monfils « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Petit Monfils qui est devenu grand...

ccjourn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:39:31 +0000

Voilà l’apprentissage de Gaël Monfils… Celui qui à 11 ans, savait déjà ce qu’il voulait faire de sa vie…

Décryptage de ce petit bonhomme qui allait devenir un grand…

Tout petit déjà, il avait déjà prévu sa réussite…

Marat Safin : You Will Be Missed

kaitepai — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:52:09 +0000

This week in Paris has been absolutely fascinating. As far as end of season tournaments go, Paris has been by far the best. Despite del Potro’s retirement, Federer’s first round loss, and Mandy’s loss to the ever annoying Stepanek, tennis fans have had plenty to enjoy. Rafael Nadal fought his way through to the semi finals, Gael Monfils gave the home crowd something to cheer for, and Novak Djokovic captured the title with his best tennis of the year. But before any of this happened, we said goodbye to one of tennis’s most loved men, Marat Safin.

Writing about a player you know hardly anything about should be difficult. Especially when you are hardly even a fan of said player. But the thing with Marat is, he inspired conversation and enthusiasm with all tennis fans, no matter how much you liked him. And even if, like me, you found it hard to support a man that dragged his feet through his last year on tour, appeared to hate the sport, spoke about having no friends on tour, and stated time and time again that he could not wait to forget about tennis, Marat Safin would somehow find a way to wiggle into your heart. Because despite his anti Federer/Nadal personality, there is a lot to love about the angry, misunderstood Russian. And I don’t just mean his good looks.

Marat Safin has something we don’t see much amongst the stern faced competitors of the ATP: a fabulous sense of humour. His pressers were always honest, interesting, and funny. Whether he was putting himself down, bemoaning the price of strawberries, or telling Andre Agassi where to go, Marat could always be counted on to say something funny and shocking. You can forget the formalities with Marat, want an alternative to Nadal’s humble post-loss speeches? Then Marat was your man.

Not the world’s best role model, this is the man who showed up to a match supported by a girl with her nipples showing. Then there was the time he arrived with a black eye, having found himself in a fight the night before. We were hardly suprised. Marat has walked off court after being called for a foot fault, and he has smashed more racquets than Fernando Gonzalez. He has never been very good at controlling his temper.

With all this anger, slutiness, and disdain for tennis, a casual tennis fan might find it hard to see what all the fuss is about. Indeed, hardly anyone could get away with the behaviour Marat has displayed over his career. Andy Roddick has acted similarly at times, but recieves as much criticism as he does love. The men I was too young to watch that threw racquets and went off their head seem to gather a lot of dislike as well. I have heard many people express their dislike of John McEnroe. Even Andre Agassi is finding the public against him after basking in their praise for many years. What is it about Marat that makes him so untouchable?

It sounds cruel, but Marat Safin simply has not had the career success to generate much hatred against him. Despite his two Grand Slams, fifteen titles, and a number one ranking, many people think that with a backhand that beautiful, Safin is an underachiever. Defenders of Marat point to a man called Roger Federer, and others say Marat is a choker through and through. The truth is probably a combination of both.

Marat has more than just an underdog charm to win so many people over. Marat has charisma. Oodles of it. He is funny, he is emotional, he loves his little sister, and, let’s face it, Marat is incredibly good looking. Marat wins male tennis fans over with his anger and sense of humour, women flock to his charm and his rugged bad-boy looks.

Yet there is still much more to Marat than good looks, anger, and humour. These are all entertaining characteristics, but there is one more thing that makes Marat so loveable. So relatable. Marat Safin spend his last year on tour itching to retire. Especially in the first half of the year, he spoke frequently about how tennis was boring, coming across as a man who hated the sport that had made him rich and famous. He said he had no friends on tour, that he didn’t enjoy it. It was around this time I wondered if I liked Marat at all. Then his retirement grew nearer, and I think we all saw the truth. Marat Safin was a man once hailed as the next big thing. He must have been filled with hope and excitement after his grand slam success. Things just didn’t turn out that way for him. Over the years, Marat became someone known as a choker, an underachiever, and people wondered what could have been. When Marat spoke of tennis earlier this year like he did, I thought I heard hatred in his voice. But what I heard was disappointment and bitterness. Marat Safin won two slams, was number one, won fifteen titles, and finished his career inside the top one hundred. Looking back, what a marvelous career he had. At the time, though, we didn’t think so. It isn’t Marat that let himself down. Tennis let Marat down.

