Stosur after defeating Cibulkova in the 2012 quarter-final

You probably know that I’m a big fan of Aussie player Sam Stosur. Other than Rafa, she’s the player that makes me frazzle the most during the ups and downs of her matches.

Thinking about Sam’s Roland Garros draw this year, I checked the ladies’ French Open odds and was pleased to see that the odds of her making the final are currently 13/2. This was better than I expected, especially given her performance so far this year.

Like her fans, the bookies know that something special happens when Sam plays at Roland Garros, where she is away from the Aussie home crowd pressure and can unleash her clay court power.

Sam made the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2009, was runner-up in 2010 and a semi-finalist in 2012. Last year I was lucky enough to be at her fourth round match against Sloane Stephens and her quarter-final match against Dominika Cibulkova.

Stosur has a really tough Roland Garros draw this year.

She meets Date-Krumm (Paddy Power tennis betting has her as the odds on favourite at 1/18) in the first round and could then face Jankovic, Kvitova, defending champion Sharapova and Azarenka. And a potential match against Serena Williams awaits if she does make it through to the final.

Signing autographs after defeating Sloane Stephens in 2012

It’s a totally tough draw but in tennis, anything can happen. And often does!

I’ll be believing in Sammy from the sidelines.

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal

Finally some live tennis! My first live tournament of the year!

My first memories of Roland Garros are from the early 80′s, watching Lendl, Wilander, Navratilova, and Evert battle on one of the 3 French TV channels. And of course like every French person, I remember Noah’s historic win over Wilander in 1983, his overwhelming joy and his run to embrace his father. Leconte booed during the trophy presentation in 1988, Edberg’s heartbreaking defeat against Chang in 1989, Agassi’s flashy outfits, the Graf-Seles breathtaking final in 1992, Guga’s samba tennis in 1997… Time flies.

May 2004: my first trip to Roland Garros. Agassi, Safin, Ferrero, the Williams sisters, I finally got to see some of the best tennis players I had watched for years on TV.

Marat Safin, 2004:

Fabrice Santoro and Peter Lundgren, 2004:

Juan Carlos Ferrero, 2004:

From then I was hooked, and Roland Garros 2004 was the first of many tournaments I’ve attended over the years: the US Open, the Queen’s, Bercy, the LagardËre Trophy, the Optima Open, the Open GDF Suez and of course Roland Garros (in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012).

Roger Federer, 2006:

Ilie Nastase, 2007:

Novak Djokovic, 2008:

Court Philippe Chatrier, 2010:

Rafael Nadal, 2011:

Maria Sharapova, 2012:

The excitement of the first tournaments was slowly replaced by a kind of “been there, done that” feeling, but there’s nothing like watching a sporting event courtside. Not only can you see and hear everything as it happens, but you also really feel part of the event. Of course, you don’t get the benefit of all those fancy TV replays and close-ups but you avoid annoying commentary.

One of the best thing is court-hopping. Wandering around the grounds with a simple ground pass, you get to see as much or as little of the event as you want: watch Sharapova practicing on court 12, Hewitt playing on court 7 or a Goerges-Stosur doubles match on court 16.

The Roland Garros 2013 draw ceremony was held around midday Paris time on Friday 24 May.

Rafael Nadal assisted with the women’s draw (wearing shorts on a cold Paris day, bless him) and Maria Sharapova assisted with the men’s draw.

So, onward to the details of the draw.

View the Roland Garros 2013 Men’s Draw

View the Roland Garros 2013 Women’s Draw

Read the review of the draw on the Roland Garros website

The Men’s Draw

• In Round 1, Djokovic (seed 1) plays Goffin, Federer (seed 2) plays a qualifer, Nadal (seed 3) plays Brands and Ferrer (seed 4) plays Matosevic
• Djokovic could meet Dimitrov in Round 3, who beat him recently in Madrid
• Potential Quarter-finals: Djokovic-Tipsarevic, Nadal-Gasquet, Berdych-Ferrer, Tsonga-Federer.
• Nadal and Djokovic are in the same half of the draw and could potentially meet in a Sem-Final.

GSG’s Round One Matches to Watch 

• Berdych v Monfils
• Simon v Hewitt
• Stepanek v Kyrgios (granted that I’m biased but Nick Kygios won the Boys Australian Open title this year, he has loads of potential and got a Wild Card to RG)
• Paire v Baghdatis
• Djokovic v Goffin (at one point Goffin looked like he might beat Federer during their RG match in 2012)

The Women’s Draw

• Kuznetsova comes in to the draw unseeded
• Stosur is in Sharapova’s QF, could meet Kvitova in Round 4
• Potential QFs: Williams v Kerber, Errani v A Radwanksa, Azarenka v Li Na, Kvitova v Sharapova
  

GSG’s Round One Women’s Matches to Watch

• Wozniaki v Robson
• Stosur v Date-Krumm
• Li Na v Medina Garrigues
• Kuznetsova v Makarova

What other matches are you looking forward to at the French Open? 

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal

Although I can’t be at Roland Garros this year, I’m excited to have some tennis friends sending me pics and updates for the blog.

