THE FRENCH OPEN: LOVE AND HATE

Some adore Roland Garros. Some despise it. Who falls where, and why? Let's take a look.

Why I Love The French Open

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Not everyone hates Roland Garros. Heck, some people love it. Here's a few.
By David Higdon

Serena Williams
American
French history: 29-6 | Best result W (2002, over Venus Williams)
"I love playing in Paris. I just bought an apartment there. I would love to live there, as there's a real vibe to the city. You can't even imagine how much love I have for the title that I won there [in 2002]. Very few titles that I've won top it. I wish I were Parisian. I would love to speak French. I don't even know how to explain why I love it so much, but everyone looks so fabulous. It's an old city but it's so well maintained. If I want to win the French Open this year, I just need to not make so many errors, and stay focused."

Prediction: After an embarrassing quarterfinal loss to Jelena Jankovic in Oz, Williams went on a tear, winning her next three tournaments including trouncing French Open defending and four-time champion Justine Henin 6-2, 6-0 in Miami. The confidence and focus back, Williams will roll through Paris to secure her second French title.

Novak Djokovic
Serbian
French history: 10-3 | Best result: 2007 Semifinals
"You feel very privileged just to be at a Grand Slam and participate in such a great event. And Paris, the French Open, has the best clay on the world. I think I play my best tennis there because the clay is a bit faster than in the other events like Rome and Hamburg. It suits my game. Whenever I play on the centre court I have the crowd behind me."

Prediction: Djokovic will reach the final if he's not on Rafael Nadal's half of the draw. Yes, that means he's ready to beat Roger Federer in a second consecutive Slam.

Jelena Jankovic
Serbian
French history: 7-4 W-L | Best result: 2007 Semifinals
"I never really liked to play on the clay in the past because I hit a very flat ball. More importantly, I didn't know how to slide and movement is the most important thing on clay. But last year I hired a Spanish coach and I learned how to hit and slide on the surface. I learned French at a diplomatic school in Serbia, and when I win the French Open, I promise that I will give a speech in French. That's my motivation!"

Prediction: No speech this year for the inconsistent Jankovic, but you know what they say: C'est la vie!

Andy Murray
Great Britian
French history: 0-1
"I've only played Roland Garros once and I hurt my back in that match. It hasn't been the nicest place to me so far, though I didn't play bad there in the juniors. I reached the semifinals of the junior event. I love the way the points go back and forth on clay. Someone can pound a serve but it's much easier to return. Balls can be deep, there can be dropshots, but you have time to run them down. There are a lot of variations to the game on clay and the mental side is huge. Even if you're struggling and losing points, you can continue to run as much as you can and put balls in play. You can always change the momentum on clay."

Prediction: With a game suitable for clay, Murray will notch his first French victory, and maybe a few more, but he won't survive into the second week.

Virginia Ruano Pascual
Spain
French history: 13-11 | Best result 1995 Quarterfinals
Doubles champion 2001, 2002, 2005 and mixed doubles champion 2001
"We grow up on clay, and I always have good support there with so many people coming from Spain. For us, the Spanish players, it's the same as it is for the French, but we don't have the pressure like the French players. They play with a ton of pressure. We have less pressure but the same support. I remember playing once on Court 1, which is in the shape of a bullring, and a fan yelling out: "You are better than [the famous Spanish matador] Manolete!" I like to play on Court 1. Normally it's slower than the other courts. When it's raining, it's very heavy. The stadium court is a very big court, so it helps the runners. Court 1 is small, and I like that."

Prediction: Doubles great will need a partner to win a match.

Sam Querrey
American
French history: 0-1
"Hopefully, I can do better this year at the French than I did last year, which will be to just win one match! I love Paris. I love the Champs Elysées. I really enjoyed the tournament last year and I'm excited to go back. There's stuff to see at tournaments like the Australian Open, but it's not historical like Europe where you feel obligated to go see some things. I felt obligated to go see the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower. I've crossed them off my list now, though, so I don't have to worry about it this year."

Prediction: Early-round loss will leave plenty of time for more sightseeing.

Why "Oui" Love/Hate the French Open

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The Bryan twins, champions of the 2003 French Open doubles title, share their unique perspective on Paris and its Grand Slam event.

By Bob and Mike Bryan

Bob: It's surprising we won our first Slam on clay in Paris because we're from California and there are probably ten clay courts in the entire state. We didn't grow up on the dirt, and that's the toughest one for the Americans to win. To do what we did, not losing a set throughout the tournament for our first Slam…

Mike: It's one of our favorite Slams. We've got the dirt in our blood.

Bob: The year we won it, we stayed at the cheapest hotel in Paris, the Pierre Vacanes, and the bed was so bad that I ended up sleeping on the floor. The floor was softer than the bed. The lights were on motion detectors so the hallway would be completely dark and the lights would follow you down the hallway. It was kinda creepy.

Mike: It was the junior player hotel, we were the only pros staying there. And we're superstitious so we had to go back and stay there the next year.

Bob: We wanted to save a little money since everything is so expensive. We knew we were going to be there a long time. We also ate at the same Chinese restaurant 21 straight nights in 2003. We lost 10 pounds each because we weren't even eating by the third week we were there. It was a pretty bad Chinese joint.

Mike: They had our music CD, so they started putting it in the mix.

