Next to them we saw Lleyton Hewitt practicing doubles against John Isner and another guy who looked like a midget next to him - mind you, the midget was probably taller than me ;) It was fun to watch that curious pair of players. We finally went in to watch Hott Sauce vs. Ventura - well, Verdasco is Hott, but his game was M.I.A. Ventura was killing him with drop shot winners, and when he went a break down, we finally decided to take our chances on Bolelli-Baghdatis. There was a big queue, but as the second set was about to finish, we liked our chances to get in. Marcos lost the second set on an ugly double fault, so many people left the match, and there was a tiny TV screen i could watch through the window of the V.I.P. restaurant situated below the stands - at least i was not going to queue helpless ;)
Simone Bolelli is so cute; he looks really young and was hitting forehand winners all over the place : il diritto fulminante! Yeah!! I wanted him to win; the stands were clearly in Marcos' favor. The Cypriot is almost a French citizen by now. Honestly, I was sad for Marcos, but I want Bolelli to have a good run at Roland Garros - he's facing Juan Martin Del Potro next., and I want to see it !!! After the match, we had lunch - well just a sandwich, a banana and a coffee - on the Place des Mousquetaires, while Fed was playing on the big screen. It was warm and full of people, and it was nice to relax there - Fed winning easily was expected, no? Or did his most loyal fans in TW freak out again? I thought Querrey played well enough, especially attacking Roger's forehand.
By the time we decided to look at Gonzo, who was up by almost two sets, Fed had finished his match, and the whole of the audience on Lenglen court emptied out. In their wake it was hard to make it to the backyard of Roland Garros on Court 16 - when we arrived Gonzo was trailing 0-4, so there was no point trying to get on there, and Verdasco was starting the 5th set. We decided to go back to Court 2 at the other side of Roland Garros, to watch Viktor Troicki vs. Marc Gicquel. There was nothing spectacular from the young Serb, but some solid strokes. Dad moaned about the fact that the Serb was too defensive and that Gicquel was missing easy volleys; you get the picture: a curmudgeon Dad at Roland garros!!!
Then rain came to ruin the rest of the day, as you all know :(( At the begining we went to our favorite spot in RG : "la porte 13" it's a little office at the corner of the Chatrier court - it's a kind of "if you need or have lost something, come in" office. You have people getting tax refund certificates, players receiving packs, lost and found umbrellas, and children who got separated from from their school groups - and the people there know me and Isabelle, as we come every year, and each day turn up to ask for the next afternoon's program. Yesterday I helped them in English with a couple who needed to pick up invitations for the next day; I told them that next time, I'll charge them by asking for a couple of tickets for the final;) All in good fun ;) As for the rain, all they could say was : maybe in half an hour. In other words, they had no clue.
