Tennis Planet.me

French Open Preview: Does Rafael Nadal Have His Mojo Back?

Nadal could very well pull out a seventh victory in Paris and break the Open-era record for French Open titles he currently shares with Bjorn Borg. But his chances of catching Federer in the career Grand Slam race may be slipping.

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Nadal and Djokovic playing golf. Djokovic's swing is freaking pathetic. And why is he looking like Del Potro?

 

Who was Roland Garros?

(6 October 1888 – 5 October 1918) was an early French aviator and a fighter pilot during World War I.

Gained fame for making the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean Sea from Fréjus in the south of France to Bizerte in Tunisia.

Garros is erroneously called the world's first fighter ace. In fact, he shot down only four aircraft; the definition of "ace" is five or more victories. The honour of becoming the first ace went to another French airman, Adolphe Pégoud.

Places named after Roland Garros:

In the 1920s, a tennis centre which he attended religiously when he was studying in Paris, was named after the pilot, Stade de Roland Garros. The stadium accommodates the French Open, one of tennis' Grand Slam tournaments. Consequently, the tournament is officially called Roland Garros.

The international airport of La Réunion, Roland Garros Airport, is also named after him.

The French car manufacturer Peugeot commissioned a 'Roland Garros' limited edition version of its 205 model in celebration of the tennis tournament that bears his name. The model included special paint and leather interior. Due to the success of this special edition, Peugeot later created Roland Garros editions of its 106, 206, 207, 306 and 806 models.

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Who, among the 7+ Slam winners, do you think has potential to be a top notch coach?

French players who won Roland Garros singles title.

Yannick Noah: 1983 - Born in France.

Henry Cochet: 1936 - Born in France.

--------------------------

Mary Pierce: 2000 - Born in Canada.

Francois Durr: 1967 - Born in Algeria.

Nelly Adamson-Landry: 1948 - Born in Belgium.

Serena Williams - Rap Debut.

 

Info on Roland Garros ball boys and ball girls, you think you know.

There are 250 of them selected.

Their age? 12 to 16 years.

In 2010, there were 2500 applicants from across France.

After being water boarded, ALL have confessed to Federer bribing them with pizzas in return for tampering with opponent's drinks and equipment, delayed response to throwing balls to opponent for serving, unhygienic treatment of their towels, tilting the umbrella just enough to let the sun shine straight on their head, get the wrong drink from the cooler...................

Photos.

Who do they freaking look at while whispering? And why?

Serbia's players Janko Tipsarevic (L) and Nenad Zimonjic talk during their double tennis match against Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic at the World Team Cup final on May 26, 2012 in Duesseldorf, western Germany. The team of Serbia won the match and the competition. AFP PHOTO KEVIN KUREK GERMANY OUTKevin Kurek/AFP/GettyImages

Serbian Team, Nenad Zimonjic, Janko Tipsarevic, Miki Jankovic and Viktor Troicki,, from left, celebrate with the trophy after winning the final of the World Team Cup tennis tournament against Czech Republic at the Rochus club in Duesseldorf, Germany, Saturday, May 26, 2012.

Even the name plate on my goats is freaking better looking and more less cheap. Geeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

Polish Agnieszka Radwanska poses after winning the final against Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska and Romania'sSimona Halep, at the WTA Brussels Open, on May 26, 2012. AFP PHOTO /VIRGINIE LEFOURVIRGINIE LEFOUR/AFP/GettyImages

Short shorts?

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 26: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves during a practice session ahead of the 2012 French Open at Roland Garros on May 26, 2012 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Don't think things are moving in the right direction with the trophies.

Flip flops on freaking clay?

Dutch Caroline Wozniacki (2ndL) and teammates German Sabine Lisicki (L) shake hands with Swiss Roger Federer (C) and Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro (L) at the end of an exhition match as part of the "Roland Garros Kid's day" on the Philippe Chatrier-central court, on May 26, 2011 on the eve of the opening of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris. AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHONJACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/GettyImages

(LtoR) Dutch Caroline Wozniacki prepares to serve in front of teammates German Sabine Lisicki, Chinese Na Liand French Pauline Parmentier as they play during an exhition match as part of the "Roland Garros Kid's day" on the Philippe Chatrier-central court, on May 26, 2011 on the eve of the opening of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris. AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHONJACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/GettyImages

US tennis player Serena Williams (C) cheers as US DJ Ali Fitzgerald Moore, aka Big Ali (L) and French DJ Bob Sinclar (R) perform during the "Roland Garros Kid's day" on the Philippe Chatrier-central court, on May 26, 2011 on the eve of the opening of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris. AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHONJACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/GettyImages

(L-R) Swiss Roger Federer and French Sebastien Grosjean play against French Fabrice Santoro, French Nicolas Escude during the "Roland Garros Kid's day" on the Philippe Chatrier-central court, on May 26, 2011 on the eve of the opening of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris. AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHONJACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/GettyImages

Italy's Francesca Schiavonne holds her trophy after defeating France's Alysee Cornet during the final of the Strasbourg WTA tennis tournament, Saturday, May 26, 2012 in Strasbourg, eastern France.

