Finally the one Grand Slam's coming that's in the same time zone as me: Roland Garros!
There's a lot to discuss, so let's get started!
It's cooking outside in Belgium (where the Brussels Open is being played for the moment) and Paris with temperatures up to 30 degrees (86 Fahrenheit). It's not only affecting my mood to study for exams, but it will certainly target the players who can't stand the heat that good. But luckily for Azarenka, the temperature will drop slightly to an agreeable 20-25 degrees (77 Fahrenfeit) over the following two weeks.
Speaking of the Brussels Open, the top players there (Bartoli, Peng, Pavly and Jankovic) got all send to Paris already. Only Radwanska and Kanepi have proven they're ready for the gravel of Roland Garros when they had to play each other in the semifinal. Kanepi had all the chances in the world: leading 5-1 in the first set and having many breakpoints against the Radwanska serve. She eventually lost (8)6-7, 3-6.
What did I learn from this match?
1) Radwanska certainly has the mental strength for Roland Garros, hopefully she'll finally get that semifinal spot in a grandslam (she never got further then a quarterfinal ... yet)
2) Eurosport commentators are too funny! They constantly compared the match to silly things, like hurrying to catch a plane (after Kanepi lost 4 consecutive games after her 5-1 lead). Or Radwanska's second serve being a big yellow mellon with the words: hit me! written on them. My personal favorite was: 'If this was a real battle, Radwanska would shoot little rocks at the Estonian with a slingshot while Kanepi would come after her with an axe!'
3) I'm starting to love watching Radwanska's matches, just to drool all over her coach
4) Your humble servant looked up who's the second best Estonian player in the WTA rankings and that would be on spot 418: Anett Kontaveit, just aged 16. For who is interested, she looks like this:
Same story by the way in Strasbourg where seeded players Lisicki, Barthel and Kirilenko got defeated in the first round. I'm glad Schiavone stepped up here, I'd like to see some more Italian greatness on the French clay.
That takes us to last year's Roland Gaross. Na Li won against Schiavone: 6-4, 7-6(0). So they have a lot of points to defend here. Also no Williams sisters last year and now they're both present, should be fun!
Don't miss the next post: draw analyse!
Don't miss the next post: draw analyse!
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