The Road to Rafa Part 3 - Paris: French Open

Early morning at the French Open

on Philippe Chatrier Center Court

Q:
How do you get into the French Open, sit in the reserved box seats just behind the Tennis Magazine team, and then watch Nadal play live just a few feet away on the center court (Court Philipe Chatrier) - all for just 19 Euros?

A:
Benny-Berthet Day

Benny Berthet's Day is a tradition at Roland Garros.
This exhibition day is held each year on the eve of the tournament; the profits are donated to various charities. This is similar to the Arthur-Ashe day event held at the US Open annually.

What is special is that throughout the whole day, the public can attend 1-set matches with most of the top players spread out across the top 3 courts. Many of the French tennis stars come out for kids to get autographs and pictures.

Almost all the players also have a practice session on the side courts as well.

Order of Play Sheet

Arrive at Roland Garros for the first time...
8:30AM - Hop on the Paris Subway
9:00 - Stop for some breakfast at a nearby Cafe with some scrambled eggs and French baguettes
9:30 - Bump into some local tennis coaches while asking for directions and walking to Roland Garros
10:00 - Waiting in the ticket queue about a few rows deep, I had an extra hour. A few other fans in line were speaking French. One asks where I'm from (holding a Tennis Magazine from the US).

Apparently, they immediately judge you by your country's best players (Roddick, Blake, Fish, Bryans, etc). The Bryan Brothers chest bump was apparently the signature tennis celebration of the USA.

This was the year that Tsonga was their top guy with Gasquet still serving his drug suspension.

By around 10:45, the line finally starts to move and by then the queue has wrapped all the way around.

By around 11:00, the gates and ticket booths open and there is a mad dash toward the center court. There are no reserved seats for this day. So, basically, it is first-come, first-serve basis.

I'm lucky enough to get around to the stadium's East side with the sun at my back quickly and grab a 3rd-row seat just behind the reserved seats for Tennis Magazine.

Seeing Rafael Nadal up close on clay in Paris (at his favorite *home* court) was definitely the highlight of my trip to Paris.

Even at this early exhibition set of tennis, you could tell he wasn't himself in 2009.

Because of a knee injury and some family issues, he had lost to Federer in the Madrid Final just a few weeks back. On this day he faced a qualifier named Dabul - a light, steady rain came down shortly after the warm-up.

Eventually, Nadal would lose 6-4 with a disappointed expression. You could tell he was troubled...either emotionally or physically, or maybe both. Many fans were a bit shocked about the early loss. It was a foreshadowing of things to come later in the 4th round...

To travel halfway around the world to witness tennis greatness unfulfilled is a bit like arriving at the site of a great monument only to see its footprint absent. It is shocking and unbelievable to fathom.

Champions prevail and rise again even after an avalanche of misery fails to destroy them. As we all know, Rafa wasn't done yet.

Years later, I was able to visit his hometown of Mallorca and play tennis at his new Rafa Nadal academy in Spain. Tennis students can learn about Spanish culture while having a Summer trip in Europe.

Many of the RNA coaches fly to the USA and host Summer Camps in over 40 cities. You can get a discount with a special promo code "JCTENNIS". Spaces are limited.

Map of Roland Garros

Official French Open Map

Read more about my Tennis Travels

The Roadmap to Rafa - Summer in Europe

• Prologue: The Journey Begins with a Dream...
  
• Madrid, Spain (Mutua Madrid Open): Nadal vs Federer Final on Clay
• Barcelona (Sanchez-Casal Academy): Training next to a French Open Champion
• Paris (French Open): I sat 3 rows behind Rafa
• London (Wimbledon): Church on Grass
• Rome (Italian Open + Vatican): the Soul of Tennis People

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the places and moments that take our breath away."
- Anonymous

Gasquet falls to Nadal at Rome's SF

Richard Gasquet put on an amazing run this week on clay in Rome. He put together a couple back-to-back wins against two top 10 players, Federer and Berdych in tight 3 sets both times.

Playing with confidence
Gasquet is playing with a lot more confidence lately and has been really whipping that one-handed backhand well around the court. At times, it seemed like his shots were even more spectacular than those of Nadal. A lot of concentration was required for Rafa to win the first set and seal his seat in the finals today.

Cross-court battle: Lefty Forehand vs Righty Backhand
The contrast of Nadal's lefty forehand going against Gasquet's one-handed (sometimes jumping) righty backhand was really a sight to see. Not since Rios, has the jumping backhand seemed so deadly. Even though I do not hit one-handed...if I did, Gasquet's technique would be a good one to emulate.

Gasquet's Autographed Card
Gasquet seems to be playing much better than when I last saw him at the Legg Mason ATP 500 in DC. He had just flew back from his the clay finals in a Gstaad, Switzerland and was watching his fellow countryman play a match on a side court.

I got his autograph on a player card during one of the changeovers. He seemed amused that I had a small collection of ATP player cards with the Legg Mason draw.