View the Roland Garros 2013 Qualifying Draws

————–

This update, including the photos, was provided by @lizcurran girl-on-the-spot in cold, hail-stoney Paris. Liz is a great friend who also completed her fan slam in 2012.

Qualifying Matches

I had never really appreciated the importance of the Grand Slam qualifying tournaments until I went to Flushing Meadows the Friday before the start of the USO12. I saw the final day of qualifying and I really began to understand the passion that goes into winning one of those 16 coveted Main Draw places.

The 132 qualifying tournament entrants are whittled down to just sixteen through three hard fought rounds held over four days.

Today at the French Open (Day 3, Thursday 23 May) it was all second round matches so everyone had already won one round and was striving to get to within one win of the main draw. There was plenty of passion, and a few broken rackets (Andrea Petkovic stamped on hers when she lost ) amidst the tough cold conditions with intermittent rain/hailstorms.

The French Open even has its own logo and branding for the tournament and its own leaderboard of who has won what matches exactly the same as the main draw tournament does.

Updating the Qualifying Draw

Practice Sessions

The other bonus about going to the qualifying tournament is that you get the opportunity to see the players who are taking part in the main draw practice. Today on Suzanne Lenglen I saw Milos Raonic practicing with Richard Gasquet and Maria Sharapova playing sets against Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Suzanne Lenglen will definitely not be this empty when the main tourney kicks off

I also saw Alexander Dolgopolov practising very briefly before the rain set in again and sent him running from the court. He was sporting a nice customised Adidas tshirt saying ‘Dog is all in’ and whilst his hair was tied up in his customary ponytail I think it looked like he had had a bit of a haircut. I’m just waiting for Adidas to bring out some customised Andy Murray tshirts for the Andy Murray fans. We wait in hope (we are used to waiting!).

Clothing on an unseasonably cold Parisienne day

My phone tells me that the maximum temperature today was 12C and that it’s now 6C at 11pm.

Actually in the sunshine it was pretty warm, it is almost midsummer after all so the sun is high in the sky, but the sunshine was intermittent and when the clouds and the rain (hail storms on three occasions) and the wind came it was pretty horrendous.

This meant there were some interesting clothing combinations and lots of cold people on display as we determinedly stuck with our favourite sport through thick and thin!

The women mostly chose to go with leggings and long sleeved tops. But there were a few exceptions notably Paula Ormachea (who defeated Laura Robson to win the crucial Fed Cup GB v Argentina tie last month) who defied the cold spring conditions by wearing her trademark sunglasses and a skimpy dress with no leggings. Brave woman! Most of the other women looked pretty good in their leggings under skirt/dress combos but Andrea Petkovic, who lost a heartbreaker in 3 sets in a hailstorm, loses style marks for wearing black leggings with her navy and white skirt/top combination.

Spectators bundled up for the weather

And of course there is no evidence of how I looked today – wrapped up in everything I had with me in my bag including a woolly hat. That look is staying secret!

Around the site

A couple of final pictures from around the site. Firstly I spotted a mobile phone charging station just in front of Suzanne Lenglen – I think this is new from last year and by the end of the day it was not surprisingly surrounded by a group of teenagers happily charging their phones. I think Roland Garros needs to install more than one!

Mobile phone charging station

Secondly there isn’t much for vegies and even less for vegans so I suggest you bring your own food if you don’t eat hot dogs or burgers. There are a few cheese options if you don’t eat meat but you know….this is France.

The food queues won’t be this quiet once the main draw starts!

———-

Huge thanks to @lizcurran for this update. It’s made me even more excited for the main draw to start next week.

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal

Court Philippe Chatrier, taken during the 2012 Tsonga Djokovic QF

Dates

Qualifying: Tuesday 21 May to Friday 24 May

Main Draw: Sunday 26 May to Sunday 9 June

Women’s Singles Final: Saturday 8 June

Men’s Singles Final: Sunday 9 June

Official Website

(English): http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/index.html

Prize Money

View the 2013 French Open Prize Money

Other Info

• Find out who has a Wild Card
• After winning a record seventh French Open title last year, Rafael Nadal will be gunning for eight
• World No.2 Andy Murray may have to withdraw from Roland Garros due to back injury
• Watch the Roland Garros 2012 highlights video

During the French Open I’m aiming to write updates more regularly on the key wins, losses, highlights, incidents and other gossip.

As I can’t be there (I so much I wish I was!) I’m really excited to have Tennis Buzz (follow @tennisbuzz) guest blogging for me during the first week (read their awesome article on Roland Garros 2013 FAQ) and I’ll be sharing photos taken by Gemma (follow @GKilgallon) and @zmphotography12.

10 days to go!

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal

P.S. Going to Roland Garros 2013?

There’s still time to get a copy of the French Open e-Companion and get all the info you need to maximise your fan experience.

2013 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome Men’s Prize Money

Amounts in Euros with US Dollar equivalents.

