MONDAY WRAP
BY THE WAY: Chris Bowers noted that there is a Juan Monaco of Argentina, but there is no Juan Argentina of Monaco.
CARO LAUNCHES A LINE OF UNMENTIONABLES: The day after suffering a teary loss to Kaia Kanepi, Caroline Wozniacki announced that she was launching a new line of underwear. Her publicity folks pumped the new collection by asking, “Ladies, do you ever open your drawer of unmentionables and think, ‘I wish I could wear intimate garments that made me feel like the No. 9 tennis player in the world?’ If so, then news of Caroline Wozniacki’s upcoming underwear collection is like a dream fulfilled.”
THE BEST REASON TO LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: After Jim Courier said that in a street fight he would take Andy Murray over the at-times mentally fragile Richard Gasquet, broadcaster Mark Petchey added, “Richard strikes me more as a lover. In fact, he said the only reason he learned English was to meet girls.” Courier, who was famous for giving speeches in French, said “tip of the hat to Richard. That’s why I learned French [to meet girls.]”
NOT EXACTLY AN OVERCONFIDENT FRENCHMAN: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Stan Wawrinka in five sets and now will face Novak Djokovic in the quarters, said before the tournament that there was no way a Frenchmen could win the French Open this year.
SHARAPOVA SCENE: A reporter said to Maria, “Quite often a lot of people call you the one and only glamour tennis diva. Are you annoyed by that? Or do you think, well, I am?” Sharapova responded, “Glamor and diva. Hmmm. Yeah, that’s me.” … Maria, who is playing good but not fabulous tennis, is having her best ever clay-court season. With her nemesis Serena Williams, who destroyed her in Madrid, out of the draw as well as No. 1 seed Victoria Azarenka and Li Na who gave her a big test in Rome, the tournament is (almost) hers to lose.
NOT EXACTLY A “STARE-WAY” TO HEAVEN: Sharapova can be delightful but she also has a world-class stare, which bids the question, is it best to call her stare an evil eye or an icy glare?
A BREAK FEAST: Against Sharapova, Klara Zakopalova lost of her 12 service games. Of course, she continually broke the Russian and played her tight, losing 6-4, 6-7, 6-2.
THE GUY LOOKS UNSTOPPABLE: Rafa Nadal.
FROM KLUTZ TO LADY OF GRACE: Sharapova once said that when she played on clay she was like a “cow on ice.” Broadcaster Gigi Salmon said Sharapova was moving well and was now a “Bambi on ice.” BTW: Sharapova is so lean, elegant and athletic, she is suggestive of a princess or a super model. So when she takes a helter-skelter tumble like she did today – nearly turning her ankle and landing flat on her back – it can seem like a humbling, slapstick experience, as if Ginger Rogers stumbled during one of her exquisite routines.
FRANCE IS TURNING LEFT AND SO IS SLOANE: All week long Sloane Stephens spoke of flying first class back to the U.S. if she had good results at the French Open. In this context there was this dialog between the 19-year old and IT:
Q. Do you know what the phrase, “Turning left” means?
STEPHENS: No, I don’t. Can you enlighten me, please?
Q. I will not enlighten you, but I will mention what it means. It’s when you go on a plane, you turn left and you go to first class. Are you turning left?
SLOANE STEPHENS: Oh, I’m turning left like five times. (Laughter.)
Yeah, for sure.
COURIER COMMENTS: Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier is widely credited with John Isner’s great success on clay earlier this season. But when reflecting on the American’s marathon loss to Paul-Henri Mathieu he said, “At his moment of truth John was way too conservative.” … Speaking generally, Courier said, “The thing I’m most interested in is defense. How do you defend when you are in peril.”
HEADLINE OF THE DAY: Aristocratic Djokovic Survives Revolution.
CZECH LEFTIES: When it comes to left-handed women, Czech women have quite a tradition from Martina Navratilova to Petra Kvitova, Lucie Safarova, Klara Zakopalova and Iveta Benesova.
‘BOUT SAYS IT ALL: Eurosport said Juan Monaco (one of the best clay courters in the world) “throws his very best at Nadal, but look at the scoreboard.” Nadal at the moment was up 5-2 in the first set … The average score in the Nadal-Monaco rivalry is 6-1 … Nadal, who hasn’t dropped a set yet, was down 1-2 in the first set and then won 17 straight games. He explained Monaco’s loss by saying the Argentine was “unlucky” in the first set.
DON’T PUT ME DOWN: After Li Na’s stunning 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 loss to Yaroslava Shvedova, in which she lost twelve of the last 14 games, she was disconsolate about not defending her crown. Afterwards she was asked about how she was feeling. Li offered an answer brimming with denial. “I mean, just like normal,” she said. “Tennis, only two player on the court. Only win or is lose. For me is nothing special.” When a reporter asked the Chinese superstar whether her performance was diminished by all her “publicity commitments,” she quipped “I just lose one match. So don’t try to push me down.”
NO BACK TO BACKS: The loss of Aussie Open champ Azarenka means that after the French Open there will not be a woman back-to-back Slam winner. The last player to win back-to-back was Kim Clijsters, who won the’10 U.S. Open and ’11 Aussie Open. And Li Na’s loss to Shvedova of Kazakhstan means that the reigning champion at a Slam will once again fail to defend her title. The last woman to defend her Grand Slam title was Clijsters who won the U.S. Open in ’09 and ’10.
GO FIGURE: There has been an all-Spanish match at Roland Garros since 1994.
NICE DRAW: Federer is the only man who has yet to face a seed.
DÉJÀ VU FOR EMERGING AMERICANS: Yesterday Sloane Stephens’ match against Sam Stosur was switched from Suzanne Lenglen Stadium and placed on the small Bull Ring court. Playing in front of few fans, she quickly lost. The same thing happened to American breakout girl Varvara Lepchenko, who was destroyed by Czech Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-1.
