So, I've had some reformatting to do of my laptop, but while I was away Li Na won the French Open on Saturday making her the first Chinese woman to do so.  Li Na was this year's Aussie Open finalist and subsequently struggled to win any of her matches.  She beat last year's surprise winner Francesca Schiavone in straight sets and said it was 'dream come true' and has now risen to number four in the rankings.

 

And on Sunday, following the expected loss of Andy Murray to Rafa Nadal in the semi-final, and the surprising loss of Novak Djokovic (who injured his knee) to Roger Federer, Nadal and Federer fought for the men's title.  Although Fed took a set he's still no match for Nadal on clay.  Nadal won in four sets, and has now won 6 French Opens (10 Grand Slams in total) and is the second youngest man to do so (after Borg).  Nadal will now keep his number one ranking, although Novak is hot on his heels, until Wimbledon at least as Djokovic has pulled out of Queens Club.

The First Hurdle for the King

Nearly had a major upset to report- I mentioned in my last post that Rafael Nadal was in a tough 5 setter against John Isner, and boy was he- honestly at one point I thought Isner would definately win it.  But Nadal pushed through.  Rafa won the first set 6-4 but Isner has shown his mettle before (by winning that crazy long Wimbledon match against Mahut 70-68) and managed to stay with Nadal in the second and third sets.  They went to tie breaks and Isner walked them with his giant serve making Rafa look rather ordinary.  Into the fourth set it seemed that Isner had the momentum and all he would need would be to hang in there and get to another tie break.  The only other time Nadal had been 2-1 down at the French Open was when he lost to Soderling two years ago, and he had never played a 5 setter here before.   But Nadal came back hard in the fourth set and raced through to win it 6-2, and he broke Isner early in the fifth- but Isner had broken Nadal back before in the match to level the score and never gave up fighting.  It wasn't over until Nadal won the very last point 6-4 7-6 7-6 6-2 6-4. 

No other major upsets or almost upsets to report yet but Djokovic up to 41 winning streak plays del Potro in the next round, Murray is up against Bolelli but should win it, Tipsaravic against Federer might be interesting as Tipsy can play super well sometimes, Jankovic plays Mattek-Sands who became the highest ranked American with her recent win, Shuai Peng plays Schiavone, Vania King who has a nice singing voice plays Elena Baltacha, and Heather Watson who is now in the top 100 plays Kaia Kanepi. And Jamie Murray won his first round Mens Doubles match with Chris Guccione against Clement and Chardy.  So we'll see what happens...

Went, Saw, Got the Mug

I got back from London at 1am on Tuesday morning, got to bed at 2:30am, and spent several hours on Tuesday involved in a job centre farce.  Yesterday I relaxed myself with making christmas decorations (it's so close to being nearly December I think its not wholly inappropriate), and these are my excuses for not telling my rapt fans about my trip to the ATP End Of Tour Finals!!!

Unfortunately 5hrs on the coach to get down there and an 8hr gap between breakfast and lunch left me too tired and headachey to enjoy the tennis to its fullest.  But certainly watching live is an experience, even though we had the cheap seats our view was very good- the court looks small and far away on tv and camera but actually we got a great view.  Although we were too high up for the lights or cameras to spot us (or were we??), so no one got to see my glorious banner, apart from the lady next to us who asked to see it after I waved it around numerous times.   Both the doubles and singles went in straight sets Bhupati and Myrni beating Kubot and Marach, and Djokovic winning against Berdych.  Bhupati and Myrni provided some entertainment by coming from a break down to win the first set in the tie break.  Oh I felt every point, I was in it from the very begginning- hmm when Bhupati hit a double fault, aw when Myrni knocked one in the net, and oooh when Bhupati left it for a Myrni who was miles away.

And it was lovely when Djokovic and Berdych came out, holding hands with little children provided by the ATP (I assume they keep them in a really nice warehouse somewhere), by this time the crowd had super filled out and the EXTREMELY ANNOYING people (particularly one laughing man) in the 'hospitality' suites between the two tiers of seating had finally stopped talking.  There wasnt any volleys in the doubles and the singles boys definately enjoyed there baselines rallies- two similar players but Djokovic just slightly better at everything, and Berdych couldnt get his serve working giving two double faults in his opening game to hand Djoko the break.  After that it was clear who would win but Djoko still provided entertainment in his movement and athleticism. 

