On the men’s side, the big Day 7 stories at Roland Garros were Novak’s upset and Roger’s chest hair (oh, and Andy Roddick’s first ever foray into the Rd. of 16!)
On the women’s side it was all drama, drama, drama! Great for fans, not so great for Serena Williams:
“I’m like one of those girls on a reality show that has all the drama, and everyone in the house hates them because no matter what they do, like, drama follows them. I don’t want to be that girl.” Serena said after beating Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in three sets today in the third round (quote via AP).
The drama involved a crap call that went against Williams when the umpire failed to see that her shot had hit her opponent’s arm, instead of her racquet. When the ball went over the net and the game went to Martinez Sanchez, Serena was understandably upset (replay showed that the ball definitely smacked Martinez Sanchez’s arm before it hit her racquet.)
“She better not come to the net again.” Serena said ominously, though she didn’t act on her threat.
Here’s the replay and Serena’s post match accusations:
God hath no fury like a Williams scorned! I wonder if this injustice will be enough to drive Serena into the final?
What is the bigger surprise, that 4th seed Elena Dementieva went out in the third round to Samantha Stosur today or that she doesn’t think Nadal is going to win Roland Garros? Here’s her quote (via Yahoo!Sports, via Risha):
“Well, he actually looks a little bit tired to me. He doesn’t look like he’s fresh enough. I think it’s going to be tough challenge for him to win this time, actually.”
No. 10 seed Caroline Wozniacki was also upset in straight sets by her good friend Sorana Cirstea. This couldn’t have helped Wozniacki’s cause:
Sad face: Carla Suarez Navarro lost the final set of her held-over third round match against Victoria Azarenka today. Reportedly Vika was booed off the court, but I have no idea why – perhaps like me, the French are just crazy for lil’ Carla?
Fashion faux pas? Virginie Razzano beat Tathiana Garbin today in a tough straight set match. But her opponent was the least of her worries. After the match, she described her harrowing on-court encounter with the WTA patch police:
It was somebody from the WTA (that came out on court). I had a patch, you know, on my polo shirt, and it was not positioned correctly. The problem was this woman wanted me to change my shirt. It was 3‑0. We had started the match, so I was a bit pissed off.
I said, I can’t change my polo shirt, because all my T‑shirts are patched exactly the same. It’s sewn on the T‑shirt. She wanted to use a pair of scissors to remove it. I said, ‘You’re going to ruin all my T‑shirts.’ I had my three white T‑shirts in my bag, and they were all with the same logo at the same place. It was sewn this morning.
It’s my mistake, I know. I knew I couldn’t place it exactly here. It had to be placed on the side, on the shoulder, almost. She said, ‘Well, you have to use another T‑shirt, otherwise you might be fined.’ I said, ‘Please try and find me a T‑shirt,because I said I have no other T‑shirt. Either it’s bare chested or naked or this way, and never mind the fine.’
You know what she said? Well, she went away. It was 3‑0 and I had something else to think about, I can tell you. I was thinking about the match. I didn’t want to bother about this. I didn’t want to get angry about this. I appreciate this woman. She’s kind. I was well into the match. I was playing okay.
The only thing I wanted was to be on my own, and this is when I was up 5‑0, and I was still, you know, how can I say, thinking about this. It was at the back of my mind. I said, ‘Never mind the fine. I’ll have the fine. I’ll play. I’ll play.’ It was not easy, you know.
Awesome promotional strategy, WTA!
Staying under the radar: Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Aleksandra Wozniak all made it through the draw without too much hubbub.
The Round of 16s are set: Safina vs. Rezai, Azarenka vs. Ivanovic, Szavay vs. Cibulkova, Sharapaova vs. Li, Jankovic vs. Cirstea, Razzano vs. Stosur, Kuznetsova vs. Radwanska, and Wozniak vs. Williams.
Especially looking forward to Vika vs. Ana and Maria vs. Na. And of course I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for a final battle between Serena and Safina!
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