Roland Garros: Day One

I still can't believe I was at the French Open! O dreams do come true!! :) I got up at 9-ish today. Ah.. the luxury of being about 10 minutes away from Roland Garros. And for the first time, Metro Line 10 was jam packed with people headed for the clay courts of the Stadium at Porte d'Auteuil.

The atmosphere was vibrant. Exciting. Festive even. It was the first day of Roland Garros 2005, and all the stars were there. Tennis stars that is. So I joined the already long queue (but I walked really fast... Parisian style... to the stadium so I didn't have to line up as long as the tourists. You can tell by the way they amble leisurely.) And after security, very minimal... went in. Splurged on the day's programme... splurge as in 4 euro. Which is maybe about 6 USD. Which is maybe 24 ringgit? See, that's splurging! Hehe. Wait till you hear about the food... but anyway...

First stop: Court 6. Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand versus R. Stepanek of the Czech Republic.

And the wonderful people who make the game work: the linesmen. No bad calls today.

Caught a bit of the Daniela Hantuchova versus little sister of Krajicek's match.

Hantuchova packing up. She won 6-3, 6-3 I think.

Then went to Court 2 to watch an all-Spanish affair between Carlos Moya and A.Martin.

See? No hard feelings. Moya won. It was a great match. Showcase of power!!

Then came Elena Dementieva versus this girl from the Czech Republic: Strycova. At match point, Strycova tried to stall by putting on a band aid and complaining that it wouldn't stick. Sheesh. But it was funny though; she kept falling! Dementieva, in spite of her 8 double faults, is AMAZING at the baseline! Her timing is superb!

Then I had to line up for a loooong time to get into court 7 to watch Mr Henman whip some Argentinian behind. He played very well! I never realized how effective his serve is. Then again, it should be... seeing as he is a SERVE and volley player! Ha.

And the chip and charge...

Ever the gentleman... "twas a pleasure, my good man... bite my dust!"

It was an amazing day. Weather was almost perfect... except for a short sprinkle spell. And the atmosphere was just amazing! Going back on Saturday. And hopefully will try to get tickets to Suzanne Lenglen next Monday! But until then... new balls please!