TENNIS: French Open 2014 Middle Saturday
Jun. 1st, 2014 08:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllA lot of tennis yesterday, but I generally gorge myself on the first week of the French because it just isn't possible to catch as much of the second week or the grass-court season.
I got to see all of the epic third set between Kvitova and Kusnestova, which involved some excellent tennis and willpower. Having lost the last set so easily and been injured, it seemed as if Kvitova had had a good think and decided she wanted to carry on and win. Time after time, when it came to the crunch point, she found the same determination, and when she got it right, there was that same purity to her game that had won her Wimbledon. However, her total of unforced errors for the match was 60, and even if some of that was in the second set or 'unforced', it's not a helpful statistic. Kuznetsova hung on, kept thinking and battling like the French Open champion she is, came up with good tennis and the honours.
An excellent watch.
I took issue with ITV's choice of second match. However excellent some of Nadal's tennis was, like the commentators, you knew Mayer wasn't going to bother him much, whereas Fognini vs. Monfils (and to some extent the crowd) was always going to be entertaining. So I was relieved when they went back to it.
And then Murray, whom I hadn't seen play yet in the French, and Kohlschreiber playing remarkably well. The second and third sets were more calming, and I made the mistake of assuming at 3-0 up in the fourth that Murray had it done. Au contraire and all that. I watched a DVD instead of the fifth, which I understand still remains in the balance. Although this is the round where the top seeds are meant to meet the bottom seeds and it's meant to be a challenge (which Kvitova and, more surprisingly, Ivanovic failed) Kohlschreiber shouldn't be allowed to take Murray to five (or win).
I got to see all of the epic third set between Kvitova and Kusnestova, which involved some excellent tennis and willpower. Having lost the last set so easily and been injured, it seemed as if Kvitova had had a good think and decided she wanted to carry on and win. Time after time, when it came to the crunch point, she found the same determination, and when she got it right, there was that same purity to her game that had won her Wimbledon. However, her total of unforced errors for the match was 60, and even if some of that was in the second set or 'unforced', it's not a helpful statistic. Kuznetsova hung on, kept thinking and battling like the French Open champion she is, came up with good tennis and the honours.
An excellent watch.
I took issue with ITV's choice of second match. However excellent some of Nadal's tennis was, like the commentators, you knew Mayer wasn't going to bother him much, whereas Fognini vs. Monfils (and to some extent the crowd) was always going to be entertaining. So I was relieved when they went back to it.
And then Murray, whom I hadn't seen play yet in the French, and Kohlschreiber playing remarkably well. The second and third sets were more calming, and I made the mistake of assuming at 3-0 up in the fourth that Murray had it done. Au contraire and all that. I watched a DVD instead of the fifth, which I understand still remains in the balance. Although this is the round where the top seeds are meant to meet the bottom seeds and it's meant to be a challenge (which Kvitova and, more surprisingly, Ivanovic failed) Kohlschreiber shouldn't be allowed to take Murray to five (or win).