Winner – €501,700 ($651,900)

Finalists - €246,000 ($319,700)

Semi-Finalists - €123,800 ($160,9000)

Quarter Finalists - €62,950 ($81,800)

3rd Round - €32,700 ($42,500)

2nd Round - €17,235 ($22,400)

1st Round - €9,305 ($12,100)

Total prize pool - €3,204,745 ($4,164,400)

Also view the Mutua Madrid Masters Prize Money for 2013 and upcoming Grand Slam prize money for 2013 French Open and Wimbledon.

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal 

This info was sourced from the PDF Draw at http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/416/mds.pdf

Exchange rate €1 to $1.29944 taken from Oanda.com on 13 May 2013.

The path leading to Roland Garros

Tournaments starting on 5 May

Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain

Clay: 2012 Roger Federer d Tomas Berdych 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 to win his third title.

• Rafael Nadal defeated in third round by Fernando Verdasco.
• Novak Djokovic defeated in the quarterfinals by Janko Tipsarevic 7-2, 6-3.

Read about 2013 prize money.

Tournaments starting on 12 May

Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome, Italy

Clay: 2012 Rafael Nadal d Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-3 to claim his sixth title.

In the 2012 semi-finals:

• Novak Djokovic d Roger Federer 6-2, 7-6
• Rafael Nadal d David Ferrer 7-6, 6-0.

Tournaments starting on 19 May

Power Horse Cup, Dusseldorf, Germany

Clay: New ATP tournament in 2013.

Open de Nice Cote d’Azur, Nice, France

Clay: 2012 Nicolas Almagro d Brian Baker 6-3, 6-2 to retain the title.

French Open at Roland Garros, Starting on 26 May

Roland Garros, Paris, France

Clay: In 2012 Rafael Nadal d Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to win a record seventh title.

In the 2012 semi-finals:

• Novak Djokovic d Roger Federer 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
• Rafael Nadal d David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.

Review 2013 Roland Garros prize money in Euros and US dollar equivalents.

And get warmed up for Roland Garros 2013 by reviewing GSG’s highlights of 2012.

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal 

Tournaments starting on 8 April

Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco

Clay: Tommy Robredo d Kevin Anderson 7-6, 4-6, 6-3

US Men’s Clay Court Championship, Houston, USA

Clay: John Isner d Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 7-5

Tournaments starting on 14 April

Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Monte-Carlo, Monaco

Clay: Novak Djokovic d Rafael Nadal 6-2, 7,6

Monte Carlo Prize money details.

Montage of 2013 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters

Tournaments starting on 22 April

Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain

Clay: Rafael Nadal d Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 6-3

Montage of 2013 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell

BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy, Bucharest, Romania

Clay: Lukas Rosol d Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-2

Tournaments starting on 29 April

Portugal Open, Oeiras, Portugal

Clay: David Ferrer v Stanislas Wawrinka (to be played Sunday 5 May)

BMW Open, Munich, Germany

Clay: Philipp Kohlschreiber v Tommy Haas (to be played Sunday 5 May)

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal 

2013 Mutua Madrid Open Men’s Prize Money

Amounts in Euros with US Dollar equivalents.

Winner – €638,500 ($836,000)

Finalists - €313,070 ($409,900)

Semi-Finalists - €157,570 ($206,300)

Quarter Finalists - €80,120 ($104,900)

3rd Round - €41,610 ($54,480)

2nd Round - €21,935 ($28,720)

1st Round - €11,845 ($15,500)

Total prize pool - €4,303,867 ($5,635,100)

Also view the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters Prize Money for 2013 and upcoming Grand Slam prize money for 2013 French Open and Wimbledon.

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal 

This info was sourced from the PDF Draw at http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/1536/mds.pdf

Exchange rate €1 to $1.30931 taken from Oanda.com on 5 May 2013.

2013 French Open Men’s and Women’s Prize Money

Amounts in Euros with US Dollar equivalents. Percentage indicates the increase in Euros compared to 2012.

Men’s and Women’s Singles

Winner – €1,500,000 ($1,950,225) 20%

Runner-up - €750,000 ($975,000) 20%

Semi-Finalists - €375,000 ($488,000) 21%

Quarter Finalists - €190,000 ($247,000) 23%

4th Round - €100,000 ($130,000) 25%

3rd Round - €60,000 ($78,000) 28%

2nd Round - €35,000 ($45,500) 25%

1st Round - €21,000 ($27,300) 17%

Men’s and Women’s Doubles

Winner – €360,000 ($468,000) 6%

Runner-up - €180,000 ($234,000) 6%

Semi-Finalists - €90,000 ($117,000) 6%

Quarter Finalists - €50,000 ($65,000) 16%

3rd Round - €28,000 ($36,400) 22%

2nd Round - €15,000 ($19,500) 25%

1st Round - €8,000 ($10,400) 0%

Tournament total prize pool - €21,017,000 ($27,325,000) 12%

Also view the 2012 French Open Prize Money and the 2012 comparison of all grand slam prize money.

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal 

This info was sourced from http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/about/prizemoney.html

Exchange rate €1 to $1.30015 taken from Oanda.com on 24 April 2013.