Archive for: french open

Rafael Nadal’s, Roger Federer’s 2012 French Open outfits!!

This is what Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will wear at the 2012 French Open, where Rafa will try to win his 7th French Open title!!

Ana Ivanovic’s 2012 French Open dress!

This is what former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic will wear at the 2012 French Open!

Baby Federer Produces Yet Another Magic Shot

I love watching Roger Federer hitting amazing shots. Here is an old shot that I came across recently.

Something about Grand Slams

Tennis has many tournaments in each season or year, but there are only four tournaments that mean the most to players who desire praise. The four Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open, the French Open, the Championships Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. Let me tell you a little bit about the history of each of these four glorious events of tennis. First up, the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open. It has been played in seven different locations since 1905, when it was first played on grass. In 1988, the surface changed to hard courts, and the location of the Grand Slam stayed permanently in Melbourne, Australia. And here is a twist: the Australian Open was not even a Grand Slam until 1924! Since this tournament is played in the summertime of the southern hemisphere, there is a extreme-heat policy, since the temperatures can reach dangerous levels that could harm players.

Next up is the French Open, also known as Roland Garros, which is played in the city of love: Paris, France. This event has been played in four different venues since it started in 1891, (1897 for the women), and it was not official a Grand Slam tournament until 1925, when it was known as the French Championships. The French Open played on clay, is usually played around the end of May, and carries on for two weeks, just like all of the other Grand Slam tournaments. There was talk in 2010 about the French Open venue, as it was thought as being too small, and there was talk that it would be played in a bigger venue, but the rumors were put to a halt when the French Tennis Federation decided to keep the venue and build bigger stadiums, as well as build a roof on the main stadium.

The third Grand Slam of the year is quite special, as it is played on grass that is mowed down to a length on 8 millimeters! This event is called The Championships Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, and is played in Wimbledon, London, England. Here are some cool facts about this Grand Slam: it is sometimes called SW19, because that is the post code of the area where Wimbledon’s venue is, which is the All England Club; the event started all the back at 1877; and Wimbledon was not played twice in its history, due to the outbreak of Word War I and Word War II. Wimbledon has had a roof since 2009, when it was decided that at least one court, the main stadium, should have a roof due to the annual rain reports at the tournament.

The last Grand Slam of the year is the U.S. Open, which is held in the Big Apple: New York, USA. Some fun facts about it are that it was first held in 1881 the state of Rhode Island; the U.S. Open has been played on three different surfaces, grass, then clay, then hard, in its history; it is held every year for two weeks, with one week before the Labor Day weekend, and one week after; and the main stadium of the venue is Arthur Ashe Stadium, which is the largest outdoor tennis-only stadium in the world!

The Grand Slams have a great history behind them, and that is why the history of these great tournaments is well worth knowing!

Li Na Returns to China After Her French Open 2011 Ladies Singles Win

Li Na has not been able to travel home to China since her French Open win. After she lost in the early rounds of Wimbledon she was able to travel home and show off her win to the Chinese tennis fans.

Her big French Open win watch watched by over 116 million people according to CCTV.

The public celebration took place at Sanlitun SOHO.

ESPN Win the Right to Wimbledon TV Coverage for Next 12 Years

ESPN has been able to sign a very lucrative 12 year TV deal for the rights to Wimbledon. ESPN were already running coverage via the Tennis Channel of the event, but now they will be able to carry first and final weekend coverage.

NBC lost the bidding war, but they will keep control of the French Open coverage in the USA.

French Open Womens Final Watched by More than 116 Million in China

CCTV networks has reported that over 116 million viewers in China watched Li Na win the French Open Ladies Singles final a few weeks ago.

This years French Open final attracted nearly twice as many viewers in China as the Australian Open final between Li Na and Kim Clijsters (60 million).

On average across the tournament only 35 million viewers in China watched the coverage everyday.

What is it Like to be a Stringer at a Grand Slam or Roland Garros

Here is a quick look inside the stringers world at a Grand Slam event. At Roland Garros and other Grand Slam events stringers have to do at the very least 38 racquets per day and they all need to be perfect.

Federer into 28th Grand Slam Quarterfinal

While Novak Djokovic is making history with his record setting run this season, Roger Federer has also made history by making it into his 28th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Federer defeated Stanislas Wawrinka with a score of 63 62 75 in order to achieve this accomplishment and has said that it’s great, but he can still go further and surpass that record, as well as go further in the tournament.

Good luck Roger!

French Open Day 7 Round Up

Mens Singles:

There were some very interesting results today. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray easily won through into the fourth, although Murray did twist his ankle mid way through the match but was able to close it out. Gilles Simon continued his impressive run with a strong win over Mardy Fish. I tipped Simon to be a very strong contender this year and he is living up to the hype.

Novak Djokovic continued his winning streak with a four set win over Juan Martin Del Potro. Del Potro is heading back from injury so expect better results from him later in the year.

