My non-tennis blog readers are likely rejoicing that much of my tennis-related chatter is now elsewhere, but nothing like the good 'ole blog to babble on for a bit and share some pictures.
But it was a very good day yesterday as Roger Federer won the French Open for the 1st time - completing a career Grand Slam... only the 6th man to do so... and only the second after Andre Agassi in the modern/Open era... given the different surfaces each Slam is now played on, I arguably think it is a much more difficult than the other legends of yore (but that's another debate for another blog post).
Give the triumphant nature of Roger's win, I predicted his next day photo shoot would be here:
But given the historic nature of the win (Roger also tied Pete Sampras' all-time Grand Slam record of 14), Roger also got to saunter down to the Trocadero for some pix in front of Tour de Eiffel.
Now while I think Roger is an overly snappy dresser most of the time (his BFF Vogue editor Anna Wintour was in his box during the French), it is always nice to see him in more casual attire... but c'mon Roger, you couldn't find a better pair of jeans to put on for the big photo shoot!? But what do I know, those jeans probably cost more $$ than I make in a month!
I think Roger got the extra photo location too because who knows if he'll ever win the French again... but who knows... despite his impressive bod and physicality, I always have feared that Rafa Nadal's body would betray him and that he would not have the longest of careers... and now there are whispers that he won't be able to defend his Wimbledon title in a few weeks due to knee problems... so again, who knows!
After his win, Fed noted that this elusive win "It takes away so much pressure. Now, I can play in peace
for the rest of my career"... I am sure the rest of the players on the tour loved hearing that! Given his domination of the men's tennis in the past 5 years, it is a little scary to think that pressure was holding him back in some way... ha!
Should also give a quick note to the women's champ... Svetlana Kuznetsova ... or Sveta or Kuzzie... who now has a second Slam on her resume... this one slightly less, but still surprising as her US Open a few years back. Sveta is one of those players who seems so talented and has underachieved thanks to being a bit of a head case. Good for her, she was playing an even bigger head case in Dinara Safina at this year's Roland Garros championship. With Safina double-faulting on match point, it was almost like Kuznetsova couldn't believe that she had won and that it had been so easy... with Safina really crushed by the pressure of being the favorite and #1 ranked player in the world and the somewhat valid criticism of how one can be #1 and never have won a Major. But then again, the women's game is a bit in disarray... and I personally don't have many quibbles with the ranking system, the numbers don't lie... but it does seem as if no one is really earning it ... or should I say being consistent enough to be considered THE top player.
Sveta only got the Trocadero photo shoot... and I have to say it is sooooo much better watching the French Open having now been to Paris. This is my 2nd post-Paris visit French Open... but we pretty much just arrived home when it was on last year (though it really seems like eons and eons ago), so I appreciated it much more this year.
For you Paris virgins (go! go!), I highly encourage you to make the Trocadero vista the very first place you see the Eiffel Tower. Granted it is pretty much impossible to not catch a view of the Tower wherever you are in the city, but this is very much the "Voila!" view... and it still gives me goose-bumps thinking about. After I soaked it in for a few seconds, this was my very first picture from the spot... and even though I know it's a shot that has been taken hundreds of thousands of times... it remains one of my favorites from Paris... just because I remember being uncontrollably happy at this very moment! :-)
And finally (!!), usually at some point during a Slam I do some sort of hunky/beefcake picture review... and given that Rafa was knocked out halfway through (and his countryman and object of W&C drooling Fernando Verdasco not too far behind.... the tournament was somewhat lacking in eye candy.
But you do know that I love Roger... and he was one a big search engine driver this weekend to W&C, so why not this one of a (Google! Google!) Shirtless Roger Federer that I stumbled onto at some point during the French.
I am not sure where this one came from... as it seems a bit more "up close and personal" than the usual shirt change on a change-over type of shots that occasionally land on the sports sites, but heck no complaints. In this era where a lot of 20-somethings are plucked and tweezed and shaved, it is nice to see a bit of hair... though I have no doubt that Rog engages in some manscaping.
Here is a link to: all my Roger posts... and those who just want to skip ahead to more of the shirtless variety, the weekend search engine hits seemed to heading to this post in particular.
