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Day one at the French Open has come to an end and the “usual suspects” that were in action today all “did their thing”. Serena Williams won in two very easy sets over French competitor A. Lim (who apparently participates in the academy run by Serena’s coach). Also advancing, Radwanska with ease, A. Kerber in two easy sets, and yes, Venus Williams (now ranked 29 in the world) won in two sets. Happy to see Venus get through.
On the men’s side…the only member of the current “Big Four” and/or “Big Five”, (depending on how one views the tennis hierarchy these days) to be in action was the one that matters in my mind, Mr. Federer himself. First, yes, Mirka was there, the twin girls were there, at least for about seven games or so before their attention span began to wander and it was time for them to be run down by the nanny and taken elsewhere. Hey, they are four years old going on five! Certainly the infant twin boys are being carefully attended to as well!! Anyhow, Federer looked really good, winning in straight sets over L. Lacko, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. He finished up so quickly in the day, the commentators speculated that he likely was going to get some babysitting time in before hitting the practice courts! This French Open is Fed’s 58th consecutive appearance at a Grand Slam (a record, of course) and his 59th victory at Roland Garros (tying him with Rafael Nadal for at least today), Rafa takes the court tomorrow, yet still placing him in second place on the all time French Open victories list. Again, as I alluded to in my French Open preview, we tend to forget that while clay is seen as Roger’s “weakest” surface, he is certainly the second best clay court player of a decade (Rafa being the greatest of course, the greatest ever!). John Isner advanced in straight sets, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 (those are what one calls close straight sets)! Raonic and Berdych also advanced today in three sets and M. Youzhny took the adventurous route, losing the first two sets before coming back to win the next three. Like Youzhny, especially that military salute he gives after his victories! He will face Stepanek who needed four sets to advance today. Next up for Mr. Federer, D S Schwartzman, likely on Tuesday, weather permitting. Rain is in the forecast in Paris for the next few days. Tomorrow, more of the top names in action. Coverage begins at 5:00 am EST on ESPN2 and then moves over to the Tennis Channel at 10:00 am EST.
The NCAA Tennis Champions have been crowned and the men’s title goes to the team from USC. Ironically, the women’s champions hail from crosstown rival, UCLA. Gotta say, they play some good college tennis in southern California! Congrats to both!
The Indy 500 took place today as well…have to admit watched more of the tennis but the winner is…for the first time…Ryan Hunter-Reay. Nice to see an American driver win this great auto race on Memorial Day weekend. He narrowly won, denying the second place finisher Helio Castroneves his fourth title (Helio has won Indy three times). The final six laps were something to see with Hunter-Reay passing and then re-passing Helio to seal the deal. Marco Andretti finished in third place. Nice day for Andretti racing (1st and 3rd). Helio races for Team Penske. Missing in the top group, team Gnassi (and of course, Dario Franchitti, now retired but working for Gnassi). Dixon did not have a great race and finished somewhere around 29th??? At least Will Power did not win (oops…I said it didn’t I?)
Last night the Miami Heat got off to a SLOW start but came roaring back to defeat the Pacers in Miami, 99-87. So, what does the best defensive team in the the NBA (Pacers) need to do to slow down the juggernaut that is LeBron, Wade, Allen, Cole and Bosh? I don’t know, Paul George did play and was effective? For starters, D. West is not getting it done guarding Ray Allen, but who can get it done? Very disappointing that the Pacers lost that game two in Indy. Have to wonder is this series in the books? If Miami takes game four, it goes back to Indy for game five. We shall see…still say GO PACERS!! (Heat lead 2-1)
Tonight, OKC host the Spurs in the Western Conference finals. Spurs have a 2-0 lead. Without Serge Ibaka, don’t know if OKC can defeat San Antonio but do expect them to win a game or perhaps two at home. Stay tuned…(I am pulling for San Antonio anyway!)
Happy Memorial Day (tomorrow)!
Update: Great interview of Liam Neeson by Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes. Very poignant when hearing him talk about the loss of his beloved wife, Natasha Richardson.
Late…OKC dismantling the Spurs 104-84 with 4 minutes left. Serge is playing…this could be a series after all! Spurs offense has to go through Parker..not happening tonight!