Bob: Now we stay at a pretty sweet place near the Arc de Triomphe, and we're paying way too much but it's worth it. We take a big ballclub over there: We've got a coach, a masseuse, girlfriends, cousins, we have about 10 people on our team. We have a huge place. We stepped it up a little bit.

Mike: There are great restaurants, it's just a beautiful city. We don't do a lot of sightseeing any more like we did our first couple of years on Tour. But we always bring the girlfriends, and we walk around with them shopping.

Bob: You don't have many fans pulling for you, especially when you play a French team, when it's always packed. The French play real well over there. It's one of those tournaments where you always see 8-9 French guys going past the first round in singles, which doesn't happen at other events.

Mike: The fans get on the Americans too. They're not super-warm towards the Americans. If they see anything that you're doing that's kind of annoying, say if you question a line call, they will just eat you alive. You throw your racquet, if you do anything like that, they'll tear you up, especially if you're American. The fans are real big on sportsmanship. You can't have any McEnroe episodes or they'll run you down.

Bob: But it's a cool Slam. They play deep into the night, there's always a five-set match going on at 9:30 into the twilight. One of the most fun Slams to watch because you finish the day, have dinner, then come back and turn the TV on at 9:45 and see a singles war.

Mike: They'll play until the last second of the day. They'll also play through a drizzle. There has to be lightning in the sky for them to postpone a match.

Bob: We hate the French doubles team of [Michael] Llodra-[Arnaud] Clement. Luckily, they lose a lot before they get to us, like they did in Monte-Carlo this year. They have played well against us, especially in a couple of big matches, Wimbledon last year and the Davis Cup this year.

Mike: We owe them about ten in a row, and we're looking forward to seeing them again. Bob: And oh yeah, you can't forget the hookers in the park across the street from the tournament grounds.

Mike: Absolutely. But we've always made it to practice without caving.

Why I Heart Roland Garros

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by Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten

Editor's Note: Former ATP World No. 1 and three-time French Open [Roland Garros] champion Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten will retire following this year's event in Paris. The popular Brazilian has played only 26 ATP-level matches since undergoing a second hip surgery in late 2004. Kuerten captured 20 singles titles and eight doubles titles during his 14-year pro career. He won his first career title in 1997 at Roland Garros, and won the Grand Slam again in 2000 and 2001. In this ESPN The Magazine exclusive, Kuerten reflects on Paris.

My love for Roland Garros started way before I won my first career pro title there in 1997. I was 16 years old when my coach, Larri Passos, took me to the tournament for the first time in 1992. He was coaching some other players and I was going to try to earn a spot into the junior draw. A couple of the other Brazilian juniors and I didn't get into the draw, and we didn't have credentials, so Larri tried hard to get us onto the grounds so we could at least watch some of it.

After much hard work, he finally found a way to get us in and we were going to get to see countryman Jaime Oncins. He was one of my idols at the time and playing at his best. Since we didn't have seats assigned or a credential that would guarantee us a seat, we arrived very early to the court, which I believe was Court 1. We were there around 9:30 a.m., and we watched everyone warm up and play before Oncins' match. He was scheduled to play the legendary Ivan Lendl, who had won the tournament three times before.

Oncins lost the first two sets, but then starts turning the match around when the rain comes. The match gets postponed so we have to arrange again to arrive early to try to get in the court to cheer for him the next day. So we're there early and Oncins ends up winning the match, 8-6 in the fifth set (they don't play tie-breaks in the fifth set at Roland Garros). I was full of energy, it was such an inspiration. Oncins goes on to the Round of 16 and we watch all his matches. Since that initial experience, I have felt such a special connection with Roland Garros.

Two years later, in 1994, I played the junior tournament and won the doubles with Nicolas Lapentti from Equador. I remember that we booked a court to practice and somebody by mistake put us to warm-up on the centre court. For half an hour, we hit and we didn't miss a shot and I told Nico: "I think it is this court, it has something special." It turned out that throughout my career I lost very few matches on that court.

From those junior days, my love and respect for Roland Garros, and all the love Larri also showed for the tournament, grew. Every year I planned my schedule for Roland Garros, to be in my best shape around that time of the season. Roland Garros is what kept motivated throughout my career. You can see that we as players always show respect because we take care of the courts when we are there. Sometimes we clean it ourselves, take care of the clay. My career is devoted to Roland Garros, so that's why I want to retire there.

So much has happened to me in Paris, so many matches turned around, there was definitely some superior force involved. My fondest memory on a tennis court happened at Roland Garros in 2001. It was a windy Sunday. I was playing American Michael Russell. I wasn't feeling comfortable on court, wasn't playing well and then came match point against me (he was leading 2 sets to 0). I saved it and the crowd got so much into the match that I managed to win the third set. I still get goose bumps just writing this from all the emotion that it brings me.

After I won that set, they started pushing me even more and I had such a connection with them that I knew that I wasn't going to lose the match any more. I was in a state that you could hardly ever feel after I won the match. I felt as if I were floating. I was so happy, with such energy, that I drew a heart on the court to show all my love to the crowd and to that court. It wasn't something I was thinking before the tournament or during the match, it just came naturally at that moment. I think I was very fortunate to have had that idea.

Then, to show once again how much I love Roland Garros, I drew the heart and lay on the clay when I won the tournament. I think it says it all.

For more on the French Open, check out The Mag's tennis department.

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