Seven days of the French Open 2018 are history. Time for an initial assessment with a personal touch. And one of our employee of the week.
Of course, in recent years no one has succumbed to the idea that Guy Forget, the tournament director of the French Open, could be to blame for the sometimes precarious weather conditions. Forget had to justify them anyway. And of course the fact that the roof over Court Philippe Chatrier seemed like a utopia for the next but one tennis generation. The first week 2018, on the other hand: a short rain break, a break before time. Who needs another roof? Chapeau, Guy!
*
Towelling” may be a scourge of the noughties in tennis, the two best German men are not affected by it. In his match against Borna Coric, Philipp Kohlschreiber would have had every reason to have a towel brought to him all the time (which Coric did even after a double mistake of himself). Kohli has waived this right. And Alexander Zverev is unpretentious on the court anyway: “Only in an emergency, when changing sides after the first game of a set, the German number one does without the liquid absorption, goes directly to the other side of the court. Focused on the essentials.
The future of men’s tennis could be glorious. Well, there’s plenty of guys. However, corners and edges are already emerging: Thus the manners of Dominic Thiem’s second-round opponent encounter delicate shaking of the head in player circles, and Maximilian Marterer’s second-round opponent’s dealings with the ball children can also be described as still expandable. Growing pains.
Women’s sport is a bit strange: Anything is possible in sporting terms. That the biggest story of the first week is the outfit of the best player of all time, well. There is no #NextGen for the ladies, the attention is still focused on Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Two epic characters behind whom the rest of the WTA tour likes to hide.
Double news: The Slice-Lob-Return is called Schlag du Jour. Likes to play cross – and although well anticipated by the serves, still a very effective variant. Whereby: Proven experts such as Alexander Peya are also masters of the topspin version.
Court 1 is to give way to a green area, which can be explained for sporting reasons: the course is so narrowly laid out that the linesman at the baseline had to fear that Dusan Lajovic would be beheaded by the returning Alexander Zverev every time he kicks outwards. On the other hand, the problems are somewhere else, literally. The new Court 18 is nice and popular with the players. But if you want to go to the other side of the facility after a match, you will find yourself in a stream of people passing through at least two bottlenecks. Haste with time.
And speaking of Court 18: A third round match of the world number one, Simona Halep, needs a certain chutzpah. Pauline Parmentier and Alizé Cornet proved in round two that state cannot always be made with local heroes. Big stadium, hand-picked spectators. Literally.
Journalists are privileged, for example, are allowed to visit the plant earlier than the public. And so they can also observe things that remain hidden from the spectators. Saturday morning, 10:15 a.m.: Tommy Haas enters the Court Philippe Chatrier and proves again that he is a master of multitasking. Welcomes Maria Sharapova (just finished hitting her) and Karolina Pliskova (just starting out) in his capacity as tournament director of Indian Wells, shakes hands with former coach Thomas Högstedt, and then warms Lucas Pouille. Verdict from a distance: Still world class in playfulness.
Staff member of the first week: The colleague with the Yorkshire accent, who has probably been listed under “Buddy” in Alexander Zverev’s contacts for a few days. A little later, Jonathan Pinfield of Live Sports FM reminds us how beautiful the English language is.