06.04.07

What’s up at the French Open

Posted in tennis at 8:38 pm by danvk

Four rounds into the French Open, we’re still on track for my dream final of Federer vs. Nadal. Nobody’s played spoiler to either yet. In fact, nobody’s even taken a set off either of them. That gives Fed a pretty impressive streak: he’s won 35 straight sets at Grand Slams. The statisticians went scurrying, but I believe this really is a genuine record.

The big match for the women tomorrow is Serena Williams vs. Justine Henin. Henin’s won two French Opens in a row, but Serena won the Australian this year and is on a hot streak. I’m rooting for Serena. She’s the last American left (all nine American men lost in the opening round) and, quite frankly, Justine is a jerk. They had an incident at the 2003 French Open that was rather revealing. Henin raised her hand to stop the point while Serena was in her service motion. She served it into the net as a courtesy, but the chair ump hadn’t seen the hand. He called it a fault. Serena argued, and Justine refused to step in and say she’d raised her hand. The winner of this match will be the favorite to win the title.

There are some really fun looking matches on the men’s side as well. Guillermo Cañas is back from a doping suspension and has been on a tear. He beat Federer twice earlier this year, and they’re on track for a semifinal matchup. That would be a spectacularly interesting match. I’d still pick Federer, but unlike so many other players, Canas will have confidence that he can beat Fed. Nadal’s half of the draw should be easier, though Novak Đoković has been playing very well.

Update: Three out of four ain’t bad. I got Fed, Nadal and Djokovic, but missed Davydenko, who beat Canas in straight sets. I’ll be very surprised if I don’t get my final.

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