So heres to the most universally liked player of the last decade. The man that has made every fan smile at some point. Marat Safin is one of the most likeable players ever because he is one of the most human. There is no robotic like talent, no humbled victories, nothing we can’t relate to, or see within ourselves. He is a man noone hates. There is noone else like Marat Safin. No player can replace him. When we looks back on him in the future, it isn’t his tennis people will remember. It is the man.

Now what an achievement that is.

Djokovic, acostumbrado a opacar la fiesta de los locales

Darío Ribba — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:36:06 +0000

Nuevamente venció en una final a un tenista local, en esta caso el domingo al francés Gael Monfils por 6-2, 5-7 y 7-6 (3), como lo había hecho con Roger Federer en Basilea y se consagró en el Master 1000 de París.

El serbio está en un gran momento, cada vez más cerca de Rafael Nadal en el Ranking ATP y con serias posibilidades de adjudicarse el número dos del mundo finalizado el Torneo de Maestros, próximo a disputarse en Londres a partir del 22 del corriente mes y en cual será el defensor del título

Con esta conquista Djokovic acumula 16 trofeos a lo largo de su carrera y suma el quinto en esta temporada, dado que ya se había coronado en Pekín, Belgrado, Dubai y Basilea.

Darío Ribba

Nole Destroys Home Crowd Dreams... Again

kaitepai — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:22:54 +0000

For the second week running Novak Djokovic has beaten the home fav in the final. This time it was in Paris against Gael Monfils in a third set tiebreak.

For a while there I thought it was going to be a walkover. Nole got the first set 6-2, picking right up from where he left off against Nadal. He was smacking winners and making few errors. He went up 3-0 in the second and it seemed all but over. Nole doesn’t like to make things that easy for his fans, though, and he soon played very patchy to give up the second 5-7. Nole was bad, but credit to Monfils, he really caught fire and played excellent tennis.

Nole went up a quick 2-0 in the third but proceeded to blow that lead. He then went up another break and blew that again. Monfils was barely making any mistakes and retrieving like Mandy on acid, which was frustrating Novak no end. But credit to Nole, he kept his head and although he blew two leads, he never went behind. Eventually it went to a third set tiebreak, Nole managed to keep calm, showing great maturity he wouldnever have displayed this time last year, and went up a well fought mini-break. Monfils doubled faulted on the first match point, and Novak won Paris.

His celebrations were hilerious. He went absolutely mental, probably releasing a lot of frustration and built-up fistpumping from the match. Monfils was pretty frustrated throughout the match, as well as running down balls he had to right to get to, he was pumping the crowd up before Nole’s serves, which I thought was pretty unclassy. The umpire agreed.

Congrats to Novak, he is the in-form player going into London and must have a chance to gain the number two ranking. I’m trying to stay oblivious to the rankings race, it is never good for a Roger fan to start fretting about that sort of thing. Good luck to Nole, can’t wait to see him play like that at the AO.

Monfils, sa bataille

ccjourn — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:58:33 +0000

Les statistiques doivent rassurer l’inconscient collectif. Je ne vois pas d’autres explications à tout ce bla-bla journalistique… Gaël Monfils rejoint les 3 Français à être allés en Finale de l’open de Paris Bercy. Alors qu’en soi, il n’y a aucune ressemblance avec ces compatriotes.

Gaël, c’est un style bien à lui, un showman qui a besoin de pas grand chose pour exploser le jeu des ses adversaires. Il peut paraître prétentieux parfois dans ses propos mais il ne l’est pas. Il s’est nourri à la hargne et à la volonté, a choisi de se faire un nom… Une cool attitude qui gêne parfois dans ce milieu si established qu’est le tennis. Mais lui, il s’en fout. Il joue, il aime ca et ca se voit.

Sa nonchalance apparente dissimule grossièrement son désir de perfection en matière de frappe, il punche la balle avec une détermination qui se lit sur son visage. Les gens croient voir un mec qui joue bien au tennis mais non, ils ont tout faux. Il joue divinement au tennis quant il parvient à se relacher , quand il est relax et concentré.

J’aime bien sa grande gueule, aussi. Il cache avec difficulté sa timidité. En fait, c’est un grand sentimental, ce mec… C’est pour cela que ses résultats fonctionnent à des détails : l’amour d’un public, un lieu qui le galvanise, un arbitrage délicat… Et voici notre GI-JOE qui se met en branle… Et quand il est lancé, il est difficilement stoppable.

