2024 French Open

(12) Paolini 2/1 - 6/6 (1) Swiatek

Yeah, this one was over pretty quick. Paolini moved well, great athlete, moves like a cat out there, but she just didn't have any advantage of Swiatek, who mushed her pretty quickly. Swiatekwas up 5-0 in the 2nd, I felt bad for Paolini, afraid she might get bageled. But she recovered (and Swiatek slacked off) to avoid the shut out. Paolini is a nice player but she's got a ways to go to be a major champion. Swiatek, on the other hand, is on top of the world right now. 

(4) Zverev 3/6/7/1/2 - 6/2/5/6/6 (3) Alcaraz

I only saw the Final, so I got no thoughts on what led up to this. To my eye, while Zverev's size and speed was slightly neutralized by the clay court, it seemed like his defense would be even better, that he'd get to every ball and he felt to me like the favorite. But Alcaraz has the ability to wait til the last second to make his shot, giving him great camouflage that minimized Zverev's defensive advantage. It was Alcaraz that got to every ball and pretty well dominated the 1st set. But Zverev stayed cool and did a good job of pushing Alcaraz around in the 2nd set to even it up. 

In the 3rd set, Alcaraz struck me as celebrating a little too much, a little too early, as if he was pepping himself back up after a disappointing 2nd set. I can understand that he needed the boost (even if it was artificial), but I worried that it might go sideways on him. Well, he went up a break, the crowd was going wild in his favor, and I kinda felt like an idiot. Then....Alcaraz just straight collapsed for the rest of the set, couldn't hit a winner, couldn't get away from Zverev's two-handed backhand and Zverev stormed back from 5-2 to win the set at 7-5. The crowd was stunned and even though I kinda saw it coming, I, too, was stunned. 

Then in the 4th, Zverev gave up two quick breaks, gave back all the momentum and then even though they each broke the other one more time (a rather puzzling development, actually), Alcaraz cruised through the 4th to take back the momentum and set up a classic 5th set.  

Except that Zverev was completely cooked by then and the "classic" 5th set turned into a walkover, as Zverev flailed and Alcaraz cruised. Alcaraz is the more complete player at this point and certainly played better on this day (outside of that disastrous 3rd set), but if Zverev could've held it together for just one more hour, this really could've been something, because I still believe Zverev can be a great player (honestly, he seems like he needs the conditioning, he just didn't seem ready for a 5th set). 

It appears to me that Nadal is now completely finished and Djokovic might be done, too. A new day is coming in tennis and it looks to be the Alcaraz period is officially under way. 

More Random Sports

When there is no NBA I watch other sports. I had forgotten that about myself.

French Open (Serena over Stephens). Serena did it again: threw a 1st set bone to the young American, let her get right to the edge of winning the 2nd set....then yanked the chain. Normally I would appreciate this dominance but I find her play so un-gentlemanly (and tennis is an English sport), to toy with your opponents is more palatable in a team sport (Jordan or Messi or Gretzky or Kobe to do whatever they like) but becomes cartoonish in a one-on-one sport (Floyd Mayweather, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Shooter McGavin, Ernie 'Big Ern' McCracken). I reckon Serena will take another Slam, I don't know who awaits her but I reckon Serena's better.

German Cup (Wolfsburg 3-1 Dortmund). Dortmund scored early, looked like they were gonna dominate. But it didn't happen. Wolfsburg attacked well, looked more dangerous around the goal and were able to connect on a coupla nice ones.

Spanish Cup (Barcelona 3-1 Atheltico Madrid). Barca was better, Messi is a mathematician, Ahletico had a nice charge late, warded off the clean sheet, but Barca pretty well dominated for the first 75 minutes.

Fred Hoiberg confirmed as the next Bulls coach. Good hire? I guess so. Hoiberg played in the league but he's never coached in the league. If his players love him then I guess that'll be better Thibs and I'm guessing next year they'll have a festive vibe. A fresh face may look at this squad and see a lot of good talent, rather than the last guy who watched his young team get old. The Bulls need a positive outlook and a cohesive plan (they could also use some bench depth), good morale will at least keep the gossip to a minimum. Hoiberg's results may well depend on what the Bulls can pull off this summer or next.

