![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllI got Discovery+ (grumbling at the greed of the IOC) to be sure I got to see the tennis, basically. But I watched the opening ceremony on the BBC. It was probably too long – I thought that about several stretches, let alone the whole. As it rained, sometimes heavily, you had to feel for the delegations in the smallest boats travelling the Seine as it looked pretty choppy.
Of the 12 tableaux, I enjoyed the one celebrating artisans, starting with aerial dancers off scaffolding, and then cutting between the dancers in front of a golden backdrop, dancing in water, and a lone ballet dancer on the rooftops. The section involving the Minions was funny, and I liked the French-Malian singer with the military band. I got sarky about the cover of ‘Imagination’ – how French to go for an aggressively secular hymn – because I loathe that song, but apparently it’s an Olympic tradition, and it was sung well, as was the retooled ‘La Marseillaise’. The fusion of heavy metal and opera was pleasantly bonkers, but the French rap was unnecessary, and the paean to love (or Jules et Jim) was one of several provocations, though I liked the nods to the children watching throughout the ceremony.
I presume the mysterious torch bearer was several people, and you could tell when they were cutting back to the pre-recorded parkeuring, because the sun was out. All the rain added jeopardy to watching some of the live dancing.
The ’Solemnité’ bit was certainly lifted by Andrew Cotter doing a decent amateur’s near-simultaneous interpretation. His sigh of relief or huff of disappointment as the speaker switched language made me chuckle. The Frenchman running the Games had charisma, and it was a delightful surprise when Nadal, who’s won the French Open so many times, he’s practically Parisian, turned up to carry the torch, but it got a bit weird when he left the Trocadero in a boat with three other athletes. Although the light show with the Eiffel Tower was certainly spectacular, it too went on too long. Things got better when the boat embarked and the torch was passed on to French athletes - especially the Olympian aged over 100 – and the reveal of the cauldron was spectacular. And then Celine Dion, who is suffering from stiff man syndrome, was able to belt out an Edith Piaf song on the Eiffel Tower, which I found rather wonderful.
I haven’t ever watched a full Olympics opening ceremony, and all told, I think I’d have preferred to watch the edited highlights!
But to the tennis:
Day one: round 1 and I started to watch Djokovic play…Mathew Ebden, now a doubles specialist, who got called up when Holger Rune pulled out. (Sinner is also not playing, making Djokovic the no. 1 seed.) Ebden hasn’t played a singles match for about two years, while Djokovic has had a bit more time to train on the recovering knee, and must be hungry, as a gold (or silver) medal is one of the few outstanding items on his to-do list.
It soon became clear that Ebden didn’t have enough power or game, and Djokovic only had to play solidly to bagel the Australian. They were playing under the roof, which was a new look for me, as was Roland Garros done up for the Olympics. Ebden flubbed a chance to win a game on his serve, and was looking like he’d get double bagelled, so when the commentators said that Alcaraz was playing on Suzanne Longlen, I bailed.
In another of the quirks caused by the Olympics, Alcaraz, playing in his first Olympics (and a snazzy Spanish tennis outfit ), would be facing Hady Habib of Lebanon. He’s ranked something like 275, but came through the American college system. Alcaraz benefitted from Habib’s nerves to take an early lead, but Habib had a powerful serve and settled to make it an entertaining match, although Alcaraz was consistently playing at a higher level. When Habib threatened to break back at 2-0 in the second set, Alcaraz geed himself up and shut the door, and however much the rowdy (but good-natured) crowd got behind Habib, he outplayed him and won on his fourth match point.
Obviously, the tennis world is hoping for Djokovic vs. Alcaraz in the gold medal match.
I later found that the most discussed doubles pairing (and I don’t mean Andy Murray and Dan Evans) were playing on Philippe Chatirer. Because play starts earlier and everyone is playing the best of three sets, the night sessions are not going to be the issue they were at the French Open. Having said that, because of the rain, there was only play on the two show courts, which have roofs, but the weather is meant to improve.
The brand new team of Nadal and Alcaraz would be facing an established Argentinian team, one of them older than Nadal (whose very little child was there, probably without a clue about what was going on.) I rather liked the Argentinian tennis outfit. Would their experience as a partnership help them? Alcaraz seemed a little nervous, going for too much, and he was obviously the greenest at doubles (Nadal has an Olympics doubles medal.) There were two breaks at the start and then everyone started winning their service games, taking us to a tiebreak, where a net cord helped the Spaniards get a mini break, which they built on to win.
Alcaraz was learning quickly about where to position himself and when and where his volleys needed to go – there’s nothing wrong with his netplay, and though Nadal was a step slower and not quite the force he was, he was Nadal. But the Argentinians broke him early in the second set and consolidated. At 0-3, Alcaraz played a solid service game and the Spaniards collectively lifted their game and broke back. They looked to be on quite the run, but the Argentinians stopped the rot, but only briefly. The Spaniards’ returns and Alcaraz’s understanding of what ‘the net man’ needs to do helped them win.
