A GOOD DAY IN THE SPORT OF TENNIS: Andy Murray scores a gutsy five-set win over Viktor Troicki. Francesca Schiavone downs a rising Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to keep alive her hopes of defending her title. Roger Federer beats France’s Gael Monfils to set up a fantastic semi against Novak Djokvic (who is streaking to a record for consecutive matches won, his first RG title and, most importantly, claiming the No. 1 slot that he first spoke about when he was just seven). And the bouncing Marion Bartoli beats Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the semis of her national championship.
TENNIS AT ITS BEST: The Schiavone-Pavlyuchenkova quarterfinal had it all: tight play, bold tactics, contrasting styles, fine movement, expressive facial and body language, contrasting ages and nations, fearless strokes, a great stage, high drama, lob winners, deft drop shots and down-the-line backhand winners to die for.
BOP, BOUND AND BOUNCE: Who in tennis bounces and bounds and bops the most between points? Our vote: 1. The Bryan Bros. 2. Bartoli 3. Rafael Nadal.
SHOOTING FOR NO. 1 IS KEY FOR NOVAK: When asked to comment on his next opponent, Djokovic, Federer said, “I know he has a lot on the line…He's done really, really well…He's had the best start to a season — I don't know in history or not…And he's keeping it up. He's not making a big fuss about it, which is a good thing for him. Obviously, a big question remains — how long can you keep it up?… It's just hard day in and day out to be asked the questions. How many more wins can you get? You would just like to not talk about it. Just go out there and do it over and over again. So I'm sure it's been tricky for him, but he's been doing a great job. Now maybe the streak [41 straight matches] is less at stake in some ways because it's more of a big match against me, so it's easier to focus just on…the whole situation. But I think the No. 1 situation is the big one right now for him, not so much the streak. But it all goes hand in hand. It's going to be an interesting day.”
MOST EXPRESSIVE PLAYER IN ALL OF SPORTS?: Schiavone, with her bulging eyes and puffy cheeks, is first tense than ecstactic. The Milanese woman is operatic to the max. After her gutsy, come-from-behind 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over Pavlyuchenkova, IT asked the Italian to explain her expressive ways. The 30-year-old said, “I live and I love tennis when I can express myself. So enjoying and being sad, like you say, I am a mix of everything. I am transparent, so you can understand how I play and how I feel. I should [stop] a little bit don't showing too much…But I'm improving, so in some years will be good. But is good. I enjoy to play. I am 6‑1, 4‑1 down, and I say, 'Frankie, this is the way go. Today like this. Keep going.' I was really sad inside, but what can you do? Nobody can change — just me. So I came back and I enjoy a little bit more at the end than at the start, for sure.”
GO FIGURE: The best female player in Serbian history, Monica Seles, left her homeland, became a U.S. citizen and totally integrated into American culture. The best male player, Djokovic, is perhaps the most patriotic elite player in history…France’s Caroline Garcia almost beat Maria Sharapova in the main draw, then struggled to survive in the junior draw, winning 9-7 in the third…No new Russian woman has won a major since ‘04.
A WHITER SHADE OF ANDY: Murray may be sullen and rather down-beat. His ranking is hardly soaring like that of Djokovic. He’s lost three Slam finals, fired almost as many coaches as George Steinbrenner, some claim his game is too tentative and his close relationship with his mom has drawn criticism. Still, despite an injured ankle, he came back with guts and game to score a two-day marathon 4-6, 4-6, 6-3,6-2, 7-5 win over Serbian Davis Cup hero Viktor Troicki. At match point, the Scot scrambled from deep behind the baseline and blasted a fierce cross-court backhand winner – a wondrous and worthy way to conclude a memorable comeback.
TAKING IT TO THE LIMITS: Rarely has a women’s Grand Slam had closer, more dramatic matches than this year’s French Open.
BALLBOY-GATE: At 2-3 in the fifth set of his marathon against Murray, Troicki stepped in to put away an unmissable overhead when a ball boy dashed on court. The ump said replay the point. The Serb was not happy, but he did break Murray’s serve to go up 4-2. Fortunately, the incident didn’t effect the outcome of the match, which Murray came back to win. The bizarre happening brought to mind the time Dusty Baker’s three-year old son, Darren, ran out to home plate during the '02 World Series and probably would have been run over had it not been for the quick thinking San Francisco Giant J.T. Snow, who rushed in and scooped up the dazed child.
FAREWELL, CRAZY DAN: Austria’s “Crazy Dan” Köllerer was banned for life and fined $100,000 for match fixing. Previously, he he had been accused of racism by Brazil’s Júlio Silva, who filed charges against him for calling him a “monkey,” making gestures and telling him to “go back to the jungle.” Last year, Köllerer’s fellow Austrian, Stefan Koubek, said Köllerer insulted him during a match. Koubek went over to him and choked him. He later explained, “I'm man enough not to let myself be insulted, especially not by him.”
CONSPIRACY THEORY: Why do we love conspiracy theories? Who knows. They’re juicy, against-the-grain and, obviously, kick conventional wisdom in the shins. And the French Open has had a modest little one of its own. (But there is no Zapruder film.) Italian Fabio Fanini, who showed all the painful, intense symptoms of cramping in his odd match against Albert Montanes, convinced the ump that it was an injury, not a cramp, and therefore was allowed treatment which enabled him to win. So you could argue, it was better to keep up the story then to admit that, despite appearances, it was a cramp. So the next day in a press conference he withdrew, saying how disappointed he was. After all, he would be facing Djokovic and this was the tournament of his life. Or was it the best yarn of his life? He showed no signs of limping and, for all his disappointment, was jolly and upbeat throughout much of his press conference.
COULD BE: One veteran British journalist noted, “When arguing with an umpire, Francesco Schiavone’s English is fine and fluent. When a journalist asks for an interview, it becomes halting.”
PAPILLION: Pavlyuchenkova’ s French nickname.