My inflatable, while busy, can freaking do better. Geeeeeeeezzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!

Spain's Nicolas Almagro poses with trophy after he defeating US's Brian Baker in the final of the Nice ATP tennis tournament, Saturday, May 26, 2012 in Nice, southern France.

3 ways to be happier at work.

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Top 4, current ranking points, points to defend @ Roland Garros 2012.

Seed	Rank	Player	Points	Points defending
1	1	Novak Djokovic	11,800	720
2	2	Rafael Nadal	10,060	2,000
3	3	Roger Federer	9,790	1,200
4	4	Andy Murray	7,500	720

 

If you were informed today that Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have been on performance enhancing drugs all along, which evidence will come to your mind FIRST?

Two REAL reasons Nadal wins so much on clay.

1. His 'never EVER witnessed' ability to exploit his opponent's weaker wing, the backhand - with such extreme devastation. Being a lefty adds another layer of 'convenience'.

2. Superior endurance.

There may be other factors but ALL of them TOGETHER pale against the above invincible one-two punch.

Heck, those are the very two reasons he wins on ANY freaking surface. Clay just happens to reward him more for No. 2 above.

Roland Garros trophies. And why is men's without the top cover, without easy to carry handles, larger...........

Round 1 @ Roland Garros 2012. See any upsets / interesting matches? No, you don't!!!!!!

Seed	Player		Opponent	Round
1	Novak Djokovic	vs.	Potito Starace	RND 1
2	Rafael Nadal	vs.	Simone Bolelli	RND 1
3	Roger Federer	vs.	Tobias Kamke	RND 1
4	Andy Murray	vs.	Tatsuma Ito	RND 1
5	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	vs.	Qualifier	RND 1
6	David Ferrer	vs.	Lukas Lacko	RND 1
7	Tomas Berdych	vs.	Dudi Sela	RND 1
8	Janko Tipsarevic	vs.	Sam Querrey	RND 1
9	Juan Martin Del Potro	vs.	Albert Montanes	RND 1
10	John Isner	vs.	Qualifier	RND 1
11	Gilles Simon	vs.	Ryan Harrison	RND 1
12	Nicolas Almagro	vs.	Paolo Lorenzi	RND 1
13	Juan Monaco	vs.	Guillaume Rufin	RND 1
14	Fernando Verdasco	vs.	Steve Darcis	RND 1
15	Feliciano Lopez	vs.	Qualifier	RND 1
16	Alexandr Dolgopolov	vs.	Sergiy Stakhovsky	RND 1
17	Richard Gasquet	vs.	Qualifier	RND 1
18	Stanislas Wawrinka	vs.	Flavio Cipolla	RND 1
19	Milos Raonic	vs.	Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo	RND 1
20	Marcel Granollers	vs.	Qualifier	RND 1
21	Marin Cilic	vs.	Qualifier	RND 1
22	Andreas Seppi	vs.	Nikolay Davydenko	RND 1
23	Radek Stepanek	vs.	Qualifier	RND 1
24	Philipp Kohlschreiber	vs.	Matthew Ebden	RND 1
25	Bernard Tomic	vs.	Qualifier	RND 1
26	Andy Roddick	vs.	Nicolas Mahut	RND 1
27	Mikhail Youzhny	vs.	James Blake	RND 1
28	Viktor Troicki	vs.	Thomaz Bellucci	RND 1
29	Julien Benneteau	vs.	Qualifier	RND 1
30	Jurgen Melzer	vs.	Qualifier	RND 1
31	Kevin Anderson	vs.	Rui Machado	RND 1
32	Florian Mayer	vs.	Daniel Gimeno-Traver	RND 1

 

The four MAJOR freaking milestones on the line @ Roland Garros 2012. Wonder which one will come to fruition!!!!!!!!!!

1. Djokovic Slam: Champion @ four straight Slams.

2. Record 7th Roland Garros title.

3. Slam No. 17 and double career Slam.

4. Roddick winning his 2nd Slam.

Nadal vs. Federer [French Open Final 2011] HD. Shift to 720p.

 

 

Federer interview before start of Roland Garros 2012.