The upset of the day belonged to Ivan Ljubicic who defeated Fernando Verdasco (16) 6-3 7-6 6-4.

Womens Singles:

In the womens side of the draw it was a bit boring today. All the top seeds pushed through, except Kaia Kanepi (16) who lost to Ekaterina Marakova in straight sets 6-4 7-5.

French Open Day 6 Round Up

Mens Singles:

What a day in the mens singles. David Ferrer and Roger Federer were both in action and they didnt disappoint, both advanced very easily in straight sets. Additionally, we mentioned at the start of the tournament to watch Fabio Fognini and he has played some amazing tennis so far to progress to the fourth round.

The match of the day was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Stanislas Wawrinka. Both players have amazing clay court records and it was going to be a very tough match. In the end Wawrinka was a little too strong with a victory, 4-6 6-7 7-6 6-2 6-3.

Womens Singles:

There were a lot of strong performances with Zvonareva, Kuznetsova and Schiavone all winning. Casualties were Samantha Stosur who lost to Gisela Dulko 6-4 1-6 6-3. Plus top seed Caroline Wozniacki was thumped on center court by Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 6-3.

French Open Day 4 Round Up

Day 4 saw the start of the doubles events on the outside courts, thus you will notice more quick round ups.

Mens Singles:

In the mens draw it seemed like today was a bit of a non-event. All of the seeds in action today won through their matches and with relative ease. Great performances by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, but thats not really new. On the outside courts there was a match that caught my eye, Fabio Fognini vs Stephane Robert. Robert had played a very solid match in the first round, but he came up against Fognini who was on fire! Fognini killed it and progressed 6-2 6-1 6-0. Is Fognini a player in watch in the draw?

Womens Singles:

In the womens draw all of the main players progressed through their matches. There was another great perfomance by Samantha Stosur and she is shaping up to be a real contender for the title! The only seed to lose today was Tsvetana Pironkova (32) who lost to Gisela Dulko 6-4 6-2. Dulko looked to be playing some very solid tennis on the outside courts. Last years champion Schiavone also played some great tennis today, sweeping aside Vesna Dolonts 6-1 6-2.

Mens Doubles:

First round of the mens doubles was today and it saw a very close opening match for the Bryan brothers (1) who only just progressed in three sets to Santiago Giraldo and Pere Ribe. For me there are three unseeded teams who have a great chance in the mens doubles: Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut (been playing doubles together since juniors and have won Grand Slam titles together as juniors), Ivo Karlovic and Ivan Dodig, Xavier Malisse and Alexandr Dolgopolov. Watch out for one of these teams to make it a long way in the tournament.

Womens Doubles:

I really enjoyed two doubles matches today and the two teams to look out for in the womens doubles is: Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Patty Schnyder, and Andrea Hlavachova and Lucie Hradecka. Both of these teams played great matches today and beat favoured opponents.

Mixed Doubles:

For me there is only one mixed doubles pair and thats Leander Paes and Iveta Benesova. They played an amazing match today and looked a class above the rest, and thats on the day where a few top seeds fell.

French Open Day 2 Round Up

Mens Singles:

Well the French Open 2011 Day 2 had a great deal of expectations, with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in action. Federer and Djokovic didn’t disappoint.

Roger Federer had a tough first round match against Feliciano Lopez and it seemed that Federer was always up for the challenge. Roger played very solid and it seemed like Lopez couldnt really handle the pressure. Roger won in a very close straight set match 6-3 6-4 7-6.

It was a very similar story for Novak Djokovic. Djokovic is on an amazing run in 2011 and is still undefeated. Novak was up against Thiemo De Bakker a young Dutch player who seemed a little to eratic on the clay. Novak won the match 6-2 6-1 6-3.

In most of the other mens singles matches today the favoured players got through, apart from Tomas Berdych (6) who fell to Stephane Robert of France in an amazing five set match. 3-6 3-6 6-2 6-2 9-7.

Womens Singles:

On the womens side there were a lot of strong performances from the top players. Caroline Wozniacki, Marion Bartoli, Francesca Schiavone, Vera Zvonareva and Petra Kvitova all won.

The only upset of the day was Nadia Petrova (26) who lost in three tough sets, 6-7 6-3 6-4.

Overall:

It was a great day for all the main seeds as a whole they performed very well. The outstanding players of the day Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Francesca Schiavone.

Schiavone looked very strong in her match today. She didnt play amazingly well, but she played very solid on the clay and looked at home. If I was a betting man I would pop a few quid on Schiavone to get back to back titles.

Roland Garros Refurbishment Not Going to Harm the Environment

Roland Garros seems to be behind the other Grand Slams in terms of the stadium and facilities. Thus, Paris has decided to invest $390 million into upgrading Roland Garros with a refurbished center court and retractable roof.

Today the Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe made a point Saturday of dismissing fears from environmental groups and local residents claim that the construction of a new 5,000-seat court at the Serres d’Auteuil botanical garden will harm the vegetation and flowers.

