TENNIS: French Open singles finals
Jun. 12th, 2018 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllLes femmes
It was a good match for the first two sets, at least, with very entertaining rallies and a high level of tennis, with gripping momentum shifts in the second set. We’d had a few statistics in the build-up, all the grand slam finals Halep had lost, all the wins she’d had against Stephens, although at least one was soon after the American came back from injury and Stephens’s excellent record in finals, with one of them being a US Open. Still, I didn’t expect the American player to come out playing so well. She had great depth and used her forehand as a weapon. Halep was outplayed, for all the retrieving and ferocity that made the points riveting, and down a set and a break…
And then she worked it out. She started exposing Stephens’s backhand and slight tiredness after a physical contest, Yes, then she let Stephens back in, but only for a short while. One set all, and Stephens did not have enough. I think that – and the way she’d played to get to that position – helped Halep over the line that must have seemed so difficult.
I will say that Bartoli was a little too partisan in her commentating. Yes, one sympathised with Halep for not getting there yet, but Stephens was playing so well that it was attractive, and I wanted a good match. It’s not like Bartoli was commentating on Romanian tv, and though it’s great when commentators are into the match, she went a bit far.
I had the men’s doubles on in the background, on Satuday afternoon but can’t say I followed it.
Les hommes
Honestly, I napped at the end of the first set (big lunch, hot day, needed to) and I was actually looking at an article about fashion during the last point. But by the end of the last game, it was a foregone conclusion.
Earlier, Thiem had shown he could stay with Nadal in the long rallies, but didn’t have enough altogether, and Nadal deployed a cannier type of game to break him. The end with the cramp was weird.
Thiem has to know that Nadal has humiliated Federer on this court, he has years on his side and now knows where he needs to improve his game. The question is whether he will be able to. He had to be outstanding to win games, though.
And Nadal…has done it again. If he wasn't as imperious as he was last year, all through the tournament, he won the French Open for a mind-boggling eleventh time.
ITV has secured the rights for another three years, and there is the grass-court season to enjoy.
It was a good match for the first two sets, at least, with very entertaining rallies and a high level of tennis, with gripping momentum shifts in the second set. We’d had a few statistics in the build-up, all the grand slam finals Halep had lost, all the wins she’d had against Stephens, although at least one was soon after the American came back from injury and Stephens’s excellent record in finals, with one of them being a US Open. Still, I didn’t expect the American player to come out playing so well. She had great depth and used her forehand as a weapon. Halep was outplayed, for all the retrieving and ferocity that made the points riveting, and down a set and a break…
And then she worked it out. She started exposing Stephens’s backhand and slight tiredness after a physical contest, Yes, then she let Stephens back in, but only for a short while. One set all, and Stephens did not have enough. I think that – and the way she’d played to get to that position – helped Halep over the line that must have seemed so difficult.
I will say that Bartoli was a little too partisan in her commentating. Yes, one sympathised with Halep for not getting there yet, but Stephens was playing so well that it was attractive, and I wanted a good match. It’s not like Bartoli was commentating on Romanian tv, and though it’s great when commentators are into the match, she went a bit far.
I had the men’s doubles on in the background, on Satuday afternoon but can’t say I followed it.
Les hommes
Honestly, I napped at the end of the first set (big lunch, hot day, needed to) and I was actually looking at an article about fashion during the last point. But by the end of the last game, it was a foregone conclusion.
Earlier, Thiem had shown he could stay with Nadal in the long rallies, but didn’t have enough altogether, and Nadal deployed a cannier type of game to break him. The end with the cramp was weird.
Thiem has to know that Nadal has humiliated Federer on this court, he has years on his side and now knows where he needs to improve his game. The question is whether he will be able to. He had to be outstanding to win games, though.
And Nadal…has done it again. If he wasn't as imperious as he was last year, all through the tournament, he won the French Open for a mind-boggling eleventh time.
ITV has secured the rights for another three years, and there is the grass-court season to enjoy.