Demain, ce sera chaud face à Djoko. Je pense qu’il n’aura peut être pas la possibilité d’exploiter son jeu mais son audacieux opportunisme et sa dose de folie me laisse à penser qu’il aura bien des chances de faire le jeu… Même si la tache ne sera pas facile, Gaël est capable de se galvaniser pour un match… Un détail… Et hop c’est parti…

Death to HOTWIRE.COM!!!

dublin7emh — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:07:48 +0000

You totally get what you pay for with Hotwire.

You want cheap? You got it. But at what cost?

I will tell you at what cost. It will cost you frustration. It will cost you time. It will cost you money. It may even cost you your dignity. No matter what it costs you, Hotwire.com owned by Expedia, will NOT care nor will they do anything to fix it without you having to pull teeth, fuss and bitch, complain and climb the corporate ladder.

It all started with a map.

Simple right? There is a map. It is labeled “La Guardia Airport Area- Flushing”. So you would think that your hotel will be where? In the La Guardia airport area in Flushing. Nope. And you better hope you are familiar with ANY area you are traveling to. Why?

Because “It is the customer’s responsibility to know the area and call the hotel listed to make sure they are where they need to be.” – Supervisor Tina M. in the Midwest area call center.

I find this difficult to swallow. One, because they hide the names of the hotels until after your purchase, there is NO WAY you would even know where to begin calling within that map. Two, because if you are not from an area, and you look at a map labeled “Flushing”, would you not assume that everything in that area is Flushing? I did. Stupid me. Being from North Carolina, I should have just “known” that East Elmhurst was an entire area aside from Flushing and not a burb name like SoHo.

Now, I had to go over this point with 2 reps before I even got to Tina M. The first one hung up on me when I asked for her supervisor. She was a B-I-T-C-H. I called her on it. She didn’t like that. Click.

The second, Bob C., put me on the compulsory pretend-to-get-my-supervisor hold, came back and lied to me about a supervisor not being around. Now, I work in a call center and have for years, both as a rep and a supervisor. I know damn well they don’t leave 500+ reps sitting around without supervision. So when he gave me that line of hooey, I told him I knew it was crap and that I would hold while he “found someone”.

You know what he did?

He asked me for my name and number, as if he didn’t already have that information right in front of him, and started his “canned closing”. I asked him if he heard me when I said I would hold. He gave me the closing again. I asked him straight out if he was going to hang up on me. He gave me his closing speech again. I asked Bob C. again if he was going to hang up on me. He finally asked if I would hold because, “I think a supervisor just became available.” Like magic, all of a sudden Tina M., supervisor in the Midwest Area was on the line.

Not that it helped.

So now we are back to it being my responsibility to call hotels randomly and check maps for exact streets to make sure they are in an area I know nothing about. This is a load of CRAP. You know how I know it is a load of crap? Because as a “courtesy” to me, aka “please shut up and leave me alone you crazy lady”, I was offered a FULL REFUND. Of course, you KNOW there was a catch. There was no way of knowing when that refund would be “processed” by their offices. Now, because I didn’t have almost $400.00 extra dollars to toss around for the FIRST hotel room, I sure as HELL didn’t have an additional $400.00 for a second hotel room while I waited for Hotwire.com to get off their asses and process my refund in a “minimum of 7 to 10 business days”.

So I asked them to not refund my money, but to book a room of the same rating, etc in a hotel actually IN Flushing, NY.

This apparently was laughable, as they were doing me such a HUGE favor by offering me a refund to begin with. I was refused. So I did what I do when I feel that the service I have been given was equally as laughable. I asked for the name and contact information of the CEO / President of the company where I could lodge my complaint about the service I was given. Again, I was refused. Why?

Because Tina M., supervisor in the Midwest Area call center did not know his name.

What she DID however provide me with was a P.O.Box in Green Bay and a phone number in the 920 area code. Then I was given the super helpful information of only a name of a “corporate customer care contact”. Enter stage left: Ms. Amy Monfils. No number for Amy, no email for Amy. Only her name. Amy Monfils. I was to assume, I guess, that I was able to contact her at the long distance number I was provided earlier. I wasn’t told that, however. I should have just “known” it. Kind of like I should have “known” that the map titled “Flushing” included areas that were not Flushing.

So being the smart and resourceful girl I am, I hopped on Google.

Holy crap! The things you hear about someone on Google. Especially when they are not known for helping, but for their canned email answers and abilities of merely repeating back what your concerns were but never really addressing them. It was in these numerous posts that I found where someone had posted her email address. Guess what? Ms. Amy Monfils is not listed as Amy Monfils at all, but as akent@hotwire.com. I guess I should have “known” that she had gotten married and I should have “known” what her married name was. If that is even the case, as it was never really clarified. (BTW- if you need an alternate email for her, try HotwireCorpEsc@apacmail.com which is another way I found her listed in blogs as well as how her address is published in her replies to me.)

