Roland Garros

For as long as I can remember I have been watching Roland Garros on TV. The French Open tennis championship is my favorite of the four major tennis tournaments, probably because during breaks the TV networks always do such a good job of showing idyllic views of Paris with an accordion playing in the background. So watching a live tennis match at Roland Garros has been on my bucket list way before living in Paris became a dream.

Last week while my sister was here we got tickets to the qualifications and spent a fun day at the Roland Garros tennis complex watching the top players training at the Suzanne Lenglen court.

Then this week Dianny and I we went back for a day of real tennis matches in Court Philippe Chatrier, known as Center Court. We caught the second half of the Gasquet–Zopp match, where the Frenchman defeated the Estonian, and then watched Nadal defeat the Italian Bolelli in straight sets in a packed stadium. We then saw Serena Williams win the first set against the 111th-ranked French player Virginie Razzano. Unfortunately by then it was 7 PM and we had to get the kids, and were surprised when we all got home that Razzano had won the second set in a tiebreaker and was winning in the third. After a breathtaking 12 deuces and eight match points, the French player knocked out Serena, which, besides us having been there, was the most newsworthy event in Week 1 at Roland Garros.