DramatistDreamer

Was he looking as bored as the other celebrities and sports figures that they showed in the stadium?

Oh, both were lackluster but I couldn’t even get through the men’s final. I saw a few minutes of the first set, a few minutes of the second and exactly none of the 3rd set. Sounds like I missed nothing. Also, I am now reading that apparently Nadal beat Ruud with no feeling in one foot? His foot was as numb as the match, I guess.

Of the remaining U.S. network soaps on air today, how many of them have figures that would qualify as a matriarch, do you think?

RG title Number 14 for Nadal. A beat down in the final but a prosperous week for Ruud.

Genius.

And I didn’t even include Hingis and Mary Pierce who were pretty big factors during that time period as well. The Top 20 was stacked back then. Neither Williams sister played as much as the other players so they didn’t even play as many events. At the same age, 21, Venus had already won 2 majors, and would win 2 more in the summer had won 2 Olympic gold medals. With that field chock full of future hall of famers. Almost everyone in that Top 10 became a #1. I know people want to compare stats but people also need to compare how strong the competition was at the time.

I forgot to include “Chuckie” in that list. Oh well.

She ties Venus’ win streak when Venus had to beat Davenport, Capriati, Serena, Henin, Clijsters, Mauresmo and Seles. Back then the weakest link out of that Top 10 was Dementieva and she was a fierce competitor.

That Top 10 is…

The streak continues for Swiatek, while Coco gets a learning experience and memories of a pretty decent run. And I can get on with my Saturday.

What an altogether odd day at Roland Garros.🥴

Nadal and Novak’s style of tennis just be breaking bodies. Opponents need to find another way to compete against them because that style only works for them, everyone else will likely end up in traction trying to play this way. Zverev’s sense of balance has never been very good.

RG survived Ostapenko winning, it’ll be fine. RG hasn’t been scintillating viewing in ages anyway. Coco getting to the women’s final will buy her some time and space, get people off her back. At least for awhile. Very few players had complete games after getting to their first final. I doubt Coco will stop wanting to improve just because she got to a final. If anything, it should motivate her even more. The men are such drama kings, yet people are constantly carping about the WTA.

Yay, Coco! Her first major final!

I only saw a teensy winsy bit of that Ruud/Rune match. I love how the commentators tried to pass off that cold fish handshake as something uniquely Scandinavian. Yeah…right.

Oof again.

Oof.

The forever match part 59 was contested in under six hours, huh? I guess Felix can take heart in the fact that he managed to drag Rafa to a five set match.

I saw bits and pieces of the Alcaraz/Zverev match. It’s not a surprise that Alcaraz sort of wilted under the weight of expectations. I was on the watch to see when/if it would happen. The focus, attention and pressure of a major is on a different level than that of even a Masters series tournament. Zverev beat Alcaraz with his worst shot, his second serve, which a more experienced player would have made mincemeat out of. Zverev’s atrocious second serve actually let Carlitos back into the match, but Alcaraz’s lack of experience in a major didn’t help him create a bigger opening that would have been necessary in order to wrest control of the match.

A very composed match from Coco to reach her first SF in a major. This is why I have always said the pronouncements being made about her career were premature, to say the least. The conversation is to educate the public, rather than to constantly denigrate the women’s game as being some inferior entity because the results in tournaments may not be as staunchly consistent as those on the men’s tour. The women in sports themselves have expressed gratitude that the “cat’s out of the bag”. If folks can discuss Rafa’s baldness, then they can discuss this. It’s a natural function of the body and nothing to be evasive or ashamed of.

Canada already has a ban on sales of AR-15s. (With this, I may have to call up my Canadian relatives and see which of them can host some of my family for awhile).

Danielle Collins had surgery to deal with hers. It can be a very serious condition. People tend to treat menstruation as nbd but it can be very disruptive to one’s life and it’s not discussed. Years later, Steffi Graf once admitted that she had lost a very important match after she experienced really bad menstrual cramps. It can also cause headaches and nausea, even vomiting. From memory, Serena was really the first player that I remembered to have openly stated in an interview that she sometimes experienced period headaches.

Finally, women are being more open about this. As someone who used to suffer very painful cramps as a teenager, I can tell you that doing normal activities, let alone sports can be excruciating at times. As a professional athlete, I can imagine that some pain relievers for strong pain are likely not allowed, to say nothing of other symptoms. Wasn’t Rune known for yelling a homophobic slur once? Or was that another Nordic player?

Interesting article about a film that was recently presented at the Canne film festival called Armageddon Time. https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/armageddon-time-portrait-of-white-privilege-stirs-cannes/?dicbo=v2-5f41038812505b2670e0a964dbb818ee