Tennis 

Good, Bad, Ugly in Paris

By The B Man
Outsports.com

The 2004 French Open will be remembered for several things, both good and bad, like the crowing of the first Russian women’s titlist, or a bizarre men’s final that saw the heavy favorite seemingly tank a set. While we at Outsports celebrate the wins of Anastasia Myskina and Gaston Gaudio, we also feel obliged to take ESPN and NBC, especially, shoddy television coverage and commentating that distracted from the better parts of the event. 

THE BAD. Mary Carillo had little good to say about women’s tennis. For example, during the men’s final, she had the gall to say that the entire women’s event had been poorly played. How does this help the game of tennis? Let us answer that question: it doesn’t.  

Carillo inexplicably chose to see the glass half empty. Myskina didn’t have a game plan, she didn’t beat three great players …no, she was “on the court when they lost.” What? Carillo’s empty criticisms overshadow the fact that the women’s final was historic: the first between two Russian women, and a clash that would yield the first Russian woman Slam titlist. Further, Carillo portrayed Myskina as an undeserving winner, and when Anastasia lifted her well-earned trophy, one of Carillo’s colleagues made a flippant reference to Iva Majoli. Is this still the Cold War? Is ugly nationalism the reason Carillo and the NBC suits can’t celebrate Myskina’s win. Or, do Carillo and NBC not believe their own hype about the ascendancy of the Russian women?  

Whatever the reason, after spending this weekend taking shots at Myskina, Dementieva, and even American players for not performing as expected (read: not being in the finals to guarantee great ratings), NBC has no one but one Ms. Mary Carillo to blame for crappy TV ratings and declining interest in the sport. She single-handedly drew a bleak portrait of the women’s game. Shame on her. 

THE UGLY. The men’s final wudn’t purdy. A nervous Gaudio punked fans by dropping the first set 0-6. A nervous Coria was unable to close out the third set, which was kinda cool, because Gaudio was able to show why he deserved to be there, and save some face, too. But then, in a truly bizarre turn of events, Coria fell ill to a mystifying injury which drastically hampered his movement and caused him to serve up some really powderpuff balls. 

For all intents and purposes, Coria did tank the fourth set. Whether it was Goran-esque tanking or a matter of staying on the court until adrenaline could kick in and the injury could wane remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: it was ugly, ugly, ugly. Coria flailed at balls, and some landed in. Gaudio was out of sorts, not sure whether or how to take advantage of his opponent’s hampered movement. Gaudio flailed at balls, and some landed in. 

The fifth and final set saw a string of broken service games. The commentators called the match a “classic,” which is sort of understandable, given its tight, see-saw feel.  

When female player gets broken, however, Carillo and McEnroe blabber on and on about how women can’t hold serve and how the audience should be prepared to hear the term “break point” all day, and then drag out embarrassing stats about Kournikova or Dementieva.  

Not only was the men’s final not the best it could have been, but the manner in which the match was called just served to further illustrate how anti-women’s tennis NBC’s approach to coverage and commentating has been. A final featuring a 0-6 opening set and two men who are too nervous to hold serve is called “a classic,” but a female player can’t serve a double fault or get broken without Carillo and McEnroe getting on her case. Unfair and honestly not fun at all to watch. 

THE GOOD. We wanted to end this analysis on a high note, and there was a lot that impressed us. While we alternately want to slap and cheer for Gaston Gaudio, we were, at the end of the match, quite happy for Go Go Gaudio. He’s got a great set of wheels, and for a skinny guy, he can really move a tennis ball from far, far behind the baseline. 

We also liked Anastasia Myskina, too, who had Outsports tennis fans burning up the Tennis Discussion Boards with insightful analysis of all the things she did RIGHT to win. Known more for her temper, Nastya Meanskina, as she is often called by our tennis readers, was all business in the quarters, semi’s, and final, hitting the ball with depth and consistency, showing some exquisite touch with her drop shots, and also displaying an amazing variety of slices and spins.  

Paola Suarez stopped the amazing run of Maria Sharapova (dudes, come on…admit it: she’s friggin’ hot) and gained her first Grand Slam semifinal, adding to Argentina’s French celebration. Suarez partnered with Virginia Ruano Pascual to win a third consecutive Grand Slam title here, crushing Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Likhovtseva, 6-0, 6-3.  

Tim Henman, the surprise semifinalist, took a set from Coria by playing brilliant, nearly flawless attacking tennis. Based on how successfully he executed his game at Roland Garros, everyone will have enormously high hopes for Tim at Wimbledon. This thought leads us nicely to our… 

PARIS Post-Scripts … 

Where Do We Go From Here? After sucking pretty badly at Roland Garros, American men really do have something to prove. The most notable disappointment was first-round loser Andre Agassi. He was too arrogant to play clay warm-up tournaments prior to the French, but is now committed to playing the prestigious Queens Club event. Davis Cup doubles team and defending French Open champions Bob and Mike Bryan also came up short at the French Open, as did Martina Navratilova and Lisa Raymond. These teams will be looking to do well at Wimbledon, too. 

Another dubs team looking for a Wimbledon rebound is that of Nadia Petrova and Meghann Shaughnessy, who were the scourge of the clay court season. Possessing big serves and huge games off the ground, Petrova and Shaughnessy may do very, very well at the Big W. 

Olympic Dreams? A number of French Open doubles teams seemed thrown together for a little Olympic test run. Of the highly talented teams entered, which included Adreev/Davydenko (Russia), Kiefer/Schuettler (Germany), Chela/Gaudio (Argentina), and Ancic/Ljubicic (Croatia), none was more successful than Xavier Malisse/Olivie Rochus. Malisse and Rochus, Belgians, took out the French team of Llodra/Santoro in a tight final. A Malisse/Rochus vs. Bryan/Bryan match at the Olympics could be a thriller. 

After reaching the US Open semifinals in 2000, Elena Dementieva gained the 2000 Olympic singles final. Will her final appearance in Roland Garros this year translate into Olympic gold?  

Chat, Debate, and Silly Fun. Mary and Johnny Mac wondered what a movie version of Roland Garros 2004 would look like. Ironically, The B Man has already imagined a cast and director for what he calls “Roland Garros: The Movie.” Check out his thoughts on the Discussion Board, and add your two cents in about Coria, Mary Carillo, and more!