(Roland Garros 2009) Federer d. Martin 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
written: 9:52 p.m. on Monday, May. 25, 2009

In fact, Roger was generous in allowing Martin to win 4 games in this set. Stop this nonsense right now. I expect 6-2, 6-1 for the next two sets. This Martin guy is quite a joke.

Roger broke back with a great backhand down-the-line pass. He won the set when his opponent made some whatever error.

Quite boring so far.

***

10.03 p.m.:

Roger needs to stop being so kind and so generous. He had two break points, but couldn't break. Bleah. Hopefully this one game is the only one that Martin wins in this set.

SHIT WAS SO BUSY TYPING THIS I MISSED ROGER'S SHIRT CHANGE. SHIT SHIT SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway I bet Roger wants more practice time which is why he's letting his opponent hang around. Anything more than 6-2 in sets 2 and 3 is really just Roger being generous.

***

10.18 p.m.:

OMG amazing drop shot on 40-15.

I must say though, Roger's forays to the net have largely been hilarious rather than spectacular. But it's good to see him mixing it up, coming to the net, even if it's just to practice his net play.

Hope he wins soon. I'm giddy from the damn heat.

He's up 5-2 now. Hope he breaks and takes the set. This set shouldn't go beyond 6-2, really.

***

10.51 p.m.:

Roger, you are boring me. :(

***

11.05 p.m.:

Okay I take that back. The last two games were awesome; I totally shouldn't have been texting during them. But omg, great drop shot by Roger on match point! Fantastic play.

He always does the bare minimum to win in the early rounds of a Grand Slam tournament (or any tournament, for that matter) so it's not surprising that this match was kind of boring for the most part. There's not much to say really. He won comfortably, was in control throughout, made some silly forays to the net and got passed way too many times for comfort, but he was in control more than the scoreline suggests. And after that hilariously horrendous opening service game where he got broken, he never gave Martin even the slightest sniff at a chance to get a break point or two. Martin played pretty well but was simply not a match for Roger from the get-go. In fact, 6-3, 6-2 in the last two sets is really...very generous from Roger. Like I said, I was expecting 6-2, 6-1.

Happy with this win, but it was completely expected. I can actually laugh when Roger gets broken in these early rounds because I know he'd break back and win in straight sets. It's a Grand Slam, and he's Roger Federer. He's most comfortable in these Grand Slam settings - even if it's the French Open.

Hope he wins this year!

And finally, FINALLY, I can FINALLY shower. It's about time.

(Though I must say I was yelling at my TV when I shouted at Roger to pass Martin at the net but he ended up hitting a lob and losing the point. I forgot what point that was but evidently it wasn't important because he broke Martin in that game, so whatevs.)

***

ETA:

Forgot to say this. The stupid French commmentator totally pissed me off. First, I couldn't understand his fucking accent and he couldn't stop talking even when a point is in play. Second, when the match ended the British/Australian (couldn't tell which one) said some positive things about Roger's game, something about how he played well, and the bloody French started raining on the parade and started sprouting the "he needs to be more aggressive" crap.

If he's commentating, he must've been watching tennis for way longer than me. So why is it that I know Roger doesn't play anywhere close to his best in these early rounds and yet this commentator, so-called expert, doesn't seem to know? Obviously Roger will need to play aggressively against the higher-ranked guys like Djoke and Nadal. But why does he have to play aggressively against Martin if the level of play he showed up with was enough to give him a comfortable win?

Fucking stupid biased commentators. And this French Open, it was so annoying. They were so loud and they couldn't stop talking, and I totally couldn't hear the tennis. I need to be able to hear the tennis in order to really enjoy a match (hear the ball bouncing, hear the players striking the ball, hear the linesmen's calls, things like that) and they just couldn't stop talking. I hate commentators that yak on and on when a point is in play - and these French Open commentators do exactly that. Like the bloody Americans. Ugh. Whoever commentates for the Masters Series events...well, I thought they sucked, but I'd take them over these bloody FO ones. Especially the stupid French guy. Whoever he is.

Right, rant over. Time to party in the match thread at RF.com. Then shower.

before sunrise // before sunset

Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010