Roland Garros Tuesday Diary: Nadal & Murray Talk Fashion
ATPWorldTour.com takes a look at the news and talking points at Roland Garros on Tuesday.
Rafa & Andy Get Serious...About Fashion
With two of the Top 4 players opening their Roland Garros campaigns on Tuesday, talk in the press conferences swung from title chances to fashion. Defending champion Nadal was asked by one eager journalist to specify the exact colour of his shirt.
"I will check. I let you know next time," laughed the Spaniard. "I let you know exactly the name. That's a good question. A different one. Finally. That's good. I will check. I will ask Nike."
Meanwhile, Murray was taken to task over his outfit by The Times writer, Neil Harman, who happened to be absent from the Scot’s press conference. It sparked the following exchange.
"Q. Neil Harman said it was a bit uninteresting. Do you think he's sort of a fashion icon you should listen to?
ANDY MURRAY: Is he in here? I guess he's not.
Q. He's having a half day.
ANDY MURRAY: So I can be really, really rude about him, then. (Laughter) Some of the shirts that he comes to work in have been very dodgy over the years, so I'm not going to listen to what he's got to say on fashion, that's for sure."
Ljubicic Tells All
Recently retired Ivan Ljubicic spilled some of his off-court secrets in an interview with RolandGarros.com. The Croatian confessed to having Take That songs on his iPod, though declared he was “not ashamed about it.” He also admitted to having used his fame to his advantage.
"I wanted to buy an apartment in a building in Croatia and I found out that they were all taken," said Ljubicic. "It was a fantastic building in a great neighbourhood so I called the owner and he said that because it was me, he’d free up an apartment. Oh, and then there was the final at the 2010 Champions League in Madrid, between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. I didn’t know him, but I called up Danijel Pranjic, Bayern’s left back. He managed to get me eight tickets. I paid for them, but it was incredible to have got so many tickets at the last minute."
Moya Predicting More Records For Rafa
Writing in the Roland Garros Quotidien, former World No. 1 and 1998 Roland Garros champion Carlos Moya recalled his quarter-final match with Rafael Nadal in Paris in 2007 and predicted more records for his fellow Mallorcan.
"In 2007, I played against Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals, on a surface he came to dominate," said Moya. "It’s amazing to think I knew him when he was a kid in Mallorca. What a player! Both of us have been World No. 1, and both of us come from the same island. It’s strange. It was important for our paths to cross at this tournament, which has made both of our careers.
"As I recall, it wasn’t much of a match; it was windy, and after putting up as much fight as I could in the first two sets, I fell apart in the last set (6-4, 6-3, 6-0). I believe there has never been a better player than Rafa on clay. Today’s tennis players are all-rounders, they’re like 4WDs that can go anywhere. But Rafa will always have an edge on clay. He’ll always be the favourite at Roland Garros. He’s still got a lot of records in him."
What A Difference Nine Years Makes
Eleven Grand Slam titles later and Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan can afford to look back and laugh at their humble beginnings in tennis. The American twins won their first major title in Paris in 2003, and recalled how different their accommodation was from this year’s Champs Elysee luxury.
"The first year we won we stayed at this kind of dodgy hotel," wrote Mike Bryan in the twins’ USA Today blog. "I think the junior players were staying there, too. I remember everyone sleeping on the floor and the beds were terrible. All they had for breakfast was cornflakes. We were roughing it. Maybe that toughened us up. We stayed there again the next year, but it didn't work out. There is no way we can do that to ourselves anymore. We're trying a new spot this year on the Champs Elysees. We'll see if it brings some luck."
Match Of The Day
Jeremy Chardy had loyal French supporters on the edge of their seats on Court 3 as he squandered a two-set and 5-3 lead before overcoming Yen-Hsun Lu 6-4, 6-1, 6-7(3), 3-6, 11-9 in a gripping first-round contest.
"I had a match point, but he broke me back," lamented Chardy. "Then I lost this set, and I was thinking too much, asking myself a number of questions. It's probably the longest match I've ever played. What counts is to have won. When we were 2-2 I broke him during the fifth set, and what was essential was to win, which is what I did. I'm happy."
Ja poziomu czołówki nie neguję. 
Soderling był jednym z ostatnich zawodników, którzy wychodzili po to, żeby skopać mistrzom tyłek, a nie im statystować.