French Open (Federer over Monfils, Ferrer over Cilic). Federer-Monfils was suspended yesterday, so Federer only needed two sets today to finish off Monfils; the vibe between them was playful, Federer's gambits worked, not so for Monfils. Federer is still a helluva player, man, wonder if he can win. Ferrer is an attack dog and that's what Cilic got a face full of today. Ferrer is a hustler, gets to every ball, Cilic had power but didn't have the command to elude Ferrer. (Think I'd like to catch Nishikori-Tsonga tomorrow morning, two good players both playing well right now)

Good lord! I'm watching a Tigers-Angels game from a coupla days ago. I got problems, yo.

Sports Watching

I had a good sports watching day the other day.

FA Cup Final (Arsenal 3-0 Aston Villa).  Yeah, never felt like Aston was gonna score. Arsenal didn't exactly dominate the game but they were more dangerous team from beginning to end. (Man, that second goal, yowza!)

French Open Tennis. Azarenka (against Serena) choked away a break in the 2nd and another in the 3rd, can't say anything other than she blew it. Matches like those (when you're on the verge of winning and then Serena effortlessly surges back into the lead), must hurt worse than other losses: Azarenka not only has to live with choking away a winnable match in a Slam but the way Serena let Azarenka feel like she had a chance of winning, just to snap it back, is just cold-hearted and hurtful. Serena Williams is probably my all-time least favorite athlete: I think she's an obnoxious snob on the court and her rudeness to her opponents is all the more egregious because she's clearly better than anyone else that has played in the last 15 years! When she wants to be the best she is clearly the best and has been pretty much since day one. And for her to be such a selfish, angry, demented little brat makes her the quintessential ugly American in my book. (Very rare for me to dis an athlete, the hero/villain dynamic in our entertainment culture rather bores me, that's not what I watch sports for, so I rarely pay attention enough to really dislike anyone; AJ Pierzynski and Bill Romanowski are the only other athletes I can think of that really struck me as awful people)

Rugby 7's. I used to cover rugby back in the day, so I have actually watched and paid attention to rugby in my lifetime, though not for long and not recently. Always liked the game, bummed Americans don't dig it a little more. Dude, we have minor league indoor football, can't we just get into rugby?  Its a really cool game.  And the way the NCAA plays it is much more fluid than 'real' rugby, much more like backyard football.  'Real' rugby is slower, chippier, more intense, the scrums are Road Warrior-like affairs, and pro rugby players are badass dudes, they've been beat up and stuff, they are not 'studio tough'.  So watching these clean cut college kids with spiffy clean jerseys was fun, a bite-sized morsel of sugary rugby rather than a hearty meal of the real thing. I really do like rugby and I'd like to see USA get more competitive in it (its a college sport here, surely we're producing plenty of rugby players) and I'd like to see Americans embrace it more fully. The Rugby 7's is not great stuff but its pretty good stuff and that ain't bad.

Alvin Gentry to the Pelicans. I think Gentry is (or was until Saturday) the best coach in the world not coaching in the NBA. Steve Nash had his best years under Gentry, I think he can be a great coach with the right talent. Personally, I thought he was the best candidate for the Cavs job (if David Blatt should happen to get shivved during the post-game shower), but I guess Gentry wanted to lock up the gig as Anthony Davis's mentor rather than wait for the courtly intrigue to play itself out.  Good move for the Pelicans, I think it'll be a good move for Gentry, too. (*sigh* Now Calipari is the only guy that can replace Blatt)

NHL Western Conference Finals (Blackhawks 5-2 Ducks).  The Ducks didn't have a single slice of luck in the whole match.  Reminded me of watching the Clippers game 7 against the Rockets: no lucky breaks, nothing to build on, felt like they'd lost before they even walked in the arena. The Blackhawks scored early and kept it on the Ducks all the way. Very tight game, thought the Ducks goalie played about as well as he could have (he got no help from that defense in front of him). The Ducks controlled the puck well enough but they're scoring chances (til the 3rd period) were never so scary. The Blackhawks pressed their chances and were able to keep the Ducks backpedaling the whole way.

Way to go, NBC Sports! I know where to go for my Tour de France fix.