ROLAND GARROS 2012
Roland Garros Thursday Diary: Roland Garros Farewells Clement
Paris, France
Arnaud Clement played his final Roland Garros match on Thursday.
ATPWorldTour.com takes a look at the news and talking points at Roland Garros on Thursday.
Roland Garros Farewells Clement
Arnaud Clement played at Roland Garros for the last time on Thursday as he was beaten by Belgian David Goffin, 3-6, 7-6(2), 0-6, 6-2, 6-1. The match had resumed at 5-1 in the fifth set after being rained off on Wednesday night. Afterwards, French No. 1 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga described Clement as “exemplary.”
"To me he's a big guy, although he's a bit small," said Tsonga. "He's a short guy. But he's always set the example. He's always fought on the court. And I guess you need to be his size and play tennis to realise how huge this is, because he's fighting against much bigger guys. Everything he did during his career is setting the example for young players. Apart from that, there is not much to say. But exemplary, that's the word I would use to describe him."
Milos Talks Fashion
Milos Raonic’s fashion tastes were taken to task by readers of the Montreal Gazette on Thursday. The Canadian came under scrutiny for the colour of his shirts, the length of his shorts, and his hair cuts, but gamely responded to them all.
[On the shirt]: "I just wear pretty much what I’m given. But I have a few options, so I’ll see which one I’ll bring up. There’s tennis-ball green again, there’s sky blue, and there’s white."
[On the short shorts]: "The problem if you get them longer, when you stretch, when your legs go apart, the shorts ride up. That’s why I prefer them a little bit shorter."
[On the hair]: "I have one guy, I tell him, ‘cut it how you want,’ he does what he wants. I don’t go back to Toronto that often, so whatever happens from there, it carries on."
Pressure Doubles
Bob Bryan will be feeling the pressure in his mixed doubles campaign with Serena Williams at Roland Garros as his prospects of playing with her at the London 2012 Olympics could hinge on it.
Writing in USA Today, the American said, "This is probably my tryout. I'll have to play well. I told her if we don't pan out, Mike's your guy — you know, hopefully keep it in the family. I'm the lucky guy right now. It could change quickly. A lot of people see Serena as the easiest way to a medal. She's a pressure player and I know she'll perform well. It's an honour to play with her. Who knows if it's an audition, but I'm happy to be along for the ride."
How To Beat Rafa At Roland Garros
With comments from the likes of Goran Ivanisevic, Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander, The Tennis Space has put together the best game plan for beating six-time champion Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. Some of the stand-out tips include:
- "To beat Nadal you have to control the centre of the court – you have to stand close to the baseline and not defend too deep." – Becker
- "I think the best way to play Nadal is to play Nadal’s usual game. That means you have to keep getting the ball back into play and you have to keep on making your opponent play one more shot." – Borg
- "You can’t show any mental weakness against Nadal – you have to believe you can win, and also show that you believe you can win," - Wilander
Tipsarevic & Nadal Fishing?
In a fun question and answer session with RolandGarros.com, Janko Tipsarevic named Rafael Nadal as the other player he would go fishing with. "He’s supposed to be an expert, isn’t he?" quipped the Serb. He also listed Dmitry Tursunov as the player he’d most like to interview, and Michael Llodra for sharing a bottle of wine with – "He plays doubles with my mate Nenad Zimonjic and he’s always saying he’s obsessed with wine. I think he’d be the right person to down a good bottle with."
Match Of The Day
What is it about John Isner, French players and majors? Two years on from his record-breaking Wimbledon clash with Nicolas Mahut, the American produced another marathon effort on Thursday evening at Roland Garros when he faced Paul-Henri Mathieu. After five hours and 41 minutes, it was Mathieu who prevailed, 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16. It marks a seventh successive defeat for Americans on the Philippe Chatrier Court; the last American to win on centre court at Roland Garros was Andy Roddick in the 2010 first round against Jarkko Nieminen.
Italy’s Fabio Fognini also needs to be called out for saving two match points to defeat Serbian No. 28 seed Viktor Troicki 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 8-6 in the second round.