Observational Tennis

So the French Open is coming to a close and if you remember I selected Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic as my final four ladies and after today's quarterfinal round of competition I am batting 1000! Good for me! I still think the all serbian half of the draw is the toughest - both Jankovic and Ivanovic routed their opponents up until this point. I'm still backing Ivanovic but I expect Thursdays semifinal to be some killer tennis.

On the men's side I predicted Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer. I called 3 out of 4. Ferrer fell this morning to France's Gael Monfils. I'm still backing Nadal here - I expect his match against Djokovic on Thursday to be amazing (sucks that I'll have to miss it...why arent the semis being televised on ESPN or ESPN2? WTF...the tennis network...do YOU know anyone with the tennis network?)

(likely incorrect) Predictions, part II

With the shocking retirement of Justine Henin just a few weeks before what was to be her potential 4th championship in a row, the field is now wide open for the ladies crown. Here are my thoughts on the ladies final 4.

dinara SAFINA.

I expect big things from Dinara in '08. I've had my eye on her for a while as she has climbed the rankings and I think this is her year. Last week she won her first teir I event, and in the process beat Elena Dementieva, Serena Williams and became the answer to a trivia question by being the last player to beat Justine Henin.

I should mention that Safina's advancing to the semis takes our Maria Sharapova, the new number 1 ranked player. Sharapova only needs the French to seal her career grand slam, but clay is not a good surface for Maria and I think she'll fall a little short.

svetlana KUZNETSOVA.

There are a lot of talented young players in Svet's quarter, but she's a total badass and a former finalist, so I'm giving her the edge here over her young competition. Upset minded fans should be careful of Agnes Szavay tho.

jelena JANKOVIC.

I'm not 100% sold that Janka can win the title, but I do think she'll roll fairly easily to the semifinals (barring a potential heartbreaker elite 8 match with Venus.) She's tenacious and will win a major at some point in the next two years. But I think she's still a tournament or three away from hoisting the trophy.

ana IVANOVIC.

Before I planned to break these predictions down by quarter I had both Ivanovic and Serena Williams as real threats, but, it looks like these two ladies are going to collide in the quarterfinals. If so, I expect a killer match-up, but I'm going out on a limb and calling the win for Ana. I've got so much love for this girl - she's got two grand slam finals under her belt already (including going down to Justine here last year.) She's cool and calm and should be able to press Serena. She's far from the shoe-in that Justine would have been, but she's my pick to go all the way!

Where I (incorrectly, no doubt) predict the future

I'm a huge tennis fan, so I'm excited that we've entered Grand Slam season. The 2008 French Open is underway and here's my take:

MEN'S DRAW

rafael NADAL.

I don't see anyone other than Rafa winning this tournament this year. Clay is his surface and he's money at big events. This championship is his until he packs it in.

roger FEDERER.

Rodge doesnt quite seem to be having his normal ironman, banner type season. I'd love to see him complete his career slam and take this year's French since the pressure of him getting a calendar slam is gone (he lost this year's Aussie to Novak Djokovic) but I just don't see it happening this year. He's looked a little tried, been a little hurt and will have to take out Rafa to do it and right now Rafa is too good.

novak DJOKOVIC.

The French is always exciting because it's the key slam that determines if a player can score the calendar grand slam. For that to happen in '08 Djokovic will have to keep the momentum going and win his first french. I'd consider him a strong challenger, but I'd put him in third position to Rafa and Rodge.

I'd be pretty surprised to see any of these three men missing from the final four, but who'll round out the semis? It would have to be someone from #4 seed Nikolay Davydenko's portion of the draw. The Russian is always a contender, but i'm going with...

david FERRER.

He'll have to get through Tommy Robredo to get there, but clay is a good surface for him and he's got a decent draw. In the days before the Nadal dominance solid, but unproven Spanish and Argentine players were always the guys to watch and so, I still enjoy watching them play on the clay. Ferrer gets my vote over Robredo because he just beat Tommy in Barcelona and Tommy doesnt have a tournament win in 2008.