Roland Garros 2005 (2nd thread)

[Andrada]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, that was all i was able to say when his match finished...

OK, so i watched the match from the very beginning till the very end...unfortunately i couldn't post last night so i am doing it now.

I t seemed to me that Marat began the match well, he won the first game easily, then he had 0-30 in Robredo's serve. He could/should have won the first set.

In the second set,although the way he played was far from being great( IMHO),he managed to win it. All the appreciation for him for the game in which he was serving and there were LOTS of deuces. I was happy that he managed to hold his serve.

In the third game....no comment. It seemed to me that it wasn't Marat the one who was playing i just couldn't recognize him and his game..yes,that's the first time i felt this way since 2000, the year in which i began being a fan of his.

BUT from the fourth set, things started to change!!! Yes, Marat WAS undoubtedly on the court,he was certainly there, playing great! I was extremely proud that he won it. I said to myself: " That IS Marat! That is Marat i know. my Marat!" ;D

In the fifth set he played well and,as he said in his itw, he fought a lot,didn't give up! How much i admire that!!! BUT luck was not on his side. When it was 6-6 and Robredo had break point, Marat double faulted... I couln't believe my eyes...The rest...Well...i'll stop here.

I was extremely sad when the match ended because i REALLY admired that despite the fact that in the first half of the match he didn't play well (IMO ), he had the power to come back, TO FIND HIS GAME in the last half! I was sooo proud of him for this reason!!! It's infuriating to see that he is back,that he fights a lot....and thet he loses in the end. Well,i think U all know that...

Annie, thank U for posting the interview! It made me feel much better! I like and admire his attitude!

Lau, thank U for all the pictures!

And, let's pray and hope thet better times will come and that, as Marat said, the hard work will show its results! WE ARE ALWAYS BY YOUR SIDE, MARAT!!!

[annie]

Thanks for the post Andrada....nothing more to add I guess...

Good to see ya

[Andrada]

Annie said:

Thanks for the post Andrada....nothing more to add I guess...

Good to see ya

Good to see U too,Annie!

Lau,i guess i won't have the occasion of doing what U asked me to do...as Marat lost Anyway, i appreciate that U trust me and therefore asked me to do that.

[annie]

I am intrigued now..Andrada what were you supposed to do? LOL

[lau]

tall_one said:

hello

i'll still watch RG but i will probably do other things while watching it (ie vacumning, wash dishes sit at comp) since i don't care much who wins now, few people i'll cheer agaisnt but other then that i don't care lol

I have the same feeling. Maybe I`ll cheer a little for Cañas o Puerta (I wish any of them can get to the final, but I don`t think that will happen), or maybe I`ll cheer for Davydenko (Annie, you made me like him, hahaha ;D).
But RG is no longer INTERESTING for me since yesterday .

[Teresa]

Good Morning Good Afternoon all

Annie thanks so much for posting the interview
Just read it twice, and took a lot of comfort from it.

I still have this kinda emptiness,
but can't stop smiling when I read your report Annie, great report as always, you have such a great way of putting everything in perpective (sp)
and when I think of some of the things Marat said in his interview or did during his match yesterday.

If anyone still wants to know what happened in the match yesterday Marat gives the explanation when he said

MARAT SAFIN:

Well, just I can't say that I been playing my best tennis, that's for sure. That's first thing. I been fighting a lot, and my serve didn't work the way it should work. You know, I was missing a lot of first service. Then forehand a little bit. Backhand. Just in general, the game. I think it wasn't really 100% there when I needed it to.

But definitely I was fighting until the last moment, until the last point. And I just ‑‑ I was falling a lot of things during the match and I was keep on fighting and I didn't want to give up at all ‑ which I think is really good.

I don't have any regrets. I don't have any ‑‑ nothing to be pissed at myself. I've done everything what I could today, right this moment. Just the things sometimes aren't going the way they should go.

That's why I got pissed off. Well, because 155 times today, for example, during the match, I should have won that points, important points at the beginning of the game or when it's 30‑All or when it's 15‑30 to go 15‑40 or it's like many, many times like that, I was missing them. I was missing by just a little bit.

So of course you get sick and tired of it. Keep on trying, keep on trying, keep on trying, keep on trying, and waiting, waiting, waiting for the best time, for better times to come, and they're not coming. Of course not one normal person could live with that. Me, I couldn't.