 Q.  You won Roland Garros 2009 and made final two other times losing to Nadal.  Again you are a great favorite for a title.  What would this title represent for you in your career, and what the tournament has to be special and unique for you?

            ROGER FEDERER:  Well, I've really loved this tournament for the last years now.  I struggled early on a bit because I had up and down results.  It was a tough tournament for me from the start, whereas Wimbledon and New York in particular all felt very comfortable from the start.

            So this is, though, the place where I got my first wildcard into a Grand Slam back in '99.  I lost to Pat Rafter on Suzanne Lenglen, so I have great memories from back in the day, too.

            Obviously 2009 was very, very special winning here.  Just the emotions were, you know, ridiculous, and I got amazing crowd support.  Same again basically last year, which was so nice to see.

            Winning Paris‑Bercy, even though it's not that much to do with Roland Garros, it was also very, very special for those that were there.  It was a similar atmosphere over there than what I had at Roland Garros, so I figure I have, you know, lived some special moments here in this town and in this place.

            I'm looking forward to it again this year.  It would mean a lot to me, because I have had some of those great emotions I was just telling you about.  To relive those would be amazing winning the title here, no doubt.

 

            Q.  They say best‑of‑five matches are to the advantage of very good players because it gives them more time.

            ROGER FEDERER:  I agree.

Q.  How do you feel physically before the start of this tournament, and what were your feelings on the center court?

            ROGER FEDERER:  Yeah, I mean, court is amazing here.  It's always in great shape.  Groundsmen do a good job and we benefit from that.  Of course there are some bad bounces.  That's clay court, and that's what we like about it.  It slides perfectly, so it's a nice court to play on.

            I have played on Chatrier and Lenglen the last few days.  Everything feels normal.  Obviously it's a change of ball again from previous years and from the previous weeks, which makes it just a bit more complicated.

            We have tried to solve the issue and have the same ball for the entire clay court season, but the French Open decided to change the balls again once we changed the balls in Rome and Madrid.

            So that was tricky, but physically I'm fine.  I feel really good.  Much less problems than I had through Madrid and Rome.  I took three days off after the Djokovic match from Rome and just came here and relaxed and started practicing Wednesday.

            So I feel right there where I want to be a few days before the event.

 

            Q.  You've come close to winning four consecutive Grand Slam titles, an accomplishment that Djokovic now has a chance to do if he can win here.  How significant in the history of tennis and maybe all sports would an accomplishment like that be?  What do you consider the toughest part to try and do that?

            ROGER FEDERER:  I mean, it's an

amazing achievement in itself to win three in a row.  Four in a row is just another amazing step.  I think the toughest part is the very end, the back end of it I think.  I've been there twice I think.  I was twice in the finals, twice a couple sets away.

            Okay, I mean, I was playing Rafa here, which doesn't make it a whole lot easier.  But, you know, it's easier to maybe start with the French in this era and then finishing it on the hard court.

            But it's amazing for tennis right now that we have Novak in this situation again where we had Rafa at the Australian Open last year, I think it was, and before that I had the chance a few times.

            So I think it's great for the sport.  It will be interesting to follow Novak going for that.  But the hard part is, you know, I mean, same for everyone.  Every point you play, every game you play, the pressure you face, and just answering the questions time and time again, you know.

            It's fun because you're talking about the highest of accomplishments.  But at the end of the day, you just like to play the matches and not talk about it that much.

 

            Q.  At one point last year you sounded like you were thinking of cutting back on your schedule, but you've actually increased it this year.  When and why did you decide to do that?

            ROGER FEDERER:  Well, I've always wanted to play more of the sort of indoor matches through ‑‑ in Europe in February.  I've tried to play Rotterdam for numerous years now.  This year was the time to do it.  I felt like I could, you know, put it in my schedule.

            Obviously I haven't played Rotterdam that often in the past because I sort of had a residence in Dubai eventually, so that made sense for me traveling‑wise, family, all that stuff together.

            So this year I said, Look, I'd like to play some more, because in the past it's been tricky going through Indian Wells and Miami.  If you don't play from Australia to Indian Wells and you don't play well at Indian Wells and Miami, you go through three months you don't play tennis.

            You're being judged on that, which is not fair, first of all.  Secondly, it's not good for me coming into the clay court season.  Then thirdly, I might pay the price at the French and Wimbledon all the way through to the US Open potentially.

            So I just said I want to have enough matches, and I can always cut back.  I left my schedule completely open.

 

Novak Djokovic: "Rafa is the favourite". Here we go again!!!!!!!!!!! Will Roddick volunteer to be the favorite this time too to settle the dispute?