Now after all this… you would think they would be falling all over themselves to make things right. WRONG.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Ms. Monfils is very good at restating your concern. It’s an active listening technique they teach all of us good customer service people. And as one of the top ranked quality surveyed specialists in my center, I would know. This would be great if she actually used that skill to listen and help as opposed to fill space and deflect. For example:

Me:

—–Original Message—–
From: XXXXXXXXX
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 9:28 PM
To: HotWire Support – Temp Forwarding
Cc: akent@hotwire.com; akent@hotwire.com
Subject: RE: ‘CustSrvTH=181-921′ Hotwire Help: Hotels
Importance: High

Dear Sirs,

While I do certainly find your site’s information and maps to be incorrect, misleadingly labeled and lacking, I find your customer service and supervisors even worse. I have been in customer service and call center supervisory roles for 13+ years and I have never kept employed any reps who would talk to a customer the way I was spoken to today. Also, I have always been able to tell a customer who inquired, the president and/or CEO’s names upon request and expect my employees to be able to do so as well. It is shameful the way this situation was handled by your employees, therefore your company.

If you will note, I did not refuse the refund I was begrudgingly offered because it was an unacceptable solution, but because of the fact that the funds would not be returned to me immediately, making purchasing another room in the CORRECT location impossible. As I have a disability, I do not have extra money to throw around while your company takes its time to make this right. I will be using the reservation as it stands, not because I agree with your bad business practices and horrible customer service, but because I have no other feasible choice.

Monfils:

From: HotwireCorpEsc@apacmail.com
To: XXXXXXXXXX
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 09:05:31 -0600
Subject: RE: ‘CustSrvTH=181-921′ Hotwire Help: Hotels

Dear XXXXXX,

I am writing in response to your inquiry to Hotwire regarding a hotel reservation in East Elmhurst.

I understand you booked a hotel reservation in the La Guardia Airport LGA – Flushing Area, New York expecting the hotel to be located in Flushing. Upon confirming your reservation you discovered the hotel’s address was not within Flushing. As such, you reached out to Hotwire Customer Care and were dissatisfied with the service you received.

I regret your Hotwire hotel experience was less than exceptional and appreciate you took the time to express your concerns. Customer feedback is an important component in ensuring quality products and services at Hotwire.

To ensure our customers concerns are handled properly, we hold our Customer Care Associates accountable by recording all our phone calls. I personally reviewed the conversations you had with three of our agents and determined the calls were properly handled.

I understand one of your concerns was the name of our CEO was not provided when you spoke with one of our supervisors. The corporate contact address provided was correct; the name of the President of the Hotwire Group is Clem Bason. Please understand I handle all customer contacts on his behalf which is why my name is provided by our agents.

Our goal is to exceed your expectations; we regret we were unable to do so on this occasion.

Best regards,

Amy L. Monfils

Customer Care Relations

Hotwire Corporate Office

Ms. Monfils did very well at repeating my concerns. Right before she essentially told me “Too bad, so sad.”

Me:

—–Original Message—–
From: XXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 4:14 PM
To: akent@hotwire.com
Subject: RE: ‘CustSrvTH=181-921′ Hotwire Help: Hotels
Importance: High

Ms. Monfils,
If you had indeed truly listened to all 3 calls, which we both know that calls are randomly recorded and that not every call is captured, you would not feel that the calls were handled properly. Additionally, though your name was given, your contact info was not, also something you would know had you actually heard all 3 calls. I had to research the web for info on you which I only found in other negative blogs and posts about your company where the writer posted your verbatim canned email responses. Your email address that we are corresponding on now isn’t even in your name. I lucked out finding that. Had I not taken the time to do the research, my ability to stand up for myself against your company’s misleading maps and map titles would have had to stop there.

Considering that you feel that nothing was wrong in how things were addressed nor in the way the map is listed, I will have no choice but to make VERY certain that everyone I know learns of what has transpired with your company. Something that I’m sure you would agree on, again had the calls truly been listened to in their totality and entirety, is that I do not have a problem being very vocal about my opinions. Neither do my friends or family. I’m sure the executives at Hotwire and Expedia Travel will be thrilled to learn that a negative blog was published in a high traffic area about an experience that very easily could have been made right with even the smallest amount of effort on anyone at Hotwire’s part.