David Ferrer is Spain’s Olympics tennis captain, and the commentators rightly noted he seems to be looking younger these days.
Next up two former world no. 1s, former Grand Slam champions, Olympic medallists and mothers: Osaka vs. Kerber. I gave Osaka the edge based on youth and recent results. Kerber has said that she will be retiring after this tournament. I hate to carp on Osaka’s outfit again, but her neon orange trainers did not go with her red outfit.
Still, she started on fire, but Kerber scrambled back, and it became a contrast of styles, the big hitter against the counter-puncher, with Kerber getting one more ball back, asking questions. Her shrewd play frustrated Osaka, and at 5-5, errors flew off Osaka’s racquet, her mind was scrambled and she lost the first set. Encouraged, Kerber continued to play the game her way, and Osaka suffered in the match-up; her error count must have been horrendous. The gold medal winner at Tokyo is out, in a very different Olympics, with the full-throated, very excited crowd.
Day two: and it felt like a different tournament, with the sun out and all the play on the outside courts getting caught up. I watched Draper vs Nishikori. There was no commentary, so I’m not sure if I’m right in suspecting that these are Draper’s first Olympics, and I don’t know how old Nishikori is or how long it is since he was at the top of the game. I did see that his current ranking was in three figures, while Draper is top 30. Draper ought to have beat him, then, and do better than he did at the French Open. And in the first set, he seemed to have too much power. The second set started more closely, but after being pushed on serve at 2-3, and coming through, Draper lifted his level and won in two sets.
I dipped in and out of Nadal vs Fucsovics, who is a pretty decent player. But Nadal started on fire, and won the first set like the good old days. To his credit, Fucsovics made some adaptations and got himself in the match – I didn’t follow the entirety of the second set, but he won that, which is not what a player aged 38 and nursing an injury-stricken body wants. I rejoined after Nadal broke at the start of the third, and although some of his service games were not easy, he had enough intensity and smarts to win thus setting up a second-round encounter with one Novak Djokovic!
I watched some of Gauff versus Tomlianovic (sp?). Gauff started off better, but Tomlianovic regrouped and there were a series of breaks (shocking nobody, Tomlianovic was targeting Gauff’s forehand.) It felt like whoever held their serve would win, and that would be Gauff (her USA tennis outfit is very busy.) She steamrolled through the next set, so I started fastforwarding. She was the first top 10 opponent Tomlianovic has played in two years – after coming back from serious injury, and looked the no. 2 seed. Obviously, she’s a credible medallist in all three disciplines – it’s her first Olympics.
Of the 12 tableaux, I enjoyed the one celebrating artisans, starting with aerial dancers off scaffolding, and then cutting between the dancers in front of a golden backdrop, dancing in water, and a lone ballet dancer on the rooftops. The section involving the Minions was funny, and I liked the French-Malian singer with the military band. I got sarky about the cover of ‘Imagination’ – how French to go for an aggressively secular hymn – because I loathe that song, but apparently it’s an Olympic tradition, and it was sung well, as was the retooled ‘La Marseillaise’. The fusion of heavy metal and opera was pleasantly bonkers, but the French rap was unnecessary, and the paean to love (or Jules et Jim) was one of several provocations, though I liked the nods to the children watching throughout the ceremony.
I presume the mysterious torch bearer was several people, and you could tell when they were cutting back to the pre-recorded parkeuring, because the sun was out. All the rain added jeopardy to watching some of the live dancing.
The ’Solemnité’ bit was certainly lifted by Andrew Cotter doing a decent amateur’s near-simultaneous interpretation. His sigh of relief or huff of disappointment as the speaker switched language made me chuckle. The Frenchman running the Games had charisma, and it was a delightful surprise when Nadal, who’s won the French Open so many times, he’s practically Parisian, turned up to carry the torch, but it got a bit weird when he left the Trocadero in a boat with three other athletes. Although the light show with the Eiffel Tower was certainly spectacular, it too went on too long. Things got better when the boat embarked and the torch was passed on to French athletes - especially the Olympian aged over 100 – and the reveal of the cauldron was spectacular. And then Celine Dion, who is suffering from stiff man syndrome, was able to belt out an Edith Piaf song on the Eiffel Tower, which I found rather wonderful.
I haven’t ever watched a full Olympics opening ceremony, and all told, I think I’d have preferred to watch the edited highlights!
But to the tennis:
Day one: round 1 and I started to watch Djokovic play…Mathew Ebden, now a doubles specialist, who got called up when Holger Rune pulled out. (Sinner is also not playing, making Djokovic the no. 1 seed.) Ebden hasn’t played a singles match for about two years, while Djokovic has had a bit more time to train on the recovering knee, and must be hungry, as a gold (or silver) medal is one of the few outstanding items on his to-do list.
