Roland Garros week 2

I could write a complete report on the highlights of the second week at Roland Garros, but I won't. I know there are some people I should do more justice (Del Potro, Söderling, Gonzalez...) but I can't deny there's only one thing I really want to say right now: ROGER FEDERER HAS WON ROLAND GARROS! This is such a beautiful moment in sports history. Roger now won his first Roland Garros, his "career slam" (which means he's already won each grand slam at least once) and he equalled Pete Sampras's record of 14 (!!!) grand slams!

He managed to do this by beating Robin Söderling (the "Nadal-slayer" but also the unexpected killer of Davydenko and Gonzalez) in straight sets. Söderling fought bravely, but Federer played his best matched of the tournament and let's be honest, nobody knows how to handle Roger when he uses his best tennis. We all know what Roger is capable of, but the big question was if he would be able to cope with the stress now there was so much at stake. That didn't seem a problem at all, though, and so the Swiss managed to finally get what he deserves more than anyone. He was crying from happiness when he scored the deciding point, and I was crying along as I was so happy for him. I can't wait to see what happens now. I think this victory will take away a lot of stress for Roger, which should be a really good thing for his play.

Well done, Rog!

Roland Garros week 1

When Grand Slam tennis is on, I'm always glued in front of the television screen, exams or no exams. No exception to that rule was last week, the first week of Roland Garros 2009. It was a very interesting tennis week, with a significant amount of top class matches and some very unexpected losses. The highlights:

- Last year's champion and also favourite for this year's title, Rafael Nadal, rushed through the first three rounds (beating Daniel and crushing Gabashvili and ex-number one Hewitt), only to surprisingly lose in the fourth round against Swedish subtop player Söderling.

- Novak Djokovic was supposed to be one of the most important outsiders to challenge Nadal, but he didn't even survive the third round, when German clay specialist Kohlschreiber crossed his path.

- Someone who did better than expected, is Nikolai Davydenko. The Russian is of course an excellent player, but nobody really thought he already had enough match rythm to really challenge the big guys in this Slam. Wrong. Davydenko well impressed against young talents Wawrinka and Verdasco.

- However, like usual, my eyes are mainly focused on Roger Federer, who is eager to finally win Roland Garros and even Sampras's Grand Slam record. Federer had some tough matches, especially against gravel specialist Acasuso as well as this afternoon at the start of week 2, battling a strong Tommy Haas (who - we may not forget - is a former number two, and whose rather moderate ranking is only due to lots of unjuries). But fortunately there's enough to keep the hopes up. Roger already showed us some new techniques, is mentally ready for big challenges (against Haas, he returned from 0-2 to 3-2 in sets!) and still has that great touch we love so much (which he especially demonstrated against Mathieu). Come on Roger!

- The road seems to be open for Roger Federer to win his first Roland Garros now Djokovc and Rafa are out, but danger is lurking only right around the corner. Murray, Roddick, Tsonga, Monfils, Del Porto and Davydenko are only a few names to look out for.

- Women's tennis is pretty boring nowadays, lacking real champions. However, my vote for this Roland Garros goes out to Safina, who is playing excellent so far (only giving away 5 games in 4 matches!) and who kind of deserves it as well.

- When it comes down to new female talents on the horizon, I'd like to point out Larcher de Brito, a 16-year-old girl from Portugal who made it until the third round, where she lost from Rezai. It's a girl with a temper (!!) but I kind of like that commitment, and it's clear her techniques are great.