Additionally, aside from the map issue, I have a LARGE complaint about the actual hotel where I stayed. This place was atrocious. Semen stains on the bedspread when I checked in to my first room – which was barely big enough to hold the king size bed with any additional room to move. The “new” room I was placed in had mismatched dingy sheets and the towels were also dingy and mismatched as well as rougher than sandpaper. The room’s carpet was filthy, the bathroom water faucet ran constantly, and the doorknob fell off twice. These issues were addressed with the staff and not properly corrected. Heat / AC were interchangeable, as neither worked properly. The “pad” of paper supplied was ONE sheet ripped off a tablet and the pen had something sticky and crusty dried all over it. The ironing board fell off its hook and smacked me in the head and the luggage rack collapsed the moment I placed my bag on it. The “breakfast facilities” were dirty and the food was stale and disgusting. If I had paid $40.00 for this room, it would have been too much, let alone $89.00 before taxes. The fact that this hotel, with it’s “Grand Opening” sign hanging out front, is being sold to any customer is an affront to your customers’ intelligence and their pocketbook.

BTW- This hotel was a Clarion on Ditmar in East Elmhurst, also known to Hotwire as “Flushing.”

Monfils:

From:	akent@hotwire.com (HotwireCorpEsc@apacmail.com)
Sent:	Tue 11/10/09 10:57 AM
To:	XXXXXXXX

Dear XXXXXXX,

I am writing in response to your additional correspondence with Hotwire regarding a reservation with the Clarion Hotel La Guardia Airport and your Hotwire Customer Care experience.

I understand you doubt whether or not I reviewed all three phone conversations you had with Hotwire Customer Care because calls are only randomly recorded. Additionally, you intend to voice your concerns regarding the information provided to customers throughout our booking process and the way you were treated by our Customer Care Associates. Finally, you were dissatisfied with your stay at the hotel due to several quality issues.

Again, I assure you I was able to review all three phone conversations as all calls at the call center you reached are recorded. While speaking with our Customer Care Supervisor, Tina, she provided my name and phone number when you asked for the name of our President as contact information for our CEO is not provided to customers. I regret she was unable to provide you with the name of our CEO, however, I do feel she provided the correct contact information for the next level of customer interaction.

Regardless of a hotel’s star rating; you should expect a quality experience from our hotel suppliers, including a clean, comfortable room. As this was not the case with your reservation, please accept our apologies along with 50 HotDollars toward your next Hotwire Hot Rate car rental, hotel, or flight reservation. Your HotDollars are valid for up to one year, expiring on November 11, 2010.

Our goal is to exceed your expectations; we regret we were unable to do so on this occasion. We look forward to better serving your needs in the future.

Best regards,

Amy L. Monfils

Customer Care Relations

Hotwire Corporate Office

Fifty bucks? Is she kidding?!?

I paid $89.00 plus taxes PER NIGHT and you want to give me $50.00 in Hot Dollars?? In so many words, I emailed her back and told her that her $50.00 would not cover one night let alone 3 and that her $50.00 would only force me to frequent their site again and give them more money to pay the difference.

As of 1:32 a.m. on 11/12/09…. I have yet to receive a response.

Soooo… with all this said, I shout from the rooftops,

“DEATH TO HOTWIRE.COM!!!” (Then I mumble as an afterthought, “Oh, and if not death, at least a really uncomfortable wedgie to Expedia for having such a substandard division.”)

PS- I am now as we speak being stalked, I mean “followed” on Twitter by Hotwire…

Also check out:

http://www.cgstock.com/essays/hotwire

http://www.chasingcleanair.com/chasing_clean_air/2009/08/hotwirecom-hot-wired-my-money-lied-to-me-and-has-zero-credibility-in-my-opinion-.html

http://www.rateitall.com/i-57788-hotwire.aspx

for additional Hotwire horror stories!!

Winding Down... Federer Cruises, Cilic Stays In The WTF Hunt

kaitepai — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:36:31 +0000

You know it is the end of the season when you are not getting nervous about matches anymore. Federer has cruised through his first two rounds in Basel, swiftly beating Seppi 3 and 3 today. That man gets the worst draws. Wawrinka overcame Ljubicic in a tough three setter, and is due to meet Marin Cilic next. Cilic has an outsider’s chance to get to the WTFs. He has to win Basel though. A field with both Roger and Novak. Mmm. Good luck with that one.

Tsonga retired against Youzhny this morning in Valencia. I guess this makes his WTF chances basically nil. Monfils also lost to Garcia-Lopez (embaressing). Verdaso cruised and Simon beat my man Berdych in three sets.

