Rafa's Clean Green Shirt Says It All

At the end of Rafael Nadal's surprise blowout of Roger Federer in the finals of the 2008 French Open, Rafa's clean green shirt pretty much said it all.
Never before had he reached the end of a tournament with so little of the terre battu on it. He didn't fall to his back in the clay in amazement after his fourth straight French Open win--unprecedented since Borg accomplished this--but instead gave a sheepish grin and raised his hands high above his head, walking, not running to the net to console his rival and now also friend, Federer.
Nadal looked, frankly, like someone who expected this championship. And why not? He's never lost a match here and this year didn't drop a set--again, unprecedented, since Borg. The 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 match wasn't ever competitive except for a brief time in the second set when they were even at 3-3. Federer looked as though his strategy either was to hit angled shots in an attempt to get Nadal into the stands and way off the court for winners or to simply try and wear down Nadal. Nadal is, after all, only human, right? Right?!
Well, whatever Federer's strategy was, it didn't keep Nadal from racing to another French Open Championship and narrow the gap in points between Roger and him for the world's number one ranking.
Nadal's shirt at this year's French Open wasn't exactly the same shade of green as Wimbledon grass, but it should provide him with a confidence-building entry into the grass court season. Nadal was taught, commentators say, to stay humble and hungry. He may have some work cut out for him to maintain the humble part.

Henin Protege Wins French

Two top five players from the same country advance in yet another Grand Slam, only with a difference. One of them never or rarely has that breakthrough win. And the other one often does. Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters?
No, it's a new day in womens' tennis, so the small country now is Serbia rather than Belgium and the answer is, of course, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic. Ana seems destined for greatness like Justine.
Ana may not exactly look like Justine's protege. Ana is, after all, 6 feet 1 inch. But somehow Ana has that shapeshifting quality like Justine, except in the opposite direction. Justine always had this way of seeming much larger on the court than she really was. And Ana somehow manages to look petite, even with her now trademark inward fist pump.
Dinara Safina wasn't without some chances in her straight-set loss to Ivanovic, which was much closer than the score might have suggested. This tournament was in many ways a breakthrough for her too. Perhaps this tournament signaled more than just the great promise ahead for Ivanovic. It might also be the beginning of an interesting new rivalry between two of the games new heavy hitters.
Safina reminds me so much of Davenport in so many ways. She hits the ball unbelievably hard and flat. She often seems to be her own worst enemy with very negative body language. And yet she's a real fighter. I wouldn't be surprised to see her in another Grand Slam final soon.

2008 French Open Finally Starts

I can't be the only one who's had a tough time getting really excited about this year's French Open, can I?
Justine Henin's surprise 11th-hour retirement announcement left the biggest gap in the women's draw since Monica Seles was stabbed in a French Open warm-up tournament 15 years ago in Hamburg, Germany. Add to that the fact that Rafa Nadal, the champ three times in a row at the French, hasn't had a close match yet and this year's French has been, yawn, boring.
But now, finally, things actually are starting to heat up. Today Ana Ivanovic advanced to her third Grand Slam final. Though she's yet to win a Grand Slam singles title, Ivanovic isn't the star-eyed newbie that stepped onto the terre battue for the final round last year. She's the world's new number one. And though Dinara Safina, the giant slayer on the other side of the net who's taken out Maria Sharapova, may not look more imposing than the slight Henin at first glance, Ivanovic surely won't be able to help but feel a little relief that the legendary clay court champion from Belgium has kicked up her heels this year.
That could be dangerous, as Safina needs only one win more for this tournament to place a Grand Slam singles trophy next to her brother's two--and one he never managed to snag to boot. She certainly hits the ball hard enough to be a champion. It would be very surprising for Safina's first Grand Slam victory to be on clay; it's very surprising she's even in the finals. But, the French Open has a way of producing surprising winners, much more so than the other Grand Slams. Who, for example, picked Iva Majoli or Anastasia Myskina to emerge as French Open champs?
On its surface, the men's side looks more dull. On one side of the draw there's Nadal against Djokovic, who has been the tour's biggest up and comer in the past year but hardly seems likely to upend the best clay court player in recent memory. And on the other side of the draw, there's--surprise--Federer, who's having just a terrible year by his standards but a fantastic year by anyone else's, having already reached the semifinals of the Australian and now at least the semis of the French. He'll be playing Gael Monfils, who's having the tournament of his life. The French crowd is likely to try and do everything but storm the court and retrieve any and every ball Monfils can't manage to return in what promises to be an uproarious attempt to help usher him into the finals. But I'm going to go out on a limb and make the wild prediction of Nadal and Federer in yet another final.
Commentators seem to act like Nadal's fourth French is all but a fait accompli. How quickly those who have crowned Federer the greatest tennis player ever have forgotten just how accomplished he is on the clay too, despite not yet winning a French singles title. Unlike at the other Grand Slams, all the pressure here will be on Nadal, rather than on Federer. For sanity's sake, Federer might want to consider keeping it that way by not ever winning here. But he may well slip up and win here this year to complete a career Grand Slam.
Which would make the next fast-approaching Grand Slam of Wimbledon that much more interesting, perhaps even well before the final rounds.