#728 - 2009 Roland Garros

ENGLISH

Just a couple of hours ago, finally the second grandslam of the year, The French Open a.k.a Roland Garros, just finished.

This year, it has kinda been interesting actually, eventhough some results didn't go the way I wanted them to be. The first interesting thing is that Rafael Nadal had his first lost in the tournament, after 31 winning streaks. Yeah, he had NEVER lost in the Roland Garros before (he even won this grandslam in his first appearance and never lost since then, until last week). However, his streak was broken by 23rd seeded Swede, Robin Soderling, in the fourth round. Soderling eventually made it to the final, the best of his career so far.

Well, the lost of Nadal actually gave Federer a better chance to win Roland Garros for the first time. I'm sure most of us know that Roger Federer is one of the best tennis players in the world lately. He has won all three other grandslams (even more than once each), but he has never conquered the clay court grandslam, Roland Garros. His pursues were stopped by Nadal, the king of clay, several times. Therefore, with Nadal out of competition, on paper, Federer should win this title this year.

Yeah, Federer did it. Eventually he beat Soderling in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-4. Eventhough Federer won the title, he will still be world no. 2 for now. However, there's still a pretty good chance for him to reclaim world no.1 title. Anyway, by winning Roland Garros, Federer just became the sixth male tennis player ever to claim all four grandslam singles titles. Congratulations Federer!!

While Soderling, eventhough losing to Federer in the final, will jump to world no. 12, his highest ranking ever, this Monday. Still, for me, he needs to prove himself, especially his consistency, on other tournaments.

In the women singles, Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Dinara Safina in straight sets, claiming her second grandslam title after 2004 US Open. This match proves that Dinara Safina still needs to prove herself to be world no. 1 (she is world no. 1 right now but has never won a grandslam singles title). She actually played really well and convincing, especially on the first rounds up to fourth rounds, only losing five games in total. In the QF, she lost 1 set against Victoria Azarenka but still managed to win. In the SF, she beat Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets. However, in the final, she seemed to be really nervous. It was her third grandslam finals, and also her third lost. She lost against Ana Ivanovic in French Open last year and Serena Williams in Australian Open this year, both also in straight sets.

I actually wish the women final would have been between Dinara Safina vs Serena Williams, especially after Serena made this comment. The match would have been interesting (tho I would still be rooting for Serena eventhough based on statistics, Safina had performed better on clay this season, haha). However, Serena lost to eventual winner, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the QF.

Clay season has ended, grass season is coming, Wimbledon is three weeks ahead. Aha!!

::: Roland Garros.

::: Court Philippe Chatrier (center court) at Roland Garros.

::: Svetlana Kuznetsova and her Suzanne Lenglen trophy, and runner up, Dinara Safina.

::: Roger Federer and his trophy.

::: Roger Federer and Robin Soderling

notes : all players' photos are taken from Roland Garros' official website.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Beberapa jam yang lalu, akhirnya grandslam tahun ini, The French Open atau Perancis Terbuka a.k.a Roland Garros, selesai.

Tahun ini, sebenarnya turnamennya agak menarik, walau beberapa hasil tidak berjalan sesuaiu harapanku. Hal menarik pertama adalah Rafael Nadal mengalami kekalahan pertamanya di turnamen ini, setelah 31 kemenangan beruntun. Ya, dia TIDAK PERNAH kalah di Roland Garros sebelumnya (dia bahkan memenangi grandslam ini di penampilan pertamanya di situ, dan tidak pernah kalah sejak itu, sampai minggu lalu). Namun, kemenangan beruntun itu dihentikan oleh unggulan ke-23, orang Swedia, Robin Soderling, di babak keempat. Soderling akhirnya masuk ke final, hasil terbaik di karirnya sejauh ini.

Kekalahan Nadal ini sebenarnya memberi Federer suatu kesempatan yang lebih baik untuk memenangkan Roland Garros untuk pertama kalinya. Aku yakin kebanyakan dari kita setidaknya pasti pernah dengar kalau Roger Federer adalah salah satu pemain tenis terbaik di dunia akhir-akhir ini. Dia telah memenangkan ketiga grandslam lainnya (bahkan masing-masing lebih dari sekali) tetapi tidak pernah menaklukan grandslam lapangan tanah liat, Roland Garros. Pengejaran akan titelnya beberapa kali dihentikan oleh Nadal, raja lapangan tanah liat. Oleh karenanya, dengan keluarnya Nadal dari kompetisi, Federer seharusnya memenagi titel itu tahun ini.

Benar saja, Federer memenanginya. Akhirnya dia mengalahkan Robin Soderling dengan straight sets, 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-4. Walau Federer memenangkan titel ini, dia akan tetap menjadi petenis nomor 2 dunia saat ini. Namun, masih ada kesempatan bagi dia untuk kembali merebut peringkat nomor 1 dunia koq. Ngomong2, dengan memenangi Roland Garros, Federer menjadi petenis pria keenam yang pernah memenangi semua empat titel grandslam. Selamat Federer!!

Sementara itu, Soderling, walau kalah dari Federer di final, akan meloncat ke posisi nomor 12 dunia, peringkat tertingginya, Senin ini. Tetap saja, untuk aku, dia perlu membuktikan dirinya lagi, terutama konsistensinya, melalui turnamen-turnamen lain.

Di tunggal putri, Svetlana Kuznetsova mengalahkan Dinara Safina melalui straight sets, mengklaim gelar grandslam keduanya, setelah US Open 2004. Pertandingan itu menunjukkan bahwa Dinara Safina masih perlu membuktikan dirinya sebagai petenis nomor 1 dunia (sekarang dia berperingkat 1 dunia tetapi belum pernah memenangi gelar tunggal grandslam). Dia sebenarnya bermain dengan baik dan meyakinkan, terutama dari babak pertama hingga babak keempar, hanya dengan kehilangan lima games total. Di QF ia kehilangan satu set dari Victoria Azarenka tetapi masih bisa memenangi pertandingan. Di SF, ia mengalahkan Dominika Cibulkova dalam straight sets. Namun, di final, ia sepertinya sangat gugup. Itu adalah final grandslam ketiganya, dan kekalahan ketiganya pula. Dia kalah dari Ana Ivanovic di French Open tahun lalu dan Serena Williams di Australian Open tahun ini, keduanya juga dalam straight sets.

Aku sebenarnya berharap final putri adalah antara Dinara Safina vs Serena Williams, terutama setelah Serena membuat komentar ini. Pertandingannya akan menjadi sangat menarik (walau aku masih akan mendukung Serena sih, walau menurut statistik, Safina tampil lebih baik di tanah liat tahun ini, haha). Namun, Serena kalah dari pemenangnya (pada akhirnya), Svetlana Kuznetsova, di QF.

Musim tanah liat sudah selesai, musim rumput akhirnya datang. Wimbledon main tiga minggu lagi. Aha!!