Over in Bali, the pretty Sabine Lisicki lost to Rezai. Wickmayer, Stosur, and Bartoli all won.

Can you just sense my enthusiasm for these end of year tournaments through my blogging? Yeah, though so. The men really should be playing the WTFs right now. Season. Too. Long.

Even Roger’s shirt is boring. Geez.

Speaking of shirts… Mandy Murray is ditching Fred Perry for adidas. Cannot WAIT to see what colourful creations they pop on him. Mandy in orange? Mandy in blue? Mandy in lime green? Very excited.

Nole is still rumoured to be going to K-Swiss (bad bad bad move).

That is all for now… will update at the end of Basel. Unless some super exciting news comes along… (any more excerpts, Agassi?)

Allez Monfils! History does NOT repeat itself. France rejoices that after 70 years it can finally look at Germany and say "SCOREBOARD!"

elpollorico — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:53:52 +0000

Blitzkrieg THIS... biatch!

Alright, EPR promises to move on from tennis…soon…but not quite yet, not now. Not when mon frere Gael Monfils has just emerged from four years of futility and frustration to win his first ATP title since 2005. Monfils defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-2 to win the Open de Moselle. And he did it in his own backyard. On French soil. Against a German. Just chew on that for a minute. Yeah…pretty awesome, isn’t it? The specter of history can loom ominous over a man’s psyche… but Gael Monfils stared 70 years of national shame straight in the face… and gave it the finger. ¡Felicitaciones compañero! We eagerly await a France-Germany rematch in next year’s Davis Cup!

Us Open, plus de français en lice

rikyuo — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:52:36 +0000

Tsonga a chuté contre Fernando Gonzalez 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-4

Idem pour Monfils qui a perdu face à Nadal 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3, malgré s’être bien battu

Ennui at the US Open

elpollorico — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:50:22 +0000

Just got back from watching the only two French guys que tengo ganas de apoyar – besides Zinedine Zidane (retired) and Serge Gainsbourg (dead) – go down in flames. Jo Wilfried played flat against the strong Chilean, Fernando Gonzalez, and Monfils simply got a big spoonful of classic Nadal. I have to say though, watching Rafa remind Monfils which side of the Pyrenees he’s from was nothing less than glorious!

Petit Cassius

Let’s start with Jo Wilfried. Lacking a day pass, I had to watch Little Cassius from the big screen outside Ashe Stadium. Not a bad consolation prize if you can only procure tix to the night session. I cracked an $8 Heineken and leaned back in one of the bar stools at the outdoor cafe facing Ashe. [As a side note, the US Open is one of the most fan friendly sporting events in existence...that is, if you can scratch together enough ducats for a ticket...and an $8 Heineken!] Tsonga is without a doubt one of the most compelling players to watch on the tennis court. Well aware of his uncanny likeness to Mohammed Ali, he is confident and smooth and patrols the court with a conscious swagger and natural style that are absolutely infectious. You want this guy to win. Everybody wants this guy to win…well…everybody except Fernando Gonzales. Mano de Piedra (as Gonzo is known to some) just happens to be really good…and he just happened to play really well last night. Well enough that Jo Wilfried needed a bit more than swagger to win. He needed that A-game that got him to the Aussie finals… but he just didn’t bring it. I stepped away to watch Serena on Ashe while the match was tied at one set apiece…but Tsonga looked uncharacteristically flustered and a bit rattled, trying to find the proverbial “groove” that on this night was leaning more towards rut. The butterfly wasn’t floating and the bee had lost its sting. When I later checked the score, Jo Wilfried had just lost the third set tie break…and as we would see with Monfils, it just wasn’t a night for the French to make a comeback. Of course, we must tip our hat to Gonzales! He played brilliant tennis and was steady as rain. El Bombardero de La Reina didn’t blink when Tsonga took the first set and played his powerful and consistent game through to victory. Hasta la victoria, siempre! One Frenchie down, one to go.