Novak Djokovic: "Rafa is the favourite"
"My mindset is always positive and always expecting from myself a lot. So I had the best year and a half of my career. I believe that I'm at the peak of my career at this moment. I definitely want to use this confidence that I have and try to make a good result here in Roland Garros. But for me, Rafa is always favourite for this tournament. He even was last year.  Always No. 1 favourite because he's just what he is on clay courts, you know.  He's most successful tennis player ever to play on this surface. He played well in the Rome final. Even though it was straight set win I thought we played a close match, but he was playing better.  That's what you expect from him. You can always expect him to be at his top, especially at the later stages of Grand Slams and tournaments. Winning four Grand Slam tournaments in a row would definitely mean the world to me from that perspective, but I haven't thought about that too much because I do not want to put too much pressure on myself."

Who is most likely to NOT make it to the semis @ Roland Garros 2012 based on the draw?

Round	Djokovic	Nadal	Federer	Murray
1st	Scarface	Bolleli	Kamke	Tatsuma
2nd	Leyton Hewitt	Istomin	Nalbandian	M&M
3rd	Melzer	Mayer	Roddick	Tomic
4th	Verdasco	Raonic	Lopez	Dolgopolov
Quarter	Tsonga	Almagro	Del Potro / Berdych	Ferrer
Semi	Federer	Murray	Djokovic	Nadal
Final	Nadal	Djokovic / Federer	Nadal	Djokovic / Federer

 

Roland Garros 2012: Coming soon.

 

Photos.

Spanish player Rafael Nadal takes part in the draw of the Tennis Women's Single of the Roland-Garros tennis tournament on May 25, 2012 at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris. AFP PHOTO/JACQUES DEMARTHON JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/GettyImages

 

Moment when Nadal cheated.

Think we should capture her. She has oil.

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 25: Serena Williams of USA speaks to members of the media during a press conference ahead of the French Open at Roland Garros on May 25, 2012 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 25: Novak Djokovic of Serbia stretches to hit a backhand during a practice session ahead of the French Open at Roland Garros on May 25, 2012 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Are you about to ask about retirement?

Former tennis greats, from left, Andre Agassi, Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf and Goran Ivanisevic, pose with young players during a "Rise of Legends" tennis clinic in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, May 25, 2012. The four will hold singles and doubles exhibition matches for tennis fans in Taipei on Saturday, May 26.

 

Draw possibilities: Roland Garros 2012.

Round	Djokovic	Nadal	Federer	Murray
1st	Scarface	Bolleli	Kamke	Tatsuma
2nd	Leyton Hewitt	Istomin	Nalbandian	M&M
3rd	Melzer	Mayer	Roddick	Tomic
4th	Verdasco	Raonic	Lopez	Dolgopolov
Quarter	Tsonga	Almagro	Del Potro / Berdych	Ferrer
Semi	Federer	Murray	Djokovic	Nadal
Final	Nadal	Djokovic / Federer	Nadal	Djokovic / Federer

 

Roland Garros 2012 draw.

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Nadal doesn't get it (His raised right foot says so). Crossed legs part of the drama? From Bella. Thanks.

Federer slams ITF over Olympic changes. From Chipnputt. Thanks.

CHIPNPUTT

If Nadal was selfish because he didn't want blue clay, then is this selfish too?

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Dusseldorf 2012 Thursday highlights: Berdych vs Bercloq.

 

Hey, Kim Freaking Clijsters Fiona. This is for you: Measure of a Mother’s Love: How Early Neglect Derails Child Development.

Most people don’t need science to appreciate the importance of a mother’s love. But to understand how early maltreatment can derail a child’s development requires careful study — and is fraught with ethical peril.

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5th sets of major finals lost when up a break. From Andy. Thanks.

ANDY

I came across this by chance just now. Kind of interesting.

Actually, I came across it because I was trying to do some research on 5th sets of major finals lost by someone who was up a break. I was thinking about the "so great under pressure" notion that people have of Nadal and it occurred to me that what has happened to him, twice, in major finals (losing the 5th set after being up a break), might be very uncommon. Of course he is a marvelous competitor and very very tough usually under pressure, but it is interesting that he nevertheless seems to hold a distinction in this regard (Mac was up a break in the 4 set against Lendl in '84 but wasn't able to get up a break in the 5th set, though he had break point opportunities).

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Why Nadal fans hate Federer and Federer fans hate Nadal?

In a nutshell: They see through the phoniness.

Granted ALL humans have flaws but for these two clowns to command such a rabid following and with such extreme sort of polarization, they HAVE to be reaching angelic proportions. Either that or fans not only refuse to remove the blinders, they even fail to recognize their existence.