Nadal vs Ferrer: Barcelona Final - Spanish Gladiators meet on the Sands

ATP 500 Final (the Rematch) - Barcelona Open 2011
Ferrer and Nadal are set to duel in the 2nd consecutive clay court final for the second Sundays in a row. Both are well known in their country, as the #1 and #2 Spanish players currently. Nadal won 5 years in a row 2005-2009, only to have skipped last year in order to rest up and prepare for the ATP 1000's. The good news is that he'll have 500 extra points to earn if he wins to increase his lead over Djokovic.

Ferrer, also known as "The Warrior", will need to square off against Nadal - nicknamed "The Gladitor" by ATP commentators.

Perhaps aptly so - as Rafa has spent so much of his career dominating the Clay; as Spartacus would have in the Roman Colosseum. Tennis players have swapped swords for rackets, helmets for hats, headbands...the fans' applaud and the roar of the crowds echo their encouragement on their heroes in the tennis center arena, as they would in the gladiatorial games in ancient Rome.

Recording his 500th Career Win today, Nadal seems to be on his way to another clay court sweep. He is sure to be remembered in history for a long, long time.

There is a saying that "in order to be able to be successful on clay is to be able to endure suffering"... Early in Nadal's career, he learned to enjoy it.

As Ivan Dodig can tell you, playing on clay can make for a very dirty day for laundry. Of course, it can also leave you bruised and battered simply because you were paired opposite against a man named Nadal.

Tennis Training in the City of Barcelona

For those who are interested in learning some of the Spanish tennis taught to the likes of Nadal and Ferrer when they were young, I would recommend visiting the Sanchez-Casal academy in Barcelona.

They have special programs for both Coaches and Adult Players, year round that includes transportation to and from the city of Barcelona. Makes for a great vacation for any tennis fan/player out there. I'm no stranger to the Barcelona clay, having spent nearly a week training at Sanchez-Casal in 2009. The weather is generally perfect in late April-June in Europe.

The city is vibrant in its culture and architecture with beautiful beaches and friendly, photogenic people all around. The fans here love celebrating Sport, whether they be the victories of great champions of soccer or tennis. Their appreciate victory after a hard fight with spirited passion under the day's sun and celebrate long and late into the night while enjoying their wine.

Nadal and Federer in Miami SF's (First Rematch in the USA after 6 years!)

Update:
The match-up looked very much one-sided, unfortunately. Commentators compared it to a heavy-weight title fight with a 2nd round KO. The court surfaces that Federer has the edge on may now be limited to indoors and perhaps grass (for lower bounces). Nadal's high kicking groundstrokes to his backhand seem to be too much for Fed to handle.

His forehands were not bad, but also did not do enough damage to Nadal's defenses. In the end, Roger made around 40 unforced errors the whole match, perhaps going for too much when he was behind in the score.

The Science of "Super Spin Strings" w/ slow-mo video analysis

IMAGE CREDIT: CLIVE BRUNSKILL/GETTY IMAGES

In this article by the Atlantic Magazine, author Josh Speckman explains the physics behind Rafael Nadal's incredible spin potential and how technology has taken modern tennis to a completely different dimension today.

There is also an excellent video that shows this "snap back" effect of polyester strings. "Co-polyester" strings such as the acclaimed Cyber Flash and Cyber Blue strings are merely poly strings coated with special lubricants that allow the string to slip and slide back into place after contact. They propel the ball with a recoiling snap effect while maintaining the durable characteristics of polyester.

In the video, skip forward to 5:30 for a super-slow mo clip: The New Physics of Tennis: Unlocking the mysteries of Rafael Nadal’s killer topspin (Thanks to Chris for forwarding this to me!)

Tennis Stars "Rally For Relief" in Australia

Tennis superstars including Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Clijsters, Stosur, and many other friends of the Aussies gathered together on Sunday afternoon in Melbourne for a special exhibition tennis event.

In one day alone, over $1.5 million was raised for the victims of Australia's flood disaster: WTA | News | Latest News | Stars Rally For Relief

My Last-Minute Journey to the US Open Final

JC at US Open Final
Originally uploaded by JCTennis.com

US Open Finals on a Monday

For the last few years, I had talked about possibly going to see Nadal...if he ever made it to the US Open Final. On Monday around 3 pm, I finish work early and went to DC National airport to see if I could get a standby flight to Laguardia.

 

Flying Standby at Delta

For $40 and 25K points, the ticket agent told me I could get one of the last Delta Shuttle connectors available (with a round trip flight later that night).

Let's do it! I thought - how often do you get to see a player achieve their career slam?

So I literally boarded the plane just minutes before it left the gate (they announce my name over the PA system as I sprint to the gate).  The whole time on the flight I am just imagining what it will be like to see Nadal in the final winning the career slam. I'm a bit nervous that Djokovic is one of the few players that have a strong hard-court record against Nadal plus an extra day's rest from the rain delay to recover could make it tough against him.

Life is either a great adventure or nothing.
- Helen Keller

 

Arrival at LGA

DCA to LGA - Express: 45 mins

My plane lands around 4:30 and I jog out of the gates and take a $15 taxi ride to the stadium.

