Nadal Wins 8th French Open
By Jane Voigt In the midst of Paris protesters and a persistent drizzle, Rafael Nadal swung away impervious to distractions. He had returned to center court of a Major for the first time since his humiliating loss in the early rounds of last year’s Wimbledon. Today, Nadal would not hide in shame or allow his…
A Tale of Two Matches Nadal Holds Off Djokovic
By Jane Voigt Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic threw in every type of serve, spin and angle during their semifinal match on Court Philippe Chatrier today. And no one was sure of the outcome until the last game when Nadal looked up at his box and smiled like a 3-year-old. He had given himself a…
Serena & Sharapova Into French Final
By Jane Voigt Double faults, breaks of service, and deafening squeals came to play on Court Philippe Chatrier today for the first of two women’s singles semifinals. The second match was but a blip on the terre-battue and confirmation of who is in charge of women’s tennis. Match One — Maria Sharapova, the No. 2 seed,…
Sharapova Survives
By Jane Voigt Of course they are all talking about Novak and Rafa, the dream semifinal. Okay, that’s fine. The predictions came true. Betting houses are happy as are the ones that hedged their bets. But what about Maria? She survived a 3-set tussle against an inspired Jelena Jankovic, after losing the first set at…
Serena Moves On Federer Stopped
By Jane Voigt The buzz around Roland Garros had to have been thick with trepidation and verve, this afternoon. Serena Williams would meet her 2009 French Open nemesis, Svetlana Kuznetsova. And Roger Federer would meet Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, the one man on tour, and a Frenchman to boot, capable of beating any of the Big Four…
Trending – Back From 2-Sets Down
By Jane Voigt So what’s up with all these big comebacks? Roger Federer had not planned, like any other player would not have planned, to get his name on the marquee with these comeback-from-two-sets-down stars: Tommy Robredo (3 time winner), Tommy Haas (the slayer of John Isner), Gilles Simon (3rd round against American Sam Querrey),…
The Two Tommys
By Jane Voigt Tommy Robredo has won his third consecutive match, coming from two sets down at The French Open. Victim number three: Nicolas Almagro. The No. 11 seed was up the final three sets and blew his chances miserably. “This was the hardest day of my life,” Almagro told the press. Robredo’s achievement was…
Missed It
By Jane Voigt The image of a tennis fan relaxed on a cushy couch with remote in hand while snacking on baked veggie chips is only partially correct. The baked snack is normal. Enter the electronic era of tennis match viewing where Apps, Tweets, and live streaming via smart phones, tablets and laptops go hand-in-hand with traditional…
It is Never Over Until It is Over
By Jane Voigt Love means nothing to a tennis player, or so the saying goes. At Roland Garros today, having a two set lead didn’t seem to mean much either. John Isner was in a two-set hole against his American buddy, Ryan Harrison. It didn’t seem to bother Isner, the No. 19 seed. He’s been…
Is Tennis Boring?
By Jane Voigt Of course tennis isn’t boring. But it could be drifting in that direction. Tournaments used to force players to adapt to different surfaces. Grass was lightening fast. Hard courts could be fast, but nothing like grass. If a hard court had more sand in the surface materials it would be slower. If…