Monday Net Post

By TW Contributing Editor, Ed McGrogan

Last Week's Tournament**

Roland Garros (ATP & WTA - Clay - Paris, France)

- Final: Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.
- Semifinal: Roger Federer def. Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.
- Semifinal: Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6.
- Men's Singles

- Final: Ana Ivanovic def. Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3.
- Semifinal: Dinara Safina def. Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2.
- Semifinal: Ana Ivanovic def. Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
- Women's Singles

- Final: Pablo Cuevas/Luis Horna def. Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic 6-2, 6-3.
- Semifinal: Pablo Cuevas/Luis Horna def.Bruno Soares/Dusan Vemic 6-4, 6-7, 7-6.
- Semifinal: Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic def. Igor Kunitsyn/Dmitry Turnsunov 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
- Men's Doubles

- Final: Anabel Medina Garrigues/Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Casey Dellacqua/Francesca Schiavone 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.
- Semifinal: Anabel Medina Garrigues/Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Cara Black/Liezel Huber 6-4, 7-6.
- Semifinal: Casey Dellacqua/Francesca Schiavone def. Alona Bondarenko/Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1.
- Women's Doubles

- Final: Victoria Azarenka/Bob Bryan def. Katarina Srebotnik/Nenad Zimonjic 6-2, 7-6.
- Semifinal: Victoria Azarenka/Bob Bryan def. Jie Zheng/Mahesh Bhupathi (walkover).
- Semifinal: Katarina Srebotnik/Nenad Zimonjic def. Kveta Peschke/Pavel Vizner 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8).
- Mixed Doubles

- Final: Tsung-Hua Yang def. Jerzy Janowicz 6-3, 7-6.
- Semifinal: Jerzy Janowicz def. Guido Pella 6-4, 6-4.
- Semifinal: Tsung-Hua Yang def. Cesar Ramirez 7-5, 6-4.
- Boys' Singles

- Final: Simona Halep def. Elena Bogdan 6-4, 6-7, 6-2.
- Semifinal: Elena Bogdan def. Lenka Jurikova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
- Semifinal: Simona Halep def. Arantxa Rus 6-3, 7-5.
- Girls' Singles

- Final: Henri Kontinen/Christopher Rungkat def. Jaan-Frederik Brunken/Matt Reid 6-0, 6-3.
- Semifinal: Henri Kontinen/Christopher Rungkat def. Vasek Pospisil/Milos Raonic 7-6, 6-2.
- Semifinal: Jaan-Frederik Brunken/Matt Reid def. Julien Obry/Adrien Puget 6-1, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6).
- Boys' Doubles

- Final: Polona Hercog/Jessica Moore def. Lesley Kerkhove/Arantxa Rus 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (10-7).
- Semifinal: Polona Hercog/Jessica Moore def. Lenka Jurikova/Romana Tabakova 6-1, 6-1.
- Semifinal: Lesley Kerkhove/Arantxa Rus def. Jade Curtis/Nikola Hofmanova 6-1, 6-1.
- Girls' Doubles

- Final: Shingo Kunieda def. Robin Ammerlaan 6-0, 7-6.
- Semifinal: Shingo Kunieda def. Ronald Vink 7-6, 6-2.
- Semifinal: Robin Ammerlaan def. Martin Legner 6-3, 6-3.
- Men's Wheelchair Singles

- Final: Esther Vergeer def. Korie Homan 6-2, 6-2.
- Semifinal: Esther Vergeer def. Aniek van Koot 6-1, 6-1.
- Semifinal: Korie Homan def. Florence Gravellier 6-4, 6-4.
- Women's Wheelchair Singles

- Final: Shingo Kunieda/Maikel Scheffers def. Robin Ammerlaan/Ronald Vink 6-2, 7-5.
- Semifinal: Robin Ammerlaan/Ronald Vink def. Stephane Houdet/Nicolas Peifer 6-1, 1-6, 1-0 (10-6).
- Semifinal: Shingo Kunieda/Maikel Scheffers def. Martin Legner/Stefan Olsson 6-1, 6-2.
- Men's Wheelchair Doubles

- Final: Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer def. Korie Homan/Sharon Walraven 6-4, 6-4.
- Semifinal: Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer def. Marianna Lauro/Aniek van Koot 6-1, 6-1.
- Semifinal: Korie Homan/Sharon Walraven def. Florence Gravellier/Lucy Shuker 7-5, 6-4.
- Women's Wheelchair Doubles

