OT: French Open... | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT: French Open...

Madison Keys played a solid first set, then the wheels came off. Was it nervousness? How do you explain being seeded 12th and losing to someone ranked 290?

Anyway the diminishing American females still have 3 in tomorrow's 3rd round. Bethane plays Sam Stosur, a one-time Major champ.
Local favorite Kristina Mladenovic, seeded 13th, plays lower ranked Shelby Rogers.

Venus must parry with Belgium's Elise Mertens, the lass who knocked out #6 Cibulkova. Will Serena still be in the stands?

Here's everything about Friday.

Day 6: Friday, 2 June Schedule of Play at Roland Garros 2017
 
triaddukefan said:
Never count out Serena. That being said..... after Serena and Venus retire..... then I will most likely retire from watching Women's tennis as well.
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Yeah, it sure will be boring without them in the sport unless some new, great American champion emerges. I still have hopes for Coco.
 
I am, naturally, pleased that Venus has made it to the Round of 16, but she will have here hands full henceforth.
The Swiss Timea Bascinszky has been a bulldozer, winning 36 games vs. 11 from her opponents in the first 3 rounds. And Timea is the one who knocked our beloved out last year.
And Americans keep slipping into the ether. Goodbye Shelby; goodbye Bethane. Near as I can tell, only Venus and John Isner remain.

What's a sport without controversy? The article below is about an attempt to rename Margaret Court Arena.

Navratilova brands Court a racist and homophobe in arena row

And here is your Saturday schedule of play.

Day 7: Saturday, 3 June Schedule of Play at Roland Garros 2017
 
wire chief said:
I am, naturally, pleased that Venus has made it to the Round of 16, but she will have here hands full henceforth.
The Swiss Timea Bascinszky has been a bulldozer, winning 36 games vs. 11 from her opponents in the first 3 rounds. And Timea is the one who knocked our beloved out last year.
And Americans keep slipping into the ether. Goodbye Shelby; goodbye Bethane. Near as I can tell, only Venus and John Isner remain.

What's a sport without controversy? The article below is about an attempt to rename Margaret Court Arena.

Navratilova brands Court a racist and homophobe in arena row

And here is your Saturday schedule of play.

Day 7: Saturday, 3 June Schedule of Play at Roland Garros 2017
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I've long known that Court is a homophobe. She has stated her hate for gays in the past and it appears that she has evolved, but not in a good way. I agree that the court should be renamed as this disgusting human being does not deserve to be celebrated in any way.

Navratilova is my favorite player of all time. Not only did she have the best all-around game that the women's game has ever seen, she was also very brave to defect and came out at a time when she could have made much more money in endorsement deals had she not revealed publicly that she is gay.
 
.-.
John Isner played just one tie-breaker set (and lost) before postponement. He'll resume at 5am.

A very rough approximation has Venus moving in maybe 9am. I am wary, for NBC picks up coverage at noon, and if history is a guide, may very well forbid the Tennis Channel to show Venus, deciding to give it to us as tape delay.

Your Sunday schedule.

Day 8: Sunday, 4 June Schedule of Play at Roland Garros 2017
 
easttexastrash said:
I've long known that Court is a homophobe. She has stated her hate for gays in the past and it appears that she has evolved, but not in a good way. I agree that the court should be renamed as this disgusting human being does not deserve to be celebrated in any way.

Navratilova is my favorite player of all time. Not only did she have the best all-around game that the women's game has ever seen, she was also very brave to defect and came out at a time when she could have made much more money in endorsement deals had she not revealed publicly that she is gay.
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Best women's player I ever saw, and I've seen them all, is one young lady who was on the scene for only 5 or 6 years, but for the short time she was at the top of her game, there was no one better, that includes Graf, the Williams sisters, Navratilova, Evert, etc. She reminded me of a ballet dancer out on the court. She is mostly forgotten now, which is a shame. Hana Mandlikova.
 
Venus was down 5-1 in the first set and just fought back to 5-5, surviving two set points !

Go Venus !
 
huskyrob1 said:
Best women's player I ever saw, and I've seen them all, is one young lady who was on the scene for only 5 or 6 years, but for the short time she was at the top of her game, there was no one better, that includes Graf, the Williams sisters, Navratilova, Evert, etc. She reminded me of a ballet dancer out on the court. She is mostly forgotten now, which is a shame. Hana Mandlikova.
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I well remember Hana. She was a fine player, but she was in the Martina era and could not really compete with her.
 
.-.
wire chief said:
I well remember Hana. She was a fine player, but she was in the Martina era and could not really compete with her.
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With all due respect you should check things out first before making that kind of generalization. In 1980 and 1981, Mandlikova and Navratilova played 6 times with Hana winning 4 of those matches. Two of those matches were GS tournaments, one was on grass at Wimbledon and another was on hard court at the US Open. In 82 through 84 Mandlikova was dogged by injuries, however she did make a comeback in late 84 through 85. She won the US Open in 85 beating Evert and Martina in consecutive matches. After 85 the book on Mandlikova was her concentration, that being said I think the two are pretty even in Grand Slam meetings. Also keep in mind that Navratilova was 6 years older, but when Mandlikova first came up she had Martina's number.
 
