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.
“The viewership numbers for Li Na’s historic Roland Garros win are a fantastic sign for the continued growth potential of women’s tennis in China,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA.
167 million Chinese tuned in to watch the tennis competition during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The 2011 French Open final has officially become the single most watched tennis match in China’s history.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.”
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.
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!
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.
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)
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.
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.
Virginie Razzano has confirmed that she will still play the French Open, even after the death of her fiancé, Stephane Vidal, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor nine years ago, and died on Monday, May 16.
Razzano told Tuesday’s edition of L’Equipe newspaper that 32 year-old Vidal asked her to play at the French Open, and that is why she will play. “Four or five days ago, I asked him: ‘Do you want me to go and play at Roland Garros?’,” Razzano said. “He answered: ‘Yes, you need to play.’ Because his intention is that I keep on going in my life, that I play for him and that I continue to be strong and to fight.”
“The most beautiful thing we achieved in our lives was not a match,” Razzano said. “We were a couple, but we became one person.”
Razzano added she had a “very difficult adolescence” before she met Vidal.
“It’s hard, but thanks to the strength he gave me I’m still alive,” Razzano said.
May Stephane rest in peace, and best of luck to Virginie at the French Open and in life.
Bernard Tomic and Casey Dellacqua are the two lucky Australians who will receive wildcards into this years French Open maindraw. These wildcards are given out as a reciprocal agreement between the Australian and French Tennis Federations.
It will be very interesting to see if Tomic (only 18 years old) can grab some success on the clay at Roland Garros. While Dellacqua has been on the comeback after a year full of injuries.
At this years French Open there will be a lot of female players with great opportunities to impress, but it still seems that the Australian men aren’t holding up their end of the bargain.
Here is a quick round up of the Finals scores of the French Open. So many players had the tournaments of their lives, but the real standout performance has to be Rafael Nadal yet again!
Mens Singles Final: Rafael Nadal (ESP) bt. Robin Soderling (SWE) = 6-4 6-2 6-4
Samantha Stosur to play Francesca Schiavone is the French Open Womens singles final. I didnt want to run through the matches and the results again, Im sure you already know! If not check out the French Open website.
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 