By the Letter

T...rophy presentation at the women's final marked the return of Justine Henin to Roland Garros - not as a player, but as part of the ceremony.
E...sther Vergeer, the women's wheelchair singles and doubles champion at this year's French Open, is now unbeaten since January of 2003, and has been ranked No. 1 in the world since 1999.
N...ew Zealand's ASB Classic has been saved - by a gardener.
N...ew book by Billie Jean King titled, Pressure is a Privilege: Lessons I've Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes, will be on shelves in August.
I...ndia's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes have agreed to play doubles together in the upcoming Olympic Games.  Both players have been vocal about their division throughout the year, but have apparently set their differences aside.
S...ven Davidson, winner of the 1957 French Championships, died last week of pneumonia at 79.  He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame last summer, and was Sweden's first Grand Slam champion.  [Last week's By the Letter focused entirely on the French Open, which is why this was omitted.]
W...imbledon practice for Maria Sharapova will take place in Florida instead of Birmingham.  Sharapova will skip the DFS Classic, where she has played the last five years, and will not play competitive grass court tennis until Wimbledon begins.
O...dds to win Wimbledon (courtesy of www.ladbrokes.com): Federer - even; Djokovic - 3:1; Nadal - 5:1.
R...ichard Gasquet has pulled out of the Olympic Games.  Gasquet, who withdrew from Roland Garros due to injury, is expected to play this week at Queen's Club, as well as at Wimbledon in two weeks.
L...ove is in the air for Greg Norman and Chris Evert, who will marry in the Bahamas later this month.
D...ead at 39: Horst Skoff, former Austrian tennis player who won four titles on the ATP Tour.  He died of a heart attack on Sunday.

McGrogan's Heroes

ATP - Rafael Nadal; WTA - Ana Ivanovic

Riding a four-year streak of invincibility on clay, Rafael Nadal was the undisputed favorite to win Roland Garros.  No one could make a similar claim on the women's side, but Ana Ivanovic was on the shortlist of players pegged to succeed Justine Henin as French champion.  In the end, both prevailed with dominating performances from start to finish.

Nadal and Ivanovic punished their opponents for even taking the court early on in Paris.  Advancing to the semifinals of a Tier I or Masters Series event with little resistance is difficult, but not unheard of.  These two accomplished it at a Grand Slam.  In the first five rounds, Nadal won 78% of games he played (91 of 116), with Ivanovic at an impressive 75% (61 of 81).  Ironically, their "toughest" test came in the first round.  Thomaz Bellucci took five games from Nadal in their opening set (7-5, 6-3, 6-1), and Sofia Arvidsson forced Ivanovic to a twelfth game in their second set (6-2, 7-5).  Only once more would either player need to win a seventh game for the rest of the tournament.

After Rafa silenced the Nicolas Almagro bandwagon (6-1, 6-1, 6-1) and Ana brought Petra Cetkovska bagels instead of baguettes (6-0, 6-0), they headed to the semifinals.  Each faced a third-ranked Serbian whom they had seen many times before.  Ivanovic had the more difficult day, as Jelena Jankvoic pushed her to three sets.  But after coming through, Ivanovic advanced to her second straight French Open final, and rose to No. 1 in the world, ending Maria Sharapova's short reign atop the rankings.  "It's definitely a great, great feeling, so I hope to make Serbia proud," Ivanovic said afterwards.

Ivanovic's childhood buddy, Novak Djokovic, likewise made Serbia proud this week, after reaching his fifth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.  But the tournament draw banished Djokovic to Nadal's side of the draw (how often can you say that is a death sentence?), and he ultimately succumbed to Rafa's relentless pressure.  Djokovic was one of the only obstacles that Rafa had to seriously contend with this fortnight (he pushed Nadal to a 78-minute third set), but it was straight sets in the end, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6.  After humbling the world's best player so far in 2008, Nadal wondered if it was the, "Best match at Roland Garros so far, no?"  Yes.

The finals were one of the few times during the tournament where Nadal and Ivanovic's situations differed.  Nadal was the three-time defending champion, and was playing against someone he's faced the last three years at Roland Garros.  Ivanovic had been outclassed in her prior two Slam final appearances, and was facing an opponent who she hadn't seen since 2006.  Both, however, were the favorites.

