French Open: Day 4 and football news

Was a rain-affected day 4 at Philip Chartier, Roland Garos, Paris.

Andy Murray bt Juan Ignacio Chela. The Argentinian (whose name, I am a fan of along with Juan Sebastian Veron, Juan Pablo Montoya, Juan Pablo Angel), on the back of a victory on the clay court of Houston, threatened briefly, taking the 2nd set. But the Scot came through reasonably comfortably in the end. The Scot now faces the Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis in another tricky match for Murray. He beat Richard Gasquet in the first round, then Chela and now has Baghdatis.......phew, thats a tough draw.......

A-Rod, lost the 2nd set, but came through in 4 sets. 'Sweet heart' Ivanovic was kind of humiliated really, she lost 6-3, 6-0. Is there something with pretty-looking tennis players? They never seem to play consitent. She was the 2007 French Open champion. But now, is sadly on a downward curve. Anyway, Justin Henin looks to be well-placed before rain-gods obliged again. She was leading 6-3, 3-2. Big serving Isner powered his way through with 36 aces.......

Watch out for Almagro. Touted as the other Nadal by the Spanish press, he could be the surprise package this time. He is similar to Nadal in that he can grind the opponent to pieces. The difference, a major one at that , is that he is right handed. Also, he has a one-handed backhand.



Else where, Maurinho seems to be destined to become the Real Madrid coach. He has already started making his cocky statements. The latest one is something along these lines:

"If I become the coach of Madrid, I will not be the coach of a star-studded team. All the stars are at Inter Milan" !!! As much I a hate this guy's tactics, I love his press ocnferences.......Van Persie sinked Mehico with a brace. Looks to be in the form of his life now. Was good to see him score 2 and yet so frustrating to think what might have been had he been fit for Arsenal

United have officially announced the arrival of talented Mehican Striker....Hernandez. Nicknamed 'Chicharito', he is a hot favorite among the Mexicans. At the match between the Dynamos, I asked this Mexican dude, who is better Carlo Vela and Chicharito and he shouted, much to my disappointment CHICHARRRRRITO.......

French Open Updates ,World cup preview, CL review

Somdev Devvarman was ousted in the first round. Disappointing. But lets get behind our guy and hope he does better in the upcoming grand slams. This was his first grand slam. So lot of factors like playing in front of big crowds, nerves etc would come into play.

Federer was in 2nd gear and yet cruised into the 2nd round. Soderling (last year's finalist) eased into 2nd round with a straight-set win. The comedian from Serbia -Dojokovic, (type djovkovic mimicry on youtube, if you have not already), had a little scare but went thru in 4 sets. Jo-wili-Tsonga made heavy weather of little-known German, and battled thru in 5 sets. Best match of the 1st round though was between Gasquet and Murray. The Glasgow boy came back from 2 sets down to beat the local boy to go through in 5 sets. The Scot looked down, when he was 2 sets down and 1 break behind in the 3rd set. But, in an amazing turn around, he silenced the crowd and won in over 3 and a half hrs.
But, it looks like it is going to be the same old, fed-nadal final since there is no Delpotro and no Davydenko due to injuries. Even if they did play, it de-nadal was the likelier final, but now that they are not there, it makes it even more likely.

There is still hope for India, as Paes-Dloughy are seeded 3rd in doubles. Also, Bopanna is playing with a Pakistani guy Qureshi! Sadly, I dont see Sania Mirza in the FO'10. I hope all the Shoaib Malik/ Marriage thing does not take her focus away. If it does, it will be a shame. I cant imagine someone from the US or Europe stops playing because he/she got married!!


WC'10
Ballack is injured and wont play wc.
Grosso has been left out by Lippi. I remember this guy played really well in the wc'06, he defended awesome and also scored the goal that killed Germany in semi final. So, he must have done something pretty bad to be removed.
Ronaldo is 'worried' about Ivory Coast. Indeed, this group is the 'Group of Death'. Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea. My boss, who is himself from the Ivory Coast, says Brazil and North Korea will go through. Lets see.

Champions League final was pretty boring

I kind of dozed off in between the match 5 or 6 times. Agreed, I was tired after playing cricket in the morning. But, certainly, a football match has to be really boring to make me go to sleep, and that too in a CL final.

But it certainly did escalate Maurinho's figure as the father who work magic. And for those who want trophies at 'any' cost, would be full of praise for the Portugese. He does have an aura about him. But never in my life would I want himto coach Arsenal. Indeed, their path to CL glory could not have been tougher, with the likes of Shelski, Bayern and Barcelona thrown in their path. So well donw Maurinho and well done Inter and well done Zannetti, the 36-yr old captain of Internazionale. And btw, it was sweet revenge for Maurinho. He was fired as the assistant coach of Van Gaal at Barcelona 10 years ago!!



........thats it for now

Nadal Defeat and French Open Hopes

King of clay Nadal was dethroned last week by none other then king of grass Roger Federer. Federer finally overcame Nadal on clay in the final of the Hamburg Masters thus breaking the phenomenal 81 matches winning streak of Nadal on clay. Federer was unable to beat Nadal in previous 5 occasions on clay but finally on Sunday he showed his class on Clay court beating Nadal 26 62 60.

Now all eyes of tennis fans will move to the French open which begins on Sunday 27th May. Defeat of Nadal at the hands of Federer will give much needed confidence to beat Nadal, now players of the likes of Nikolay Davydenko, Fernando Gonzalez, Novak Djokovic , Tommy Robredro will go to Paris with positive hopes in the second major of year.


This win will also give Federer confidence as he is going through lean phase for the first time since he became no. 1 in 2004. Federer is struggling by his standards and this victory has come at a crucial time. But beating Nadal at his den will be very difficult.




Let's switch over to Paris for enthralling tennis. Will it be Nadal again or will Federer will overcome his nemises this time or will it be some one else may be Fernando, Davydenko : we will have to wait till 10th, but one thing is sure it will not as easy as last year, others have raised their bar to beat Nadal and Federer.
Will they be successful ??? Let's enjoy the beautiful game of tennis in beautiful city of Paris from our homes :)



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