Of course, being a spur-of-the-moment decision, I had not gotten a ticket in advance. But when I got to the box office, I found out it had actually sold out! Walking back to the boardwalk, several individuals approached me as I saw they had cash in their hands.

Tickets! Get your Tickets here! Looking back - the safer way and easier way to get tickets I learned later was to buy it from TicketExchange online here. But unfortunately, I had left before I had a chance to get them online. Ok, I thought, a scalper...they definitely have an extra ticket. Unfortunatelyhttps://ticketmaster.evyy.net/c/253665/264167/4272?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticketmaster.com/arthur-ashe-stadium-tickets-flushing/venue/237621, it was another fan asking me if I had an extra ticket.

I walked all the way back to the entrance bridge and saw at least 5-10 people asking the mob of fans just departing the 7 train if they had extra tickets for sale! I was in trouble... (read the rest of the story here)

Rafa's 2010 come-back continues...Wimbledon 2010

Rafa wins in the French Open and win Wimbledon in 2010! In a tough face-off against hometown fav Andy Murray in the semi's, Nadal has managed to once again proven his tenacity and toughness to weather the storms of tennis and those of life.

Whether the challenges be physical, mental, environmental or emotional - the Champion rises again when it counts. The indomitable human spirit is what we applaud; the brilliance of his maturity at the age of 24 is what we admire.

I'm very excited about the US Open 2010 this year! I already have my QF tickets for September and we will all be waiting and wondering if *this* will be the year of Rafa's career slam.

- JC

Rafa wins the Aussie Open!

After playing the longest match in Australian Open history of over 5 Hours, Nadal somehow regenerates his strength to overcome Federer in a 5 set final 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-2.

Tennis God - of Mind, Heart, Body
Nadal just never gives up. He plays every point as if it were match point. He shows courage in the face of overwhelming odds and a fiery passion for making clutch shots. He's learned to adjust his game to win on every surface. Whether it's his serve, forehand or volleys...he's always improving, tweaking every facet of his game to get to the winner's circle.

Even with both knees wrapped in tape from all the tough running he puts in, Nadal still has a way to win. He is not one-dimensional, but rather self-adapting - relying on much more than strength and speed to overcome.

Against the red-hot Verdasco who put up 95 winners in the semi's against Nadal, his iron-clad will never relented as he fought on. When I watch him play at the Queen's club on grass against a barrage of Aces and service winners by Ivo Karlovic - all he needed was those few key points in the tie-breakers to win.

For Fed, unfortunately, he will not reach 14 slams for a while. In the final set, it looked as though he was defeated...both mentally, physically and finally emotionally at the podium. It was very considerate of the much younger Nadal to express so much empathy and consolation to a rival who quite frankly expected to be the big favorite going in. Humility and dedication to the game is definitely with Rafa - a true deserving champion of the sport.

Rafa's Reign

• Rafael Nadal has now won 3 out of the 4 Grand Slams on all surfaces (Hard, Clay and Grass).
• I predict Nadal will complete the Grand Slam cycle (4 of 4)before Federer (by winning the US Open)
  

2008: The Year of Nadal

Nadal's Achievements for 2008

• French Open x4
• won the game of the century at Wimbledon (3rd str year at the finals)
• Gold Medal in the Olympics
• US Open Series Champion and Semi-finalist finish at the US Open
• World #1 over possibly the greatest ever after the longest streak at #2 in history...

Nadal takes Wimbledon 2008!

Nadal takes Wimbledon 2008!

July 6, 2008 - labeled the "Best Match in Tennis History" [6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7]

Nadal ends Federer's 5 years of dominance at Wimbledon and becomes the first man since Borg to win French and Wimbledon in the same year. Through rain delays, darkness, roller coaster of emotions and the finest quality of tennis rallys one can ask for - Nadal prevails.

The only question is now when will be secure his #1 ranking. For a champion that has won so many titles and beaten the world #1 regularly in so many finals, he deserves this rightful spot after so many years as the longest holder of the #2 spot. My guess is that in Cincy, Rafa will be #1!!

Looking forward even more now to going to the US Open this year =)

Rafael Nadal ties Guillermo Vilas' all-time record of 53 consecutive wins on clay

VAMOS, RAFA!!

With this win in Rome over Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal now ties Guillermo Vilas' all-time record of 53 consecutive wins on clay.

Amazing 5+ hour Master Series Finals victory for the Spainard.
6-7 (0-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5)

I really like the shoe color change (Yellow/Blue) on his Nike Breathe Free III's. I think I'll try to exchange my NBF II's for a pair. His wicked topspin loops and unmatched foot speed are a feat of unparalleled athleticism against any opponent.

Rome Final Highlights on YouTube

No. 2 Rafael Nadal (a.k.a. the Giant Slayer)
defeats
No. 1 Roger Federrer

Monte Carlo Tennis Masters Series
(6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6)

Rafael Nadal continued his dominance on Clay and over Roger Federer when he defeated the world's No. 1 player 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6