The mere fact that the two players live such a public life with MASSIVE implications stemming from their actions, it's safe to assume that what they project is not only unnatural it's fake in it's most extreme form. However, glimpses of their real self so blatantly leak through the facade so often that you have to be BOTH blind and deaf (dead?) to not see through their synthetic being.

Here are some examples: You think Nadal is one of the most gracious loser largely based on how he reacts after a loss? How can you even reach there while ignoring the mountain of evidence that gets stacked right against that 'gracious' claim - near instantly. And that's AFTER Nadal's best efforts to camouflage it.

Wouldn't you consider his shameless and repeated violation of the rules of the game with complete disdain and disregard to his fellow players a reasonable piece to more than negate what he does at the net after a loss to claim the 'gracious' card?

You see, it's impossible to be one person on paper and produce diagonally opposite actions. It's like my famous saying "You can fool some people all the time, you call fool all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time".

With large enough canvass of nearly a decade to make definitive proclamation of the real character of the two clowns now, it's a no brainer how fake and manufactured both are, largely based on the 'leaks'. Just like another famous saying of mine "Volume of your actions is so loud that what you say is inaudible".

You think Federer is a nice person who cares about his fans and other people? Give me a freaking break!!!!!!!! NOTHING can be farther from truth and this is way way way beyond the 'everyone has flaws' BS. It's so far into the dark realm that it borders on being a legitimate disease.

There have been millions of leaks throughout his career to more than support the claim that he may be the MOST narcissistic athlete to ever grace the sporting world. The bedrock of that 'illness' is EXTREME and CHRONIC selfishness with ABSOLUTELY no regard to anyone else.

And that act he produces to mesmerize fans CANNOT freaking have ANY legs when placed next to his transgressions. Forget fans or other players, he didn't even spare his girl friend and wife from the onslaught. He couldn't, because it's on auto pilot.

So if that's true, how come SO MANY around the world fail to 'SEE' through the BS. First, they do, BUT they are from opposing camps. Second, it's because of the combination of the innate urge to be a winner WITHOUT putting in the effort and the herd mentality. Easiest way to fool yourself into being a winner is to VERY VERY closely and rabidly associate yourself to someone who already is a winner - on a grand scale. And then you don't want to be the odd one out and get ridiculed and scorned. So even if you are on the fence, the temptation to jump in with the masses is irresistible.

If the allegiance to respective players is MAINLY based on their superior talent, you can understand but when it crosses into ANY other territory mandated by their character and other BS, it's not only flawed it's downright unexplainable - rationally.

Not convinced? Try this: If so much was at stake on how you behave publicly, it would be easy to avoid the obvious stuff that run counter to the image you are attempting to project for whatever reason(s), right? Well, in this case(s), the personality trait(s) is so stupendously stained that even that kind of pressure and blow back fails to hold the animal back from escaping. Need examples?

How about Federer's sore loser antics - so heavily documented - over and over again? You would think such a cardinal and obvious breach of your image should be easy to avoid BUT the narcissism is so intense and pervasive that it escapes for all but the blind to see.

Same goes with Nadal's on-court coaching, time violation and standing up fellow players.

Translation: There's NO way you can reasonably justify the rabidness and blindness of the following given the preponderance of evidence to the contrary. BOTH are phony BEYOND the 'everyone has flaws' BS WHEN placed next to the extreme allegiance they command.

Photos.

DUESSELDORF, GERMANY - MAY 24: Andy Roddick of USA smashes his racket on the floor during his match against Go Soeda of Japan during day five of Power Horse World Team Cup at Rochusclub on May 24, 2012 in Duesseldorf, Germany. (Photo by Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia returns the ball during the quarter final game between Simona Halep of Romania and Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, at the WTA Brussels Open on May 24, 2012. The second edition of WTA Brussels Open tennis tournament takes place from May 19 to 26, 2012. AFP PHOTO/BELGA PHOTO/ VIRGINIE LEFOUR ***BELGIUM OUT***VIRGINIE LEFOUR/AFP/GettyImages

Just before the beak emerged.

Boris Becker's daughter? Son?

Tennis while dancing.

Estonian tennis player Kaia Kanepi returns aball on May 24, 2012 to Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova during their WTA Brussels Open quarter-final match. Kanepi defeated Pironkova 6-3, 6-1. AFP PHOTO / BELGA / VIRGINIE LEFOURVIRGINIE LEFOUR/AFP/GettyImages

Are outhouses now changing freaking rooms?

