Paris • Cloudy, Drizzly, And Sort Of Cool Day At The French Open Tennis

A ball children in action as Kevin Anderson of South Africa plays Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay during their men’s second round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 31 May 2018. EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT

 

 

By Francisco Resendiz

 

Today was the easiest day in terms of getting to the tennis site. We came via tournament car… So, to get the ride from the tournament car we had to skip breakfast all together so instead our food today was a handful of cherry flavored Laffy Taffy candy.

 

First we went to Errani and Flipkens practice/warm up for 30 minutes. Flipkens warmed up in about 10 minutes and the rest of the time they used to practice Errani’s serve and return.

 

Damir Dzumhur vs Alexander Zverev – the young German served out 28 aces and double faulted 14 times while Dzumhur aced 5 times and double faulted 9 times. This match was long but very exciting both guys were playing great tennis but Zverev came out victorious. 6-2 ,3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5.

 

Bertens and Larsson vs Townsend and Voracova – The first set was great tennis, Townsend was really moving well and cutting the balls short when she was at the net. The team of Townsend and Voracova were still not able to win the first set. For the second set they just did not seem to be focused and Bertens and Larsson just continued to play fast and concentrated. Bertens and Larsson won 6-4 ,6-0.

 

We decided to take a walk to court 18. As we rounded the corner of the Suzanne Lenglen Stadium – we noticed a huge line of people and it continued to what seemed the exit at the far end of the grounds. We did not know why they were queing so we just continued on our way to watch Kei Nishikori vs Gilles Simon. As we got closer to the court we realized that the extremely long line of people was for entrance to court 18 – we felt a bit unsettled getting to the front of the line and showing our player guest invites and being able to get into the court. Even though Simon had a ton of French fan support he lost to Nishikori. Nishikori moved great, played fast and hit deep. 6-3, 6-1 ,6-3.

 

Kirsten Flipkens and Sara Errani vs Venus Williams and Serena Williams seemed to be the match that everyone wanted to watch. That’s what the line or Q was about? The USTA president Katrina Adams was even in attendance till the rain started. Errani being a clay court specialist and former top 5 player and Flipkens having great feel and an amazing slice gave the Williams sisters a tough match. Yet, the Williams sisters won. 6-4 ,6-2.

 

We left a bit early today because we did not want to get rained on any more. Instead we decided to head out to Galleries Lafayette for some shopping. Just a quick note unlike many places around the world many of the French stores, malls, and shopping centers close by 8pm.