After two stressful days with barely any play (due to rain), the French Open caught up with itself and produced some wonderful match-ups. Sharapova notched a controversial three-set win against the pesky lefty Patty Schnyder (the scandal involved a Sharapova serve that should have been replayed), Federer earned his 3-set win against Youzhny (who might have put up a better fight had he not endured a marathon match against Juan Carlos Ferrero in the previous round), and Safarova took Amelie Mauresmo out of the running.
Speakling of the French, they again buckled this year. Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet, Paul-Henri Mathieu are all too young and have yet to harness their talent.
In the clothing sponsorship department, Nike did the best job outfitting their players, with Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova getting their own dresses; Serena in a pink and purple number and Maria in an aqua tulle dress. Hantuchova and Safarova looked great in the Sphere tank and skort. Lacoste, the tournament's main clothing sponsor, didn't have much of a chance to show off its clothes on Gasquet and Roddick since both crashed out early. But their standard issue men's uniform (an orange and white outfit that most of the French players wore) could be seen in many early matches. Reebok put Mauresmo in a purple tank, the best we've seen her in a while. And Airness, another French clothier, continues its love affair with Nikolay Davydenko. I suspect they'll have a bigger stake in Roland Garros in the coming years.
For the men, this is how the coming week will play out: To get to the quartefinals, I expect Andreev to beat Bagdhatis, Moya to trump Bjorkman, Hewitt will lose to Nadal (as much as I'm gunning for the Australian), and Djokovic will be well-rested enough to overcome Verdasco. The top half is already set: Federer vs. Robredo and Davydenko vs. Canas. The last 4 will be Federer vs. Canas and Djokovic vs. Nadal. It'll be Nadal vs. Canas in the final, with Nadal taking it all.
The women's quarterfinals are set: Justine plays Serena (Serena will win), Jankovic will beat Vaidisova, Kuznetsova will win over Ivanovic, and Sharapova will win the matchup against fellow Russian Chakvetadze. Sharapova will beat Kuznetsova, and Serena will beat Jankovic. Serena will win the championship.
I want to thank Erwin for this time and we will hear back from him in a couple of weeks with his Wimbledon preview.....Also, there has been a change in the Furman Bisher interview.....originally it was going to run on Wednesday.....however, due to the length of the interview, it is now a two-part series which will begin tomorrow....
Throughout the NBA Finals, I will be providing daily links from the Spurs and Cavs camps....
The Spurs know they are the “bad boys” of this NBA Finals as the nation will be rooting for LeBron James.....
There are links between the two teams....Cavs coach Mike Brown coached Tony Parker is a summer league....and the Cavs organization followed the Spurs blueprint for success
Spurs defensive wiz Bruce Bowen is tired of hearing that LeBron James is the next Michael Jordan.....he thinks it is unfair to James.....
Who is hot shooting guard Daniel Gibson?.....yes he played ball at the University of Texas, but where has he been all season?.....
The Cavs are still basking in the glory of making the NBA Finals.....is it real?....
According to columnist Terry Pluto, LeBron James is the savior in Cleveland and the new face of the NBA....
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