Roland Garros, The French Open Thread

[volfanbill]

With the French Open just a week away, I was ready to start a thread on it.

Rafael Nadal continues to own Federer on clay, winning the Italian Open yesterday 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3. In other men's news, Andy Roddick has pulled himself from the French, citing a bum right shoulder. Not that it was expected, but this just proves once again that it will be awhile before we see another male from the US win a Grand Slam.

On the women's side, things appear to be wide open.

Both of the Williams sisters are nursing injuries, and Maria Sharapova, who will overtake the retiring Justin Henin as number one this week, withdrew from the Italian Open before her semifinal match against eventual winner Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic complained of a neck pain throughout the final, so she's not totally healthy either. No injuries that I'm aware of for my girl Ana, but she looked awful in a second round loss in Italy.

Justin Henin ruled the clay court on the women's side and I'm still stunned she didn't wait until after Roland Garros to retire.

I'm taking the obvious favorite Nadal on the men's side and I'm thinking either Sharapova or Jankovic on the women's side... Cheering for Ana though of course...

[doozer]

It could just be the skimpy outfits, but I love the women's game. I might watch the men's final.

[volsgal03]

4 days Bill, its almost here.

[Vercingetorix]

Ivanovic is my girl, of course. A friend is obsessed with the fantastic but weirdly grunting Sharapova. We're trying to work out a suitable wager on the French. What kind of odds should I demand?

[BigPapaVol]

Originally Posted by Vercingetorix

Ivanovic is my girl, of course. A friend is obsessed with the fantastic but weirdly grunting Sharapova. We're trying to work out a suitable wager on the French. What kind of odds should I demand?

3-1 would be great for you. Sharapova is the favorite, but not the better player on clay. If you can get 3-1, that's a great bet. If he's that obsessed, you might be able to get the field at some decent odds.

[volfanbill]

Originally Posted by Vercingetorix

Ivanovic is my girl, of course. A friend is obsessed with the fantastic but weirdly grunting Sharapova. We're trying to work out a suitable wager on the French. What kind of odds should I demand?

I agree with 3-1 if you can get it. Maria looked much better at the Italian than Ana did in her brief stint, however Maria withdrew in the semis with an injury that she claims won't affect her for the French. Don't count out Jankovic to win back to back events though.

[volfanbill]

it begins...

James Blake has already won so there is good news: With just a handful of matches completed, the US has already done better this year than they did last year.

Ana is also into round 2 with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Sofia Arvidsson.

[volfanbill]

Tsonga has withdrawn with a bad knee and will have surgery next week. He'll be out 3-4 months. I was really hoping to see how the fans would lavish him if he made another major run.

[BigPapaVol]

wow, Carlos Moya just choked away a fifth set to lose to a first timer.

[volfanbill]

a minor upset with the moya match and Nicole Vaidisova lost her first round match, but that doesn't surprise me. She's played absolutely horrid tennis since the Aussie. I guess ESPN is just making a story of it because they don't really have anything else noteworthy yet.

[volfanbill]

Nadal and Federer both see action tomorrow on the men's side along with possible sleeper Tomas Berdych (11 seed) and Richard Gasquet who could also be a major factor.

On the women's side, Venus and Jankovich see their first action. Matches to keep an eye on will be the Anna Chakvetadze match and Marion Bartoli's match. The Russian Chakvetadze has had a very strong 2008, including reaching the semis in Italy. Bartoli is another Frenchie who should get major crowd draws.

[BigPapaVol]

Bill,

Looks like one of yor ODU homegirls is giving Venus all she wants in the second set.

[volfanbill]

i've been keeping up online, but did the announcers actually mention her going to ODU?

[volfanbill]

looks like Venus has turned it on now though...

[BigPapaVol]

Originally Posted by volfanbill

i've been keeping up online, but did the announcers actually mention her going to ODU?

Martina did, and followed up with her conversation with Lieberman, the more famous ODU alum. From the Martina phone chat with Nancy, do I have to assume she's a lesbian?