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal walks to the changing room on the Paris Country Club on May 24, 2012 at Rueil-Malmaison (near Paris), where the 4th Guinot Mary Cohr Masters take place until May 25th. AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHONJACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/GettyImages

Britain's player Andy Murray plays with a tennis ball prior to an exhibition match during the 4th Guinot Mary Cohr Masters at Paris Country Club on May 24, 2012 at Rueil-Malamaison (near Paris). The Masters run until May 25th. AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHONJACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/GettyImages

A picture shows A Paris Country Club building and garden on May 24, 2012 at Rueil-Malamaison (near Paris), where the 4th Guinot Mary Cohr Masters take place until May 25th. AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHONJACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/GettyImages

 

Who has fared better against the top ten players historically?

A true measure of greatness is how a player performs against Top 10 rivals.

Bjorn Borg, the 11-time major championship winner, who was 67-28 (.705) during his illustrious career, ranks No. 1 in the overall FedEx Reliability Zone list for the best winning percentage versus Top 10 opponents.

But, of current players, Roger Federer is No. 2 with a 153-75 (.671) lifetime record following last week's Internazionali BNL d'Italia. So far in 2012, Federer is 8-2 against Top 10 rivals (as of 24 May), while Rafael Nadal is third overall (97-51, .655) and is 9-2 this season. Boris Becker, who retired in 1999, is No. 4 with a 121-65 (.651) mark. Interestingly, Andy Murray is No. 9 overall with a 52-43 record (.548), with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic at No. 10 on 69-58 lifetime (.543).

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The Waiting Has an End: Roger Federer is a "Racket-Star" on Tour! From M. Thanks.

M

 

The Roger Federer World Tour 2012 campaign: Coming Soon. From M. Thanks.

M

Okay, you guys - how'd we miss these?

 

Worried Becker urges Murray to withdraw from French Open ahead of SW19. From M. Thanks.

M

Boris Becker believes Andy Murray might be better off pulling out of the French Open to let his back problem recover in time for Wimbledon and the Olympics. 

Murray was clearly troubled by the injury as he lost to Richard Gasquet in Rome last week, revealing afterwards he had been carrying the complaint since December.

Click here.

US TV schedule: Roland Garros 2012.

Sunday, May 27

5:00 am - 10:00 am: First round (ESPN2, Live)
10:00 am - 7:00 pm: First round (Tennis Channel, Live)

Monday, May 28

5:00 am - 10:00 am: First round (ESPN2, Live)
10:00 am - 7:00 pm: First round (Tennis Channel, Live)

Tuesday, May 29

5:00 am - 10:00 am: First round (ESPN2, Live)
10:00 am - 7:00 pm: First round (Tennis Channel, Live)

Wednesday, May 30

5:00 am - 10:00 am: Second round (ESPN2, Live)
10:00 am - 7:00 pm: Second round (Tennis Channel, Live)

Thursday, May 31

5:00 am - 10:00 am: Second round (ESPN2, Live)
10:00 am - 7:00 pm: Second round (Tennis Channel, Live)

Friday, June 1

5:00 am - 10:00 am: Third round (ESPN2, Live)
10:00 am - 7:00 pm: Third round (Tennis Channel, Live)

Saturday, June 2

5:00 am - 12:00 pm: Third round (Tennis Channel, Live)
12:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Third round (NBC, Live)

Sunday, June 3

5:00 am - 1:00 pm: Fourth round (Tennis Channel, Live)
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Fourth round (NBC, Live)

Monday, June 4

5:00 am - 10:00 am: Fourth round (ESPN2, Live)
10:00 am - 7:00 pm: Fourth round (Tennis Channel, Live)

Tuesday, June 5

8:00 am - 1:00 pm: Quarterfinals (Tennis Channel, Live)
1:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Quarterfinals (ESPN2, Live)

Wednesday, June 6

8:00 am - 1:00 pm: Quarterfinals (ESPN2, Live)
1:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Quarterfinals (Tennis Channel, Live)

Thursday, June 7

8:00 am - 1:00 pm: Women's Semifinals (ESPN2, Live)
1:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Women's Semifinals (Tennis Channel, Repeat)

Friday, June 8

7:00 am - 11:00 am: Men's Semifinals (Tennis Channel, Live)
11:00 am - 2:00 pm: Men's Semifinals (NBC, Live)
5:00 pm - 12:00 pm: Men's Semifinals (Tennis Channel, Repeat)

Saturday, June 9

12:00 am - 7:00 am: Men's Semifinals (Tennis Channel, Repeat)
9:00 am - 12:00 pm: Women's Final (NBC, Live)

Sunday, June 10

9:00 am - 2:00 pm: Men's Final (NBC, Live)
2:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Men's Final (Tennis Channel, Repeat)
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Women's Final (Tennis Channel, Repeat)
8:00 pm - 12:00 am: Men's Final (Tennis Channel, Repeat)

Rarity of epic proportions: Federer has on something other RF. Or was he told it looked like RF from some angle?

