepanek whenever he wins crucial points, lying down and upside down on the sofa, sitting up with hands around my head, there's that little tingle of victory in seeing that orange stallion strut around, pumping his fists in the air at game, set and match.