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huskyrob1 said:
With all due respect you should check things out first before making that kind of generalization. In 1980 and 1981, Mandlikova and Navratilova played 6 times with Hana winning 4 of those matches. Two of those matches were GS tournaments, one was on grass at Wimbledon and another was on hard court at the US Open. In 82 through 84 Mandlikova was dogged by injuries, however she did make a comeback in late 84 through 85. She won the US Open in 85 beating Evert and Martina in consecutive matches. After 85 the book on Mandlikova was her concentration, that being said I think the two are pretty even in Grand Slam meetings. Also keep in mind that Navratilova was 6 years older, but when Mandlikova first came up she had Martina's number.
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You are right; my wording was too dismissive. Still, the reason Hana is more forgotten than is Martina simply resides in her winning 4 Majors to Martina's 18. Like I wrote she was one fine player, and 99% of tennis players would love to trade their record for hers.
 
No more Venus.... no more Isner.... no more Del Potro.... no more Gasquet..... no more me watching the french open til 2018 :(
 
triaddukefan said:
No more Venus.... no more Isner.... no more Del Potro.... no more Gasquet..... no more me watching the french open til 2018 :(
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I am curious what Timea's game will look like as she moves along. She's a versatile stroker. I was impressed...while, of course, pleading for her defeat.
 
wire chief said:
You are right; my wording was too dismissive. Still, the reason Hana is more forgotten than is Martina simply resides in her winning 4 Majors to Martina's 18. Like I wrote she was one fine player, and 99% of tennis players would love to trade their record for hers.
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Hana had the most beautiful strokes of any women's player I ever saw, and no one hit the ball as hard as her until the Williams sisters and Sharapova came along. Hana just didn't have the staying power or ambition and will to win at the top that Martina had, and she was always getting hurt.
 
huskyrob1 said:
Best women's player I ever saw, and I've seen them all, is one young lady who was on the scene for only 5 or 6 years, but for the short time she was at the top of her game, there was no one better, that includes Graf, the Williams sisters, Navratilova, Evert, etc. She reminded me of a ballet dancer out on the court. She is mostly forgotten now, which is a shame. Hana Mandlikova.
Expand ...

I remember her well and she had an extraordinarily beautiful game. I had almost forgotten about her until you mentioned her name. You are right that she was like a ballet dancer on the court.
 
.-.
triaddukefan said:
No more Venus.... no more Isner.... no more Del Potro.... no more Gasquet..... no more me watching the french open til 2018 :(
Expand ...

You only had four eggs and put them all in the same basquet?
 
So, 8 women left and not one has ever won a slam. Really, really unusual.
 
In the realm of she's-come-out-of-nowhere, a first time Latvian-in-the-semis is 19 year old Jelena Ostapenko, who has dispatched the Woz. Youngster bears watching.
 
And her beat goes on. When was the last time a 47th ranked player made the finals of a Majpr. Answer: never. Jelena won in 3 sets about an hour ago. The Latvian phenom hits her strokes in the company of men, even a few notches faster than Andy Murray.
Using her unique talent, she's a kamikaze player, suffering lots of unforced errors, but the winners, boy oh boy.
Happy 20th birthday, Jelena. It's probably your best.

As I write Simona Halep is up a set, early in set 2 in the other semi.

Andy Murray vs. Stan Wawrinka gets underway at 6 am tomorrow.
 
Nice job by the kid to rally for the win. Just tougher mentally than Halep, and fearless. A lot of players on the women's side from the past, including some mentioned in this thread, played a different game from the one to which we're now treated. Comparing players from different eras is a very slippery slope in most sports, and none moreso than women's tennis. The athleticism today is elevated to a whole new level...and we're the luckier for it!
 
I hope you saw it, just an excellent women's final. The retriever is Romania's Simona Halep. Only 25, but we've seen her lots. She was a finalist at this same stadium in 2014. Not too great at other venues, but clay is her forte. As a retriever you want every chance for a ball to slow down as you race cross court. Clay does that. Man, does she get to those balls, often when this viewer says that she won't reach it.

The pounder is 20 year & 2 days old Latvian Jelena Ostapenko. A pro since age 16, but we don't know her, obviously cause she hasn't
impressed. The biggest feather in her cap is the 3rd round at the Aussie. But like I wrote above, her strokes are man-speed.

She comes right out and blasts Simona off the court. All well and good, but pounders live and die with risk, and balls will go astray.
So breaks of serve are traded and we're at 4-all. Great Pouncing; great retrieving. Each gave the other problems on second serves.
Each winds up winning only about 1/4 of second serves.

But then, Holy Batman! Simona reels off 5 games. It's 3-0 in the 2nd, and I'm asking myself what I want to do after tennis.

Well, Whoa Nellie, Jelena is cutting down on the unforced errors and finishes the set, winning 6 of 7 games. Not because Simona is playing poorly, she has very few unforced errors. In part her problem is she also has very few winners. Chasing down Jalena's
cannonballs does not much allow Simona to return with authority.

The 3rd set is more exchange of breaks. Like the 2nd set, the early lead is with Simona, 3-1. The Latvian must get REAL MAD
When she sees herself behind (though there was not much histrionics.. she seems darn mature). Anyway, you'd think the youngster would at some point get overwhelmed by the occasion, by her losing in set 3.

Well, we found what she is, an ice maiden when it counts. The winners/errors ration turned in her favor.
On one point she mashes the ball down the line; it's headed out. But Wait! It hits the top of the net, bounces straight up, curves toward the court, 8 feet in the air and drops for a winner. That's when you wonder, if God's invested in the outcome.

And now a 20 year and 2 days old Latvian is the new champ at Roland Garros. Heck of a thing.
 
.-.
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