As an Aussie, I have always been a keen tennis fan. When I lived in Australia, I regularly went to watch the Australian Open – as a grand slam tournament it always attracted the world’s top players. I have been fortunate to see many of them play in Melbourne over the years. I tried to also play the game – albeit very badly. The move to the USA certainly made it harder to appreciate this sport. When I lived in Connecticut I discovered that tickets to the US Open were very expensive & the event was also very corporate. Over the years we ended up going to various lead up tournaments to the US Open instead. This was great in some ways – matches are played in a more intimate setting & you can really see the players up close [instead of sitting in the nosebleed section of a large stadium]. The Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati is a good example – we have been to this one on numerous occasions now. Here are some pics [as is out of the camera] of Roger Federer – one of my fave players of all time – from 2014 when I lugged my camera gear with me to Cincy:
This year, of course, it is ‘when in Rome, do as Romans do’ ! In a mad moment of spontaneity I decided to get tickets to the French Open – as a surprise belated birthday present for my other half, who was coming over again to visit. Cost me an arm & a leg, but I figured this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. This time I experimented taking pictures with my iPhone & a small, portable Nikon Coolpix camera – both of which do not compare to a camera with decent lenses when it comes to sports photography.
This is a very special year at the French Open, held regularly at the Roland Garros tennis facility. Roland Garros was a pioneer in French aviation, who was the first to fly across the Mediterranean [between Saint-Raphaël & Tunis] in 1913. This was an amazing achievement in its day! The then famous Garros signed up as a fighter pilot for the First World War & his plane was shot down in October 1918 – on the eve of his 30th birthday. So exactly a 100 years have passed now in 2018. [For more info, see https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/video/who-is-roland-garros] When France needed a place to play the USA in Davis Cup finals in 1928, a new stadium was built at Porte D’Auteuil – the site of the present day Roland Garros tennis facility which today houses 17 courts & 3 stadium size courts.
In 1928 the new stadium was named after Roland Garros, because of of lobbying by his friend Émile Lesieur. [Lesieur was also a fighter pilot during the war & was a fellow student with Garros at the famous Paris business school [HEC]. Lesieur himself was a celebrated rugby player & was President of the Stade français – an organization formed in 1883 devoted to the promotion of athletics & sports in schools & at the elite level.] The tournament this year commemorates the 100th anniversary of Garros’s death – but actually it is a celebration of his life.
The tennis complex is very nicely laid out & is next to a botanical garden, some of which is gradually being absorbed by the tennis facility. One of the catering areas, called the Orangerie, abuts it & our tickets gave us access to it where we got a quick & light breakfast before heading to check out the matches.
Lunch was also served there – quite a fancy affair – white starched tablecloths & wine glasses arranged in the standard diagonal line. The priorities were well set – there were TV screens all around the place so you could not miss the tennis while you tucked into your nice 3 course lunch in a leisurely manner!
Our tennis tickets for the Round of 16 were for the main stadium court – named after Philippe Chatrier – a famous French tennis player & journalist. This court has ~15,000 seats – a great atmosphere for spectators because everyone is fairly close to the play. The image below is straight out of the iPhone – no zoom…
There has been criticism of the limited seating at the French Open & as I understand it plans are underway to expand the facility – moving it further into the botanical garden.
On this gorgeous Sunday on center court there were 4 scheduled singles matches – 2 women’s & 2 men’s – .
Madison Keys (images above) defeated her Rumanian opponent Mihaela Buszarnescu & Madison’s close friend Sloan Stephens defeated Estonian player Anett Kontaveit (images below).
This set Keys & Stephens up to meet in the semi-final – similar to last year’s US Open women’s final, where they met & Stephens won. [This time, Stephens won again & she is to play Simon Halep in the final on Sunday 10th of June.]
We also saw Austrian Dominic Thiem [images below] take out Japanese star Kei Nishikori – somewhat of a surprise. [Thiem himself went on to be beaten by Nadal in the quarter-final.]
FInally, Novak Djokovic defeated the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in 3 sets [images below]. Sounds like an easy match, but it was not because many games went to deuce & were quite prolonged. Overall, Djokovic did not play well at all – he made lots of unforced errors – surprising for someone playing at that level. [He was subsequently bundled out of the Open in the semi-final in a shock defeat by the Italian player Marco Cecchinato – who made history by becoming the first Italian man make the French Open semi-final in 40 years!]
Clay courts are a tough surface to maintain – the courts need to be ‘bagged’ regularly i.e. run over with a brush & hosed. I remember doing this at high-school as the chore that everyone hated to do. This was the last thing to do when finishing up for the day. As I watched them bag the courts at the Open I thought about those old days… But they really had the bagging down to a very fine art at the Open…
As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of great spaces for spectators to hang out. One open area had deck chairs in front of a large screen – so that people can lounge around with a bit more comfort…
Overall, we had a terrific day at the tennis! It was a day that I will never forget, both for the game itself as well as the wonderful lunch we were served. Getting there & back was super easy & quick with the Metro. That is one of the great things about living in a big city with an excellent public transport system. And that is something to really celebrate, isn’t it?
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