By Bill Simons
HIS PURPLE ROYALNESS IN THE HOUSE: The European Slams tend to attract royalty, but the notion of royals at the French Open took on a new flair when iconic pop star Prince attended Rafa Nadal‘s fourth-round match—wielding a sceptre, no less.
TIAFOE AND FRIEND: Rising young American Francis Tiafoe got a chance to practice with Rafa Nadal at the tournament that Nadal has won eight of the last nine years. For Tiafoe, it was a lesson not just in slam-winning shotmaking, but also day-to-day dedication. The Washington Post reported that Nadal went “through four shirts and three rackets as he drilled every shot in his arsenal — forehands, backhands, volleys, lobs, service returns and serves” during the 90-minute hitting session. “He steps into every forehand in practice!” Tiafoe marveled afterward. “I think him working on his game during the tournament is a big deal. Even at his level, he’s still trying to get better.”
CHRIS EVERT IS NOT A MAN: Dialogue heard by the Musketeer statue garden:
French fan No 1: “Who was that guy who always smashed his rackets?”
French fan No. 2: “Chris Evert.”
French fan No. 1: “Chris Evert wasn’t a man.”
GLAD HE DIDN’T LISTEN TO HIS MOM: Ernests Gulbis‘ mother recently encouraged him to quit pro tennis.
GO FIGURE: The last player to beat both Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in the same tourney was the now-retired new mom Elena Dementieva. She did it in Toronto in 2009 …
Canadian Milos Raonic, who lost to Serb Novak Djokovic, was born in Montenegro, and his mother tongue is Serbian.
OF PAPA AND HEMINGWAY: Ernests Gulbis‘ dad, Ainārs, is both wealthy and into books. Gulbis said his father’s country house is full of them. Gulbis was named after Ernest Hemingway, who gave himself the nickname Papa when he was 27. But despite Papa Gulbis’ interest in Papa Hemingway, the younger Gulbis hasn’t read any of the American’s books.
ALL BETS ARE OFF, OR UP AND DOWN: In his previous press conference, after the fourth round, Ernests Gulbis said that within his camp, “We have like small bets going on with—not me, but Dominic with Gunther, you know, with my coach.”
IT then had this brief dialogue today with the Latvian, who has reached his first Slam semi:
Inside Tennis: I wanted to ask you about something you said the other day, [that] you had small bets going on with Dominic and with Gunther. Could you just clarify what’s involved with that?
Ernests Gulbis: With what?
IT: You said you had small bets—
EG: Bets on push‑ups. You know, push‑ups. Whoever loses the match [does] more push-ups.
SPANISH ABDICATION: The day after the King of Spain announced he would abdicate his throne, there were whispers that the rest of the world might as well abdicate tennis and just leave all of the sport’s crowns to the Spaniards. It wasn’t just that beloved Rafa was being feted on his birthday by adoring fans across the world; or that, in the quarters, he would be facing none other than his fellow Spaniard, David Ferrer; or that, except among Djokovic-fanciers, Nadal is favored to win his ninth Roland Garros.
Nope, early in the afternoon, Spain’s female contingent seemed on the verge of taking control of women’s tennis as well. Garbine Muguruza won the opening set over of her quarterfinal against a flat Maria Sharapova, and Carla Suarez Navarro used her sublime backhand to take a big first-set lead over the extraordinary Genie Bouchard.
But ultimately, oh-so-tough Maria fought back to score another impressive come from behind win, defeating Muguruza 1-6, 7-5, 6-1. And the young Canadian talent Bouchard showed her strong pedigree by winning a see-saw battle against Suarez Navarro, 7-6, 2-6, 7-5. So, for now, the only abdication relating to Spain these days is the royal one.
HOW COOL CAN YOU GET: You’re walking down the street and a French couple asks directions of you and, despite being a linguistically-handicapped Californian, you can actually help them out in French. Très magnifique!
REVERSING THE TREND: Before Ernests Gulbis swept by Tomas Berdych, commentator Jim Courier said that players who beat Federer tend to lose shortly thereafter
HAPPINESS IS A WARM VICTORY: Ernests Gulbis said, “My happiness comes only from doing well my job.”
NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S SECRETS OF SUCCESS: Ernests Gulbis will take on Novak Djokovic in one men’s semi at Roland Garros, Gulbis has been critical of Djokovic, who he trained with as a junior, but after his quarterfinal victory today, he added a positive spin to their relationship. “Yeah, about Djokovic, you know, it wasn’t that we spent too much time together,” he said. “I came to Niki Pilic’s academy at one point and he was before me there, and then I stick to that place, and he was just coming and going … He was really professional already at that time. I remember we had a friend, one Croatian guy who was all about the girls at that age, already. He was dressing up. He was looking good, putting on [cologne], sunglasses, going to talk to the girls.
I see Novak, he’s going to stretch, you know. And Novak told me, ‘Yeah, you can have anybody. Can have all the girls in the world, you know. But to be really successful in tennis, you need to [work].’ Something like that he said to me.
That’s a kid who is 15 years old. I didn’t forget. About the job [of being a tennis pro], when did I understand it? I still think it’s not a job. I think it’s half hobby. It’s [an] enjoyable job, [a] very enjoyable job.”
BIG THREE: Djokovic basically says Milos Raonic, John Isner and Ivo Karlovic have the three biggest serves in the game … Nole also says Guga Kuerten drawing a heart in the Roland Garros clay was the most poignant celebration he’s seen.
