Reflections From Paris

Here's my quick recap of the weekend in Paris. Was thrilled for Li Na. Sure, it was a can't-lose situation, but since Francesca Schiavone already got to "have" her legendary moment (not only for her, but her small country) it was nice seeing Li make history, more for herself than China. (I'm not a total commie!) Li played so well that she really deserved to win, which is nice to see in women's tennis. The men's final was a bit more complex. Everyone is marveling at the match, but I thought it lacked drama because I never believed for a minute that Roger Federer had a chance to win -- and this was by far the closest match they've ever played at Roland Garros. Truth be told, I'm down on the whole so-called rivalry, because Rafa has had Roger's number for so long that when it comes to Grand Slams, I never think Roger has much of a chance. Mary brought up Roger's Greatest of All Time "problem," and I couldn't agree more. Although he is past his prime now, even during his prime the only surface he could reliably beat Nadal on was grass. (Nadal has twice as many victories!) My feeling was that given this head-to-head problem, a late-in-career, come-from-behind, on-his-worst surface win yesterday was about Roger's best chance to stake a non-asterisked claim on GOAT, and that (of course) didn't happen. You could argue that it didn't happen because Rafa is so invincible on clay, but for once, I felt Roger really lost that match more than Rafa won it. The unforced errors -- and not ones brought on by relentless pounding -- were just plain bad tennis, and the latest example of Federer not rising to the occasion versus his Achilles' heel. (And no, I'm not talking about David Nalbandian this time.)