I destroyed the chair, I destroyed the racquet because I can't take it anymore. I had to relieve everything just what I had inside just to continue fighting. Otherwise, if I keep on swallowing everything what happened in my head, I would go crazy.

Again I was comforted by his realistic attitude, his maturity and his positivity over all

But it's not like I'm not trying. I'm not doing anything stupid. Just not there. So it has to come. I just ‑‑ hard work pays. Pays back for sure. I am hoping for that.

If I want to win some matches, I have to be quiet and I have to do my job. No matter what mistakes I'm making during the match, just keep on working, keep on trying, keep on trying, keep on trying. And with a little bit of luck, like I was saying, I could win matches.

But today was like over, over too much, you know. Too many occasions, too many ‑‑ less of luck, just little bit of something. Because there were games like, for example, at 5‑4, I think I missed the volley. Then it was like another shot. I wish it would have been Love‑30 and then it's different story.

But it's not to be.

I also liked this part

MARAT SAFIN:

No, no, no. Like let's put it this way. I'm lucky in a way, too. Put tennis on the side. For example, like I cannot complain because I was lucky in many ways that I'm still sitting here and I'm talking to you guys. Because otherwise, if I will not have anything ‑‑ just a little bit of luck, I will not be here.

Just I was lucky to get the guys ‑ one guy ‑ who would pay for me for five years without even knowing me just because he knows some people from Russia that told him something about me, and he invested in me $300,000. This is luck.

Marat always remembers those who helped him.

And there i was thinking he was going to take a break a long one....................

so was really happy to read this

MARAT SAFIN:

No. Unfortunately, no. I have to go to ‑‑ I have to fix some things in Moscow. I need to continue practicing, preparing myself for grass. I'm playing Halle. So practice.

But still had to laugh when he said this, the bit about the whole thing making him nuts...........marat

And also it's a mental part that I cannot just ‑‑ for me, mentally, I cannot ‑‑ every time I go on the grass, I cannot move. I feel like I'm gonna fall down every single time. And the bounces are too low and the bad bounces and then it's raining, you know. Whole thing is just make me nuts

And LMAO Annie about...........collecting bottles in a park in Russia......... ;D

Must say his interview really made me feel soooooo much better

[Teresa]

tall_one said:

hello

i'll still watch RG but i will probably do other things while watching it (ie vacumning, wash dishes sit at comp) since i don't care much who wins now, few people i'll cheer agaisnt but other then that i don't care lol

LOL nicki.................same here..............I have a pile of ironing to do...........

[annie]

Yeeeepeee Teresa Good to see ya!!!!!!!!!!!

[annie]

Teresa said:

LOL nicki.................same here..............I have a pile of ironing to do...........

SO I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!!!!!!!! LOL

I'll put an ironing board in front of the TV and ready, steady....LOL

[Teresa]

MARAT SAFIN:

, like I was sitting down right now in the locker room. Peter came. Just we were talking.

I am so glad Marat has Peter, more and more

[Teresa]

Annie said:

SO I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!!!!!!!! LOL

I'll put an ironing board in front of the TV and ready, steady....LOL

Hahhaha.........thats where mine will be all weekend

[annie]

Teresa said:

MARAT SAFIN:


I am so glad Marat has Peter, more and more

Peter was great yesterday....as always...they make a perfect couple...well you know what I mean ;D

[Teresa]

Annie said:

Peter was great yesterday....as always...they make a perfect couple...well you know what I mean ;D

Peter was...........and as for the 'perfect couple' long may it last

[Rucinski]

Hello, I can finally post here, Ruth fixed it, thanks Ruth

I'm so sad Marat lost his match, he was so close to win it, what it pissed me off the most is that ESPN was showing it and suddenly they stop and SportsCenter started and I only got to see the first set .... Well if I see it in other way, they save me the suffering
Thanks for all the videos and stuff, I'll see that later cus right now I'm doing a homework that I didn't do in the all weekend (holiday included) and I have to finished by 9 am and it's 7:24, hahaha, Bye

[Teresa]

Gotta go people

Thanks again to everyone for the pics, videos, articles
and for 'just being/been there'

And as Annie so rightly said

Sometimes losses with such dignity mean much more than victories.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your day/evening
lau..........hope you have something to cheer for later
*hugs* and to everyone
catch some of you later
Bye