Le Plastique

Much like Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils is a guy you just gotta love. Skinny and awkward yet ripped and athletic, he’s one of the fastest and most dynamic players on tour. I mean…the guy slides on hard court! For the tennis ignant, you just don’t slide on hardcourt. The surface isn’t made for it…your shoes aren’t made for it…your ACL isn’t made for it! So with his long lanky limbs and Don King hair flying to and…uh… fro, and with his knobby knees bending in ungodly directions as he slides around the court, he is one of the most fun and exciting players to watch. And much like Little Cassius, he doesn’t hesitate to get the crowd involved. After any one of his freakishly athletic shots he’ll flex his outstretched skinny-ripped arms, turn to the stands and start gesturing towards the sky until the whole place is screaming. This plays right into the hearts of tennis fans – especially New Yorkers – who growing up on Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe won’t hesitate to jump ship and root against their favorite player if the other guy is bringing more charisma to the table. New York tennis fans also love the underdog. So here’s Monfils with style, grit, personality, and coming in ranked 13th to Nadal’s #3. From the start, the crowd – most of whom were wearing Rafa t-shirts – were screaming “Allez Monfils” in hopes of an upset or at least an epic battle. And it looked like Monfils would deliver. Serving much tougher and matching Rafa’s court speed and groundstrokes, Monfils repeatedly set up a high flat forehand that would explode down the line for a winner. One of the nastiest shots I’ve seen. When Rafa turned the ball back to Monfil’s backhand, Gael would lift his back leg and leap off his front foot as he whipped his torso around in the air to connect on a leaping backhand crosscourt winner, a one-two punch that earned him victory in a first set tie break. But here’s the rub with Rafa. You can play perfect and take a set from him. You can play amazing and take two sets from him… but to beat him in a best of five match, you have to play perfect - and amazing – for the whole nine yards…and right now the only hombre in the world who can do that with any predictability is Roger Federer. Love Monfils as we may, he is no Roger Federer. Sure enough, the tide turned and Rafa broke Gael to take the second set. He then leapt out to big lead in the third and here’s where Gael made a crucial mistake. Serving at 1-5, he tanked the last game. It may or may not have been a conscious decision, but he most definitely blew that last game in hopes of flipping a switch in the fourth and coming back in five. Bad move. Rafa could smell the desperation and kept his foot on Monfils’ neck. The fourth set had some exciting moments, but none of the 10,000 in attendance were at all surprised when Rafa closed it out.

So now we have a quarterfinal lineup that includes Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin Del Potro, Fernando Gonzalez, and Fernando Verdasco. Not too shabby for the hispanohablantes. I especially look forward to seeing what Del Potro is able to do this year. This US Open could mark his arrival…or we might see another Federer-Nadal final. As for the French…? well, the way they folded, you would have thought they were playing Tommy Haas or Philipp Kohlschreiber. (Sorry, but sometimes you gotta pick the low hanging fruit).

Attention now turns to Oudin-Wozniacki.

KG like Gael Monfils

buckshottz — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:50:13 +0000

He may not have had what it takes to beat Nadal last night, but he sure got my attention. Gael Monfils is definitely one of the most exciting athletes I have seen in a while. At 23 years old he has ridiculous energy. On top of that he is 6′4″ tall weighing in at only 180 lbs. So his reach and speed are what gets him through matches. He doesn’t hit many winners, but his ability to get to balls that normally wouldn’t even be thought of being played allows him to stay in the volley and eventually get his opponents to make mistakes. Also… he slides on hard court. How is this possible? check out the clips….

Tennis US open 2009 flushing meadows - Rafa Nadal beats Gael Monfils

darkicarus — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:47:54 +0000

Nell’ultimo incontro della sessione di ieri Rafa Nadal battendo il francese Monfils in quattro set , gioca la migliore partita dall’inizio di questo us open.

L’incontro è stato abbastanza equilibrato fondamentalmente fino a metà del secondo parziale , poi Nadal crescendo decisamente riusciva a portare la sostanza del tutto dalla sua parte.Nei quarti trova Gonzalez, che ha eliminato Tsonga in quattro set.

Punteggio finale:67 63 61 63

The US Open: Good Times, Bad Food

oc2seattle — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:45:16 +0000

Today was our first day at the US Open. As we found out Nadal was playing in the evening session after we already had day session tickets, we scored two tickets for the evening session and made it a marathon. We started the day off right at the Starbucks by our hotel, fueling up with oatmeal (me) and a bagel (Kate). Then we hit the subway and trekked out to Flushing Meadows.

First up at Flushing Meadows was the men’s doubles quarter-finals and $5 water as we were dying of thirst – Evian of course as they are a sponsor of the Open. We got to watch the Bryan brothers smoothly move into the semi-finals in three sets in a match that lasted under two hours.

A mini-break followed in which more water was obtained (it was hot in the morning) and I gave into the siren song of a hot dog, or “frank” as they call them here. I have to admit the hot dog was excellent (Safeco Field take note), but apparently New Yorkers are purists when it comes to “franks” – there was only catsup and yellow mustard on offer – no relish, no onions – sigh. The tennis, of course, made up for the lack of relish and onions. Cjlisters handily put down Li to move on to the semi-finals.