Many say that Nadal is the best dirtballer of all time, and he surely got more support after trouncing Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.  It was the most one-sided match in the history of their rivalry, and makes one wonder what it will take for anyone to beat Nadal at the French Open.  But before Nadal got his fourth title, Ivanovic got her first after besting Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3.  It was a much more competitive match, but Ivanovic forced the action, breaking Safina five times and striking 41 winners.

Ivanovic's win made sure that an ignominious trend of failing in finals came to an end.  Nadal's win kept a trend going - 28 wins, zero losses at Roland Garros.

Tennis Theatre

Because of the individual circumstances, the victory celebrations for Ivanovic and Nadal were quite different:

This Week's Tournaments

Gerry Weber Open (ATP - Grass - Halle, Germany)

• Singles Bracket
• Doubles Bracket
• Website

Orange Warsaw Open (ATP - Clay - Warsaw, Poland)

• Singles Bracket
• Doubles Bracket
• Website

The Artois Championships (ATP - Grass - London, England)

• Singles Bracket
• Doubles Bracket
• Website

Barcelona KIA (WTA - Clay - Barcelona, Spain)

• Singles & Doubles Bracket
• Website

DFS Classic (WTA - Grass - Birmingham, England)

• Singles & Doubles Bracket
• Website

Beyond the Bracket

[Ed's note - I'll have something about Federer here next week.]

Many people dread the daily commute into New York City, and I can see why after living here for the past few weeks.  The most common gripe is how long it takes.  Most city dwellers not only spend time in transit on the train, but often have to factor in the time it takes to walk to the station as well.

Once onboard, any number of distractions can add unneeded stress to your trip.  Finding a seat can be an adventure.  The train can come to a complete standstill – dashing hopes of catching another train afterwards.  And it takes only one blabbering person to ruin a train ride – who always seems to be sitting near you.

In spite of this, I actually love my morning jaunt.  My forty-minute train ride is usually spent reading a book, the Post or TENNIS.  My latest read was Anthony Bourdain’s culinary exposé, Kitchen Confidential.  I asked for this book for Christmas, and it exceeded all of my lofty expectations.  Anyone with even a passing interest in food should pick this up; you’ll learn as much about gastronomy as you will about the “culinary underbelly,” as Bourdain puts it.  If Vince Spadea’s look into the behind-the-scenes world of tennis is called Break Point, Bourdain’s account could be called Broken at Love: Going for the Double Break.

After racing through the wonderfully descriptive and crafted text, I wondered why I enjoyed this book so thoroughly.  Undoubtedly, Bourdain is a “gifted turner of phrases,” as Andrew Freidman (Rolo Tomassi) told me, but that’s not the core reason why the book succeeds.  Rather, it’s because Bourdain, an executive chef, was so deeply immersed in his subject.  He was on the kitchen line for years, and wrote about what he did, not what he saw.  You can sense this realism in every one of the 300 pages.

This got me thinking about my own writing.  I write about Roger Federer regularly, but I will probably never return one of his forehands.  And it seems to reason that the people who should write about such topics are those who actually know what it feels like – not journalists who can barely hang with their weekend playing partners.

It’s a sobering thought.  But even though I haven’t stared down Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, I feel that I am – for some reason – qualified to comment on the sport.  I think it’s because I play as much tennis as I can, even if not at the professional level.  I have my own unique insight, one that even Federer is unaware of.  Even though I may not understand the sport the way Federer or Nadal does, the fact that I play at all makes watching tennis in person or on television that much more of an experience.

Playing tennis regularly makes me aware that the two pros on court aren’t just playing a game of pong – each shot is the result of numerous, concurrent actions that take place before and during each stroke.  The sport is a complex one, but playing it – even if you can’t replicate your favorite player – unlocks more knowledge.  This increased understanding makes reading an article or watching a telecast much more rewarding.  In my case, I get more command of what I write.  All of these activities require practice, but the payoff is worthwhile.

I encourage all of you to play as much as possible.  Tennis is fun, provides great exercise, and can help your confidence.  But it also makes the professional game more enjoyable, even if it’s not your career calling.  Playing is one of the best ways to get involved with the sport, along with watching it and reading/writing about it.  I like to call it, “the trinity.”

if...

you have a consistent pre-match meal, what is it?