 

Oh, remember when I said we didn't get on tv, and then cryptically added (or were we??) Well check this iPlayer still out:

Finals

Well, I stayed up last night until around midnight watching the score updates of the mens semi-finals (and about an hour later 'getting ready for bed', am starting to think that staying up til 1am, and getting up at 11am may not be great for my skin if nothing else) and today I watched the hightlights on the ole TV.  But I decided not to watch the live score for the womens final and wait entirely for the tv highlights (it is a final afterall), which meant I had to occupy myself until 6:15pm for the highlights programme to start.  I did go into town and bought a newspaper, and agonised over whether to read the sports section for a sillyly long amount of time, since we all know I have no will power and so I read it.

Erm, this is how they prepare for a final, US style.

But was saved by the fact that all the newspapers had gone to sleep before the womens final too, it was a sign that I should keep waiting and I defo did not want the result ruined by turning on my iGoogle page and having the score flashing up.  And so (understanding my lack of will power) I havent turned my laptop on all day, possibly the first time since I bought it, apart from the several times it was broken.   And was the match worth it, erm no, predictably not.  Clijsters beat Zvonarava 6-2 6-1 ouch, poor Zvon who lost the wimbledon final too and is starting to become the new Safina (playing great, getting to a final, then crumbling under nerves).  But as Clijster's herself put it, it took her '7 or 8' finals before she won her first.

Moving on then to the mens semis, Nadal up first againts Youzhny and I dont have any pictures.  Nadal has boring hair and shirts now and Youzhny was creamed 6-2 6-3 6-3 or something.  Nadal has not dropped a set yet, been a little lucky with the draw, but still looking ominous for his final opponent.  But who would that be?

Federer against Djokovic in the second semi was gonna be the big one- Fed with the winning record against Djo (his shirt says Nole and apparently thats his nickname but without a good understanding of Serbian language or culture I'm gonna work the surname, okay?), but Djokovic has won 3 of the last 6 (which to me doesnt sound that impressive but whatevs).  It was a super close first set, both having break points in the first three games, it stayed on serve though until 5-5 when Djo was broken and Federer took the first set.  But the man previously known as the Djoker, and with a record for inconsistency was being far more balanced and mature than Captain boring (Federer). And once Novak was on top in the second set Feds faded away, 1-6.  Then they decided to do it all again and the next two sets went 7-5, 2-6.

And so it would come down to a crucial 5th set, which again was super close. Until about 3-3 when Djoko had a few chances on Feds serve but he held him off, then at 5-4 up (I think Fed served first in every set lucky ducky) Federer had two match points on Djo's serve.  But he saves them masterfully.  Mature and brave, if you wanted to sum it up.  It goes to deuce a few times but Novak holds.  And Federer...doesn't!!! Djokovic breaks fairly comfortably.  And Djo serves for the match. And Fed has a break back point.  And misses.  And now Djo has a match point.  And wins.
And for the first time since 2003 Federer will not be in a US Open final, which just seems a crazy thing (that he has been in 6 finals, and won fve, I just looked it up to check).

Roger Federer's father wears an RF outfit, Novak's follow the theme to a rather more insane degree.

And so to the men's final.
Well, after a fashion, a rainy fashion not a sartorial one as Federer was remarkably absent so was Anna Wintour, who on examination appears to have been at everyone of his matches, you would think she has more to do?   Anyway, the rain stopped play before the final on Sunday and it was postponed to Monday, where it interrupted the match at the end of the second set, which is when I went to bed.   In fact the spectators were told to leave the stadium as thunder and lightning was expected.  Nadal had just won the first set 6-4 (broke Novak in the first game of the match), and Novak had been 4-1 up in the second but had been broken back to 4-4.   By good fortune I saw the final in unscheduled highlights today whilst flicking around as my mother strove to find a film to watch on her day off sick.  (We settled on a Miss Marple once the tennis had finished)  Novak did take the second set with some lovely tennis, 7-5.  But Nadal broke early in the third and took it 6-4, and in the fourth erm Nadal took it 6-2 but Novak had a chance to break back at 4-1 but didnt quite happen for him.  And Nadal has now won all four of the grand slams, the seventh man to do so, which is impressive. And he's won three of the four of this years.