The French Open finished last weekend and this week the men have been playing at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle and the AEGON Championships at the Queen’s Club, London.
Winner Nadal and Federer - French Open 2011
Photo AP Photo/Laurent Baheux
What a French Open it was!
- Rafael Nadal equalled Bjorn Borg’s record of 6 Roland Garros titles, and by winning, retained his No.1 ranking Some great pics here of all Rafa’s wins.
- Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic, ending his streak of 1,013 straight wins (well, something like 49 anyway!)
- Andy Murray showed his tough-ness and resolve by overcoming an ankle injury to keep on playing, eventually losing to Rafa in the semi final
- Li Na won the women’s final and became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title
Read more in this great summary of the Top 10 Roland Garros moments which is continued here.
AEGON Championships Update
The semi finals will be contested by:
- Andy Murray v Andy Roddick
- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga v James Ward
To get to the semis of the rain disrupted tournament Jo Wily beat Rafa, Andy M had a walkover when Cilic withdrew due to injury, Andy R beat Verdasco and British No.2 James Ward beat Adrian Mannarino.
Gerry Weber Open Update
- Roger Federer withdrew from this tournament at the start of the week due to fatigue.
- Defending champion Lleyton Hewitt was beaten by Kohlschreiber in the Quarter Finals.
Semi finals will be played by:
- Kohlschreiber v Monfils
- Petzschner v Berdych
Longines Future Tennis Aces Update
Chase Ferguson was chosen as Tennis Australia’s representative at the Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament at Roland Garros. Chase lost against French boy, Julien Tremblais, 4-2, 4-1.
He is now on a 4 week tour of Italy to learn more about playing on clay. Sounds pretty good to me! And he also got to meet Jim Courier and Andre Agassi. Hopefully we’ll see more of Chase around the tennis world in the future.
Chase with Agassi and Courier
Here are my fave quotes about the French Open
Li Na (after winning the Women’s Final):
The next two weeks is Wimbledon, so I don’t have time to go back to China right now,… I go back after Wimbledon, maybe people forget me already. These are tough times you know.
OnCourtAdvantage.com (on the Men’s Final):
The hard working muscular bull locks horns with the lean, fluent gazelle
FortyDeuce (on Roger, Nole, Rafa and Andy M):
So we have the GOAT (Greatest of All Time), the GORN (Greatest of Right Now), the GORC (Greatest on Red Clay), and the GAPP (Greatest at Popping Pills).
Tennis is Served (on Andy Murray):
I should think his appeal is obvious: he doesn’t have Fed’s vintage professionalism, he lacks Rafa’s clout and presence, and he’s not anywhere NEAR as savvy as Novak. In fact, he doesn’t seem their equal either in maturity or prowess; rather closer, in fact, to the grumpy sixth-former that refuses to grow up. Yet, in spite of all of this, possesses the talent to beat all of them. I find that combination utterly irresistible. And I feel vindicated when the best his haters can come up with is that he’s “grumpy” – or that he has oversized teeth.
Other Snippets
Serena Williams will play Wimbledon.
Federer backed by Nadal over criticisms (at pulling out of Halle)
That’s it for now. Only one more week until Wimbledon – hoorah!
Until next time