Nadal's got bigger fish - to fry.

Were you surprised at Djokovic's antics after that disputed call in the first set @ Rome 2012 final against Nadal? You should be.

Here is the backdrop for rock people:

Score was 4-5 and 30 all with Nadal serving. After a long long rally Djokovic's shot barely clipped outside of the sideline close to the umpire. Linesman called it out. Umpire overruled it right away and instructed the players to replay the point. If Djokovic wins the point he reaches set point.

Instead Nadal wins the replayed point sending Djokovic into the angriest rage he could summon with a tirade of obscenities in his language that HAD to be the worst given the expressions on his face. He was simply livid. AND he was looking straight at the linesman while unleashing this verbal onslaught.

Score? 40-30 Nadal. Nadal wins the next point too and levels the score at 5 all. While on his way to his chair after this and with Nadal waiting at the net for Djokovic to pass first, Djokovic hits the net post with his racket right in front of Nadal barely two feet away with ALL his might. He would have loved a splinter to fly right into Nadal for pay back.

NOW:

First the ball barely barely clipped the outside of the line transforming the errant call from the linesman understandable, if not justified. Only way to definitively know if the ball was in or out was to be on top of it all - exactly where the umpire was. So it was wasn't some gross inexcusable mistake.

Second, it wasn't that Djokovic was about to win the point. Not even freaking close. Nadal was  not only there even after he heard the call but was easily able to return th ball with enough depth making the dramatic outburst even more moot.

Translation: NOTHING would have changed either for Djokovic or for Nadal if the linesman had not spoken. So why did Djokovic do it? It appears it was more out of exhaustion from being in a looooong rally and hoping this would have ended it with a happy ending for him. But that's all wishful thinking given the facts.

Go to 1:18 on the video to watch it yourself.

 

Women's Roland Garros champions since 2000. All straight sets except one?

2000	FRA	Mary Pierce	ESP	Conchita Martínez	6–2, 7–5
2001	USA	Jennifer Capriati	BEL	Kim Clijsters	1–6, 6–4, 12–10
2002	USA	Serena Williams	USA	Venus Williams	7–5, 6–3
2003	BEL	Justine Henin	BEL	Kim Clijsters	6–0, 6–4
2004	RUS	Anastasia Myskina	RUS	Elena Dementieva	6–1, 6–2
2005	BEL	Justine Henin	FRA	Mary Pierce	6–1, 6–1
2006	BEL	Justine Henin	RUS	Svetlana Kuznetsova	6–4, 6–4
2007	BEL	Justine Henin	SRB	Ana Ivanovic	6–1, 6–2
2008	SRB	Ana Ivanovic	RUS	Dinara Safina	6–4, 6–3
2009	RUS	Svetlana Kuznetsova	RUS	Dinara Safina	6–4, 6–2
2010	ITA	Francesca Schiavone	AUS	Samantha Stosur	6–4, 7–6(7–2)
2011	CHN	Li Na	ITA	Francesca Schiavone	6–4, 7–6(7–0)

 

Reason Roland Garros is widely considered to be the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world.

Because of the slow playing surface and the five-set men's singles matches without a tiebreak in the final set.

Youngest, oldest and unseeded winners @ Roland Garros. Check the oldest freaking winner carefully for obvious reasons.

Youngest winner	Men:	Michael Chang	17 years and 3 months
	Women:	Monica Seles	16 years and 6 months
Oldest winner	Men:	Andrés Gimeno	34 years and 10 months
	Women:	Chris Evert	31 years and 6 months
Unseeded Winners	Men:	Marcel Bernard  Mats Wilander  Gustavo Kuerten  Gastón Gaudio	1946 1982 1997 2004
	Women:	Margaret Scriven	1933

 

Defending champions @ Roland Garros 2012.

Event	Champion	Runner-up	Score
2011 Men's Singles	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer	7–5, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–1
2011 Women's Singles	Li Na	Francesca Schiavone	6–4, 7–6(7–0)
2011 Men's Doubles	Daniel Nestor  Max Mirnyi	Juan Sebastián Cabal  Eduardo Schwank	7–6(7–3), 3–6, 6–4
2011 Women's Doubles	Andrea Hlaváčková  Lucie Hradecká	Sania Mirza  Elena Vesnina	6–4, 6–3
2011 Mixed Doubles	Casey Dellacqua  Scott Lipsky	Katarina Srebotnik  Nenad Zimonjić	7–6(8–6), 4–6, [10–7]

 

Prize money and ranking points for Roland Garros 2012. Wonder why people prefer singles!!!!!

