2023 French Open

I caught almost none of the French this year and that's too bad. Grand Slam tennis is always good and without a clear female fave and no Nadal on the other side meant that this year's French was wide open and worth catching.  Oh well, I saw both Finals, so not a total loss.  

(1) Swiatek 6/5/6 - 2/7/4 (NR) Muchova

Swiatek is a hell of a player but, you know, she doesn't have any signature moves, there's no real transcendence to her game, she's just all-round good at everything. And as for Muchova, she played steady, whereas I was expecting her to be emotional, spotty, up and down, she really wasn't any of that. She was consistent and played hard and smart all the way through and it almost worked for her. Swiatek was the better player but she had moments of doubt and she was the one who had ups and downs. 

I hesitate to say Swiatek didn't play her best, I suspect this mostly good/but occasionally out of sorts is who she is. Muchova played well--really well--but just couldn't match Swiatek's best effort. Swiatek is an interesting champ because I feel like she can hang anywhere with anyone, but she can also fritter away her best chances and probably could be had by even an unranked no-name if she has an extended braindead period. That said, Swiatek is #1 for a reason and I could also see her dominating the women's game for a few more years. 

(3) Djokovic 7/6/7 - 6/3/5 (4) Ruud

Early on, I thought Djokovic looked a little rusty and when Ruud went up a break early in the 1st, I really felt like Ruud would hold it and take the set. But, it didn't happen. Ruud was good but just couldn't maintain his composure, I just kept waiting for Ruud to pull it together but when he let the 1st set get to a tiebreak, I knew it was probably over for him. Then in the 2nd set, felt like Ruud was gonna go full Richie Tannenbaum melt down and he just never got his fight back in him. 3rd set, too, I was wondering if Ruud would pull it together and he didn't. 

As for Djokovic, he was loose and free, playing with house money, nothing to lose, just went out there and played his game, kept the audience from cheering for the underdog and like your roommate's pet python, Djokovic slowly wrapped himself around anyone that might want some of the oxygen he was hoarding. 

Another great W for the GOAT (*), though I really felt like Ruud had a chance--not a big one, but the path to steal the first set was there and he couldn't stay on it. 

(*) Oh yeah, I made my peace with it a while ago, Djokovic is the all-time greatest tennis player of all-time (**). 

(**) Not a typo--he's that fucking great, dude!