It soon became clear that Ebden didn’t have enough power or game, and Djokovic only had to play solidly to bagel the Australian. They were playing under the roof, which was a new look for me, as was Roland Garros done up for the Olympics. Ebden flubbed a chance to win a game on his serve, and was looking like he’d get double bagelled, so when the commentators said that Alcaraz was playing on Suzanne Longlen, I bailed.
In another of the quirks caused by the Olympics, Alcaraz, playing in his first Olympics (and a snazzy Spanish tennis outfit ), would be facing Hady Habib of Lebanon. He’s ranked something like 275, but came through the American college system. Alcaraz benefitted from Habib’s nerves to take an early lead, but Habib had a powerful serve and settled to make it an entertaining match, although Alcaraz was consistently playing at a higher level. When Habib threatened to break back at 2-0 in the second set, Alcaraz geed himself up and shut the door, and however much the rowdy (but good-natured) crowd got behind Habib, he outplayed him and won on his fourth match point.
Obviously, the tennis world is hoping for Djokovic vs. Alcaraz in the gold medal match.
I later found that the most discussed doubles pairing (and I don’t mean Andy Murray and Dan Evans) were playing on Philippe Chatirer. Because play starts earlier and everyone is playing the best of three sets, the night sessions are not going to be the issue they were at the French Open. Having said that, because of the rain, there was only play on the two show courts, which have roofs, but the weather is meant to improve.
The brand new team of Nadal and Alcaraz would be facing an established Argentinian team, one of them older than Nadal (whose very little child was there, probably without a clue about what was going on.) I rather liked the Argentinian tennis outfit. Would their experience as a partnership help them? Alcaraz seemed a little nervous, going for too much, and he was obviously the greenest at doubles (Nadal has an Olympics doubles medal.) There were two breaks at the start and then everyone started winning their service games, taking us to a tiebreak, where a net cord helped the Spaniards get a mini break, which they built on to win.
Alcaraz was learning quickly about where to position himself and when and where his volleys needed to go – there’s nothing wrong with his netplay, and though Nadal was a step slower and not quite the force he was, he was Nadal. But the Argentinians broke him early in the second set and consolidated. At 0-3, Alcaraz played a solid service game and the Spaniards collectively lifted their game and broke back. They looked to be on quite the run, but the Argentinians stopped the rot, but only briefly. The Spaniards’ returns and Alcaraz’s understanding of what ‘the net man’ needs to do helped them win.
David Ferrer is Spain’s Olympics tennis captain, and the commentators rightly noted he seems to be looking younger these days.
Next up two former world no. 1s, former Grand Slam champions, Olympic medallists and mothers: Osaka vs. Kerber. I gave Osaka the edge based on youth and recent results. Kerber has said that she will be retiring after this tournament. I hate to carp on Osaka’s outfit again, but her neon orange trainers did not go with her red outfit.
Still, she started on fire, but Kerber scrambled back, and it became a contrast of styles, the big hitter against the counter-puncher, with Kerber getting one more ball back, asking questions. Her shrewd play frustrated Osaka, and at 5-5, errors flew off Osaka’s racquet, her mind was scrambled and she lost the first set. Encouraged, Kerber continued to play the game her way, and Osaka suffered in the match-up; her error count must have been horrendous. The gold medal winner at Tokyo is out, in a very different Olympics, with the full-throated, very excited crowd.
Day two: and it felt like a different tournament, with the sun out and all the play on the outside courts getting caught up. I watched Draper vs Nishikori. There was no commentary, so I’m not sure if I’m right in suspecting that these are Draper’s first Olympics, and I don’t know how old Nishikori is or how long it is since he was at the top of the game. I did see that his current ranking was in three figures, while Draper is top 30. Draper ought to have beat him, then, and do better than he did at the French Open. And in the first set, he seemed to have too much power. The second set started more closely, but after being pushed on serve at 2-3, and coming through, Draper lifted his level and won in two sets.
I dipped in and out of Nadal vs Fucsovics, who is a pretty decent player. But Nadal started on fire, and won the first set like the good old days. To his credit, Fucsovics made some adaptations and got himself in the match – I didn’t follow the entirety of the second set, but he won that, which is not what a player aged 38 and nursing an injury-stricken body wants. I rejoined after Nadal broke at the start of the third, and although some of his service games were not easy, he had enough intensity and smarts to win thus setting up a second-round encounter with one Novak Djokovic!
I watched some of Gauff versus Tomlianovic (sp?). Gauff started off better, but Tomlianovic regrouped and there were a series of breaks (shocking nobody, Tomlianovic was targeting Gauff’s forehand.) It felt like whoever held their serve would win, and that would be Gauff (her USA tennis outfit is very busy.) She steamrolled through the next set, so I started fastforwarding. She was the first top 10 opponent Tomlianovic has played in two years – after coming back from serious injury, and looked the no. 2 seed. Obviously, she’s a credible medallist in all three disciplines – it’s her first Olympics.