Event		W	F	SF	QF	4R	3R	2R	1R
Singles	Points (M/F)	2000	1200 / 1400	720 / 900	360 / 500	180 / 280	90 / 160	45 / 100	10/5
	Prize money	€1,250,000	€625,000	€310,000	€155,000	€80,000	€47,000	€28,000	€18,000
Doubles	Points (M/F)	2000	1200 / 1400	720 / 900	360 / 500	180 / 280	90 / 160	-	-
	Prize money*	€340,000	€170,000	€85,000	€43,000	€23,000	€12,000	€8,000	-
Mixed Doubles	Points	NA	NA	NA	NA	-	-	NA	NA
	Prize money*	€100,000	€50,000	€25,000	€13,000	-	-	€7,000	€3,500

* per team

The all-important all-decisive factor at 2012 Roland Garros.

Here are some hints:

Federer's age and record ever since he turned 30, if not earlier.

Djokovic's downward spiral from last year's form and the consequent toll the comparative 'grind' the current state will exact (is exacting).

Murray? He is just pretend player so no comment.

Have a clue?

Could it be the five set format? You bet!!!!!! The tournament is called 'The most punishing tennis tournament in the world' for freaking nothing.

UNLESS you can pull off a three set win over Nadal, your chances to win drop precipitously from the first ball of the fourth set. And with above, don't even freaking think of the fifth set. For naysayers, Nadal is yet to play a five setter here. Wonder what could be the reason?

While this dynamic is true of ANY Roland Garros with 'Nadal while breathing' in the draw, it becomes even more relevant and pronounced this year for obvious freaking reasons. Not only do the top two cats seem ill prepared for the long haul, no one from the ranks is ANY threat. If that wasn't enough, here's the closer: Nadal's two back to back wins over Djokovic - in straight sets - last one with two service breaks in EACH set.

Roland Garros champions since 2000. Freaking some Gaudio won it too? And some Costa too? Geeeeeezzzzzz!!!! Makes the tournament lose some prestige. I mean how many tomato cans have won Wimbledon or the US Open?

Year	Draws	Singles	Doubles
2011	S|D	Rafael Nadal	Max Mirnyi / Daniel Nestor
2010	S|D	Rafael Nadal	Daniel Nestor / Nenad Zimonjic
2009	S|D	Roger Federer	Lukas Dlouhy / Leander Paes
2008	S|D	Rafael Nadal	Pablo Cuevas / Luis Horna
2007	S|D	Rafael Nadal	Mark Knowles / Daniel Nestor
2006	S|D	Rafael Nadal	Jonas Bjorkman / Max Mirnyi
2005	S|D	Rafael Nadal	Jonas Bjorkman / Max Mirnyi
2004	S|D	Gaston Gaudio	Xavier Malisse / Olivier Rochus
2003	S|D	Juan Carlos Ferrero	Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan
2002	S|D	Albert Costa	Paul Haarhuis / Yevgeny Kafelnikov
2001	S|D	Gustavo Kuerten	Mahesh Bhupathi / Leander Paes
2000	S|D	Gustavo Kuerten	Todd Woodbridge / Mark Woodforde

 

Fiona aka Clijsters announces she will retire after US Open BUT with a condition.

In her never ending pursuit to be fair and impartial to ALL her kids, she has announced that she will HAVE to return if she gives birth to another kid. Her reasoning?

"I want to make sure the second kid is deprived of all the basic stuff a kid deserves just as the first one did. As you know I sacrificed my current kid to pursue my dreams EVEN THOUGH I retired the first time to start a family. I don't wish to take all that away from the second kid and be accused of favoritism".

Click here for more.

Madame Tussauds unveils Nadal's wax figure.

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal is the latest personality to be recognised with a wax replica by Madame Tussauds, as the museum unveiled the life-size statue Wednesday at Regents Park in London.

A team of 20 stylists, sculptors, and artists worked together to complete the figure in four months. The portrayal of Nadal showcases the 25 year old preparing to carve a backhand slice.

The Spaniard will look to win a record-breaking seventh Roland Garros trophy, after tying Bjorn Borg last year with victory over Roger Federer in the Paris final. Nadal recently defeated Novak Djokovic to win his sixth Rome title.

More photos of the wax figure here.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/05/Features/Nadal-Madame-Tussauds-Wax-Figure-Unveiled.aspx

10 happiest countries in the world. You village in there? Not a freaking chance.

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4 Degrees With 0% Unemployment.

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ATP 2012 Rome Final Djokovic vs Nadal: Full match.