OK so this will be my second last post (sort of!) on the French Open, which will cover the men's and ladies semi final matches, so let's go...
Right to start with the ladies first semi final we had Maria Sharapova, the defending champion take on Victoria Azarenka for a place in the final. The head to head between these two stands at 7-5 in Vika's favour, however Sharapova leads their clay head to head 2-0 coming into this match. And as for the match itself, well it was quite a competitive one as Sharapova after comfortably taking the first set, faced a fightback from Azarenka who broke Maria twice in the second set and then levelled the match at a set all. In the 3rd set it went by serve until Maria got the break to move ahead 3-2, but when she tried to serve it out going 5-2 up she double faulted on serving it out, letting Vika break back who went on to hold her own. However at the second time of asking Maria finally shut the barn door on Victoria and she sealed her place in the final with a hard fought 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win. It was good to see this was a competitive match as Maria and Vika do have a really good rivalry when its on, but when its not it can be very one sided (depending on who wins) but they have had one or two matches where the battle is on, and this was one of them. So full credit for Maria for reaching her 2nd consecutive final in Paris, however her title defence will come under real threat from her next potential opponent...
And the second semi final of the day was between Serena Williams and the last year's finalist Sara Errani, and given the American's powerful physique, her incredible serve and brutal return game, it would be quite a tall order for the plucky small Italian to get by her. And it turned out to be totally the case as poor Errani had no answer whatsoever from the get go to Serena's brute force and her impenetrable serve, as the American raced through the first set to hand Errani a bagel. And in the 2nd set it was more of the same, except Errani managed to at least get one game on the scoreboard (which gave the French crowd something to cheer about) but it was either just a mircroblip or a bit of sympathy as Serena then got back in the steamroller and flattened the Italian to reach the final with a beyond emphatic 6-0, 6-1 rout.
Well it has to be said that this was not a match, and I don't think it even classed as a warm up, it was more like watching a world class professional take on someone like me in a public park, with Errani being made to look less than ordinary. And the frustrating thing about matches like this is that while they showcase what a formidable player Serena Williams is, it also makes an incredibly boring experience, and watching one-way traffic in any sport is never fun, and that certainly is the case when Serena get's motoring, especially when someone is that omnipotent in their game. Regardless of that though it shows how good Serena is, just like Steffi Graff, when she is on there is absolutely no one that can make a dent on her.
So this sets up the ladies final between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, so even though this is a stupid question in itself, who will win it???? Well for me it has to be Serena and she will win it in straight sets, because unless Maria can seriously mix up her usual game and throw Serena off, then I can only see another thrashing ahead. Although Maria has said in the press that she will try something different in the final tomorrow and let's face it she will need to in order to have any chance. But my prediction is for Serena to win with a 6-1, 6-3 scoreline.
So now onto the men's semis starting with what was the most anticipated match of the tournament, which was between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, in what was a re-match of last year's final. Everyone naturally was hoping this would be the final, but due to Rafa's ranking, he was unable to meet Nole in the final (also due to the fact that Andy Murray was not in the mix, caused the seedings to be out of synch) so they were drawn on the same side, hence the semi final match. But anyways the match promised loads, and thankfully it sure delivered and both men engaged in a truly epic battle on court Philippe Chatrier in front of an enthralled full capacity crowd. Rafa in the first set took the early initative and broke Nole to take it, however in the 2nd set, there was a momentum shift and Novak broke to level. In the 3rd set there was a shift in momentum again as Nole seemed to have trouble with his movement and he found himself a double break down, but managed to just save the bagel, before trailing two sets to one down. In the 4th set there were a couple of breaks, were Nole trailed but broke back, however despite Rafa serving for the match, Nole miraculously broke back, pushing the match in to a tiebreak, where Nole won it to take the match to a final set. And the 5th set was an epic battle which saw Novak take the early break, however Rafa broke back to make it 4-4, and play went by serve until 8-7, with Djokovic serving to make it 8-8, Rafa took his chances and pushed Novak into sending a forehand long, and he reached his 8th Roland Garros final. The final scoreline read an epic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 9-7 with Rafa triumphant after a gruelling and incredible 4 hours and 37 minutes.
This was an amazing encounter from both players and its safe to say that this was the best clay court match these two have played, and in the match I was convinced that Djokovic was going to win it, especially as he got the break in the 5th set. And in that regard the match acutally mirrored the Australian open final from last year where Rafa also won the 4th set to level the match, and got an early break in the 5th before he surrendered it and went on to lose. And it would be tough not to feel sorry for Djokovic again, especially this time where he came so agonisingly close to beating Rafa at the one tournament he was so desperate to win, but I'm sure he will bounce back in time Wimbledon soon. As for Rafa well it shows his remarkable record at Roland Garros continue and he amazingly has reached his 9th consecutive final ever since coming back to the tour. And Rafa also has another unique opportunity ahead of him as he has a chance to win a record 8th Roland Garros title, which would also mark the most times any player has won the same major in history (Roger Federer and Peter Sampras are both tied at seven with Wimbledon). And given his amazing record its going to be very tough not to see him win another record breaking title this Sunday coming.
Which brings me onto the last match of the day which was between the home favourite, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the Spanish No.2, David Ferrer. Naturally going into this match Tsonga had alot to live up to in trying to reach the final of his home slam, and it was a tremendous opportunity for him and his country. However Tsonga unfortunately went into the match rather like a pre-Lendl era Andy Murray as he kept fretting, muttering and berating himself whenever he missed a point (and he missed a fair few!). And Ferrer by comparison adopted his usual professional attitude who just dug deep and put in a solid performance by pushing Tsonga back and making him miss, and after he took a two set lead, there was no real way back for Tsonga who capitulated on serve in the 3rd and Ferrer went on to seal his first major final with a 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 victory.
There was no doubt that this was a very disappointing effort from Tsonga who I expected a whole lot more from in having the opportunity to reach the final of his home major. However I think that nerves also played a big part in the match and for all Tsonga's talent he is also a very erratic player who lacks consistency and mental fortitude when it comes to the big matches, and that is something in the future he will really need to work on. As for David Ferrer well he deserves nothing less than what he has achieved today in reaching his first ever grand slam final, as it is a terrific achievement for him and at the age of 30 its great to see him reach this stage, and no doubt he will be hoping to take it to the next level.
So this sets up an all Spanish final for the men's on Sunday, and again this may sound like a silly question, but who will win it??????? Hmmmm it is tough, but I will have to opt for Nadal as with seven French titles behind him its hard to look past that alone and Ferrer has not beaten Rafa in a clay match since about 2006! However that doesn't mean Ferrer can't give Rafa a match, as in their previous two meetings Ferrer played two very tight close matches where Ferrer had his chances, and being his first major final he will definitely try to rise to the occassion. But after their semi final last year at RG where Rafa thrashed Ferrer, there is a danger that history could repeat itself again, and it could be a straight set rout that lies ahed for Ferrer, but I hope not. However we will just have to wait and see, but what I do know is that Rafa will certainly win, but I just hope Ferrer can give him a match before he does, and it would be good to see a tight straight set win or at best a four setter.
So that's it for now, I will report back once the men's and ladies finals are done and we know who will lift the silverware (well I think we know already!).
So until the next one, bye for now!
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