Tennis 10sBalls Reports From Roland Garros • Paris • 2018 French Open

Photos by Daisy for 10sBalls

 

 

Thursday at Roland Garros

By Francisco Resendiz

 

As we get to the elevators doors at the hotel you are always reminded that you are in Paris by the distinctive smell of Chanel perfume lingering. This morning was a croissant and coffee type of morning. We hurried off to Roland Garros to watch Ruben Bemelmans vs Jurgen Zopp (both lucky losers and into the second round) and to catch some of Denis Shapovalov vs Maximilian Marterer.

 

Bemelmans was moving great and serving hard in the first two set of the match where he managed to put in most of his 11 aces of the match. In the last three sets most of his double faults came in – with a total of 11. Zopp stayed focused and was able to serve 19 aces and was able to win the game. 4-6 ,4-6 ,6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

 

As we saw the ending of Bemelmans’ match on court 6 we looked up and noticed that on the next court over was the Andrea Petkovic vs Bethanie Mattek-Sands match, so we switched over. The American Bethanie did not have a good first set where Petkovic completely took control and won 6-0. In the second set, Bethanie started to move Petkovic and served well but the second also went to Petkovic – who always likes to do a victory dance 6-0 ,7-6. (Amazing to see BETHANIE back in singles). This match was played by two of the finest athletes to ever PLAY TENNIS! Congrats to Andrea and Dusan on the win. Congrats to BETH and Justin for the miraculous recovery back to the top.

 

Denis Shapovalov vs Maximilian Marterer was such a close match. Both guys play amazing tennis. The German Marterer was not the favorite to win but with all the German fan support he managed to come out victorious. Both guys move great, hit deep, and serve extremely hard – 10 aces for Shapovalov and 9 for Marterer. Both guys are lefties too. Marterer won 5-7 ,7-6 ,7-5 ,6-4.

 

Taylor Townsend vs Simona Halep was great in the first set. Townsend looked like she was going to make a comeback and Halep was starting to lose her concentration but then it all went downhill for Townsend. Simona won the match 6-3, 6-1.

 

The woman’s doubles: Flipkens and Errani vs Burel and Parry was fun to watch. There was tons of support for the French teen duo – the crowd kept yelling, “Allez Filles!” the girls were really combative but Flipkens and Errani took control of the match and served well to win. 6-4 ,6-2.

 

Today at Roland Garros there was not much humidity but it was very hot and many of us have developed sunburns. Yet, it is always fun to watch tennis and hear the La Vie En Rose song in the background.

 

That was our Thursday at Roland Garros • this is a not to be missed experience. Roland Garros is so rich in history. And it never disappoints in the Drama.

Ballkids