“I can tell you we will not destroy one single plant or one single flower,” Delanoe said at a news conference Saturday, a day before this year’s second Grand Slam tournament begins. “This botanical garden will be totally preserved.”

French Open is Under Way with Stosur First Up

Well the French Open is underway this year and I’m really looking forward to sitting in front of the TV for the next two weeks. The first match on center court is between Samantha Stosur and Iveta Benasova. Sam is from the same place in Australia as I’m from and I know her very well from junior tennis. I’m really hoping she can perform just as well at this years French Open as her previous two, in which she made the final and semifinal.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands Blogging from French Open 2011

If your a fan of Bethanie Mattek-Sands you need to check out the USAToday as she will be blogging for them throughout the French Open and possibly beyond.

Im hoping that Bethanie gets through a few rounds, so the USAToday actually get some decent content!

Check out her blog here.

Andy Roddick Out of French Open and ATP Made a Big Mistake Last Week

The other day we reported about Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish receiving a fine because they didnt play their doubles final in Rome, this was all due to Roddick’s shoulder injury. It seemed at the time that they were only fined because the ATP thought Andy was faking in injury to make sure he could play the French Open.

Well it has turned out that Andy was in fact injured and is now not even able to play at the French Open starting tomorrow.

Ohhhh this seems to yet be another big mistake from the ATP! Its about time that actually talked to the players more and took some advice.

2011 French Open TV Schedule

Here is the US Television schedule for the 2011 French Open. All times are in Eastern Time.

Sunday, May 22
5:00 AM French Open : 1st Round Day 1 (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
1:00 – 6:30 PM First Round (Live) - ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD
6:30 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
10:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel

Monday, May 23
3:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
6:30 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
10:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel

Tuesday, May 24
Noon – 6:30 p.m. First Round Live – ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open : 1st Round Day 3 (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
6:30 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
10:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel

Wednesday, May 25
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open : 2nd Round Day 4 (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
Noon – 6:30 p.m. Second Round Live – ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD
6:30 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
10:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel

Thursday, May 26
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open : 2nd Round Day 5 (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
Noon – 6:30 p.m. Second Round Live – ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD

Friday, May 27
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open : 3rd Round Day 6 (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
Noon – 6:30 p.m. Third Round Live – ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD
6:30 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
10:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel

Saturday, May 28
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open : 3rd Round Day 7 (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
1:30 PM – 4:30 PM, Third-Round Action – NBC
3:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
6:30 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
10:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel

Sunday, May 29
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open : Round of 16 (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
3 PM – 6 PM, Round of 16 Action – NBC
3:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
6:30 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
10:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel

Monday, May 30
Noon – 6:30 PM Round of 16 Live – ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open : Round of 16 (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
6:30 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
10:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel

Tuesday, May 31
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
8:00 AM French Open : M/W Quarterfinals (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
Noon – 6:30 PM Quarterfinals Live – ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD
6:30 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
10:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel

Wednesday, June 1
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
8:00 AM French Open : M/W Quarterfinals (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
Noon – 6:30 PM Men’s Quarterfinals Live & – ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD

Thursday, June 2
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open : Men’s Doubles Semifinals (LIVE) – Tennis Channel
8 AM – 1 PM Women’s Semifinals Live – ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD
1:00 PM French Open : Women’s SF 1&2 – Tennis Channel
6:30 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
10:00 PM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel

Friday, June 3
1:30 AM French Open Tonight 2011 – Tennis Channel
5:00 AM French Open : Women’s SF 1&2 – Tennis Channel
10AM-1PM Men’s Semifinals – NBC
5:00 PM French Open : Men’s SF 1&2 – Tennis Channel

Saturday, June 4
12:00 AM French Open : Men’s SF 1&2 – Tennis Channel
9 AM – noon, Women’s Final – NBC – (LIVE)

Sunday, June 5
9 AM-2 PM, Men’s Final – NBC – (LIVE)

Tennis Channel Streaming Live French Open

The Tennis Channel has announced that they will be streaming the French Open in the USA live and on-demand. If you are after more information check out their website.

If your a customer with AT&T U-Verse, Comcast or DirectTV you will be able to get VIP access to Philippe Chatrier Court for free on May 28-30.

Im really looking forward to the French Open!

Venus Williams Backs Out of French Open

Venus Williams, a former world number one and Grand Slam Champion, has withdrawn from the French Open, after her abdominal injury proved to not be sufficiently recovered.

30-year-old Williams joined her sister Serena on the sidelines after announcing her withdrawal from the only Grand Slam on clay. Williams played her last match at the 2011 Australian Open, which triggered an abdominal injury that has not recovered well enough.

The French Open, which will be held from May 22 to June 5, will be the first Grand Slam to not have a Williams sister in the draw since the 2003 U.S. Open.

Venus has never won the French Open, only getting to the final in 2002, where she eventually lost to sister Serena.

Best of luck to you Venus, and get well soon!