Last match of the day session was Cilic v. Murray. Now, Murray is No. 2 in the world but Kate has never seen him win. Apparently, she is indeed a Murray curse, because Murray went down and Cilic will advance to the quarterfinals.

We had about 2 1/2 hours to kill between the day and evening sessions so we scoped out some of the stores, perused the food court and decided to give Mojito Cafe a whirl for an early dinner. This was a mistake. We ordered chorizo and queso fundido for a starter – it came out cold, with stale tortilla chips (how hard is it to get a fresh bag of Tostitos?). My appetizer/entree was better, although not what I expected. I ordered the bocaditos. My experience with bocaditos is that they are basically a stuffed pastry. At Mojito Cafe they consisted of four stale tortilla chips topped with shredded pork and plantains. Setting aside the tortilla chips the flavor was very good but WTF with the chips?

Ah well, Serena Williams and Nadal awaited us, so we got over our bad food experience, watched Venus Williams on the practice courts and then headed into the stadium for the main event. Serena took down Flavia Panetta in two sets, but it was not an easy victory. Panetta made Serena fight for each point and the match was the best of the day until Nadal met up with Monfils. All I can say is – WOW – this was a super tense match for Nadal fans. Nadal lost the first set to Monfils in a tie-breaker. He then turned things around and won the second set 6-3 and the third 6-1. Monfils looked poised for a comeback in the fourth set but Nadal finally put him away 6-3 in what Kate termed a “four set thrilla.” Match time? Almost 3 hours.

As we exited Flushing Meadows at 12:30 am, our end of day score card was: Evian: $23.75; One good hot dog and otherwise bad food: $97; Memories of Nadal beating Monfils: priceless.

US Open: al rojo vivo

Javier Sánchez — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:39:31 +0000

Se acabó, no analicemos más su juego, no hagamos más cávalas sobre si está o no está bien, sobre si

Nadal Breaks Monfils' Glass Jaw

andicat — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:33:52 +0000

Rafael Nadal broke Monfils’ glass jaw tonight, knocking him out shortly after Monfils won the first set in a tiebreak. Nadal won the next set 6-1 and had Monfils bent over in exhaustion and pain after extended rallies. Wait, I thought Nadal was the one coming off a two month layoff? See what I mean about Gael’s incredible physique and how it’s meaningless? Monfils tried hard, but that isn’t his normal mode. If this was your first exposure to Monfils, I can see why you would think he could really win a grand slam title. IF he gets in shape, IF he learns intensity, IF he stops sliding and diving and getting injured, IF IF IF IF IF. Sometimes we need to treat the phrase “he loves the big stage” as a euphemism for “all those IFs will never happen, but he’s good entertainment when he gets to play in prime time!”

This was the best Nadal has looked. He didn’t seem afraid to press his knees, fitness or abdominal muscle. It seems like a reach for him to win this.. and yet. Rafa should never, ever be underestimated. He was completely out of gas during the Australian Open final against Roger, and we all know what happened there – he found enough hidden gears to make Roger cry.

Through the first nine days, this has been one hell of a tournament, proving once again that US Open tennis is the greatest tennis.

Us Open 6ème tour

rikyuo — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:14:59 +0000

Tsonga a remporté son match cette nuit contre le français Benneteau 7-6(7/4), 6-2, 6-4
Son prochain adversaire mardi sera Fernando Gonzales le CHilien classé 11ème

Idem pour Monfils qui bat l’argentin José Acasuso 6-3, 6-4, 1-0 ab
Il rencontrera Nadal au prochain tour, ce sera leur 3ème rencontre cette saison
avec une manche partout.

Gilles Simon a abandonné pour blessure au genou

US Open 3ème Tour

rikyuo — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:55:42 +0000

Et oui c’est l’us open, on est pas trop au courant parce que
en france les médias ne parlent que de foot.
C’est le 3ème tour, Tsonga, Monfils, Benneteau et Simon
sont toujours là.

Tsonga l’emporte contre Jarkko Nieminen, il retrouve Benneteau au 3ème tour ce dimanche

Monfils l’emporte contre Andreas Beck, il retrouvera Ferrero

Benneteau bat le serbe Viktor Troicki, il aura en face de lui Tsonga

Au tour de Gilles Simon qui l’emporte contre le brésilien Thomaz Bellucci, il sera face à Marin Cillic dimanche