Post by Annie on May 31, 2006 16:15:20 GMT 3
OMG everybody i have tons of things to tell you after my day at the french open! I saw Marat in practice and then at his match and i don't know by what i have to start! Btw i have gorgeous pics of him at practice that i will post as soon as i can.
Okay let's start by the practice. It was just fantastic. Peter came first and smiled when he saw how many people were there to watch Marat! Then he talked a bit with a guy about marat's knee and he was saying that this cold weather was a bit too hard for him but that it was going better... Then Marat arrived (it was 13H35), relaxed and smiling. He was hitting with del Potro... AND i have to say that in the practice his forehand was amazing compared to the match where it was just awful and btw i have a question : Marat has trained only 30 minutes whereas i saw Gonzalez who has trained i think more than 40... And Marat has not done a lot of volley during practice, i wonder of that was not a little bit too short to get the rythm...
I've already seen him like in last Bercy and other french open but, believe me or not, he is MORE GOODLOOKING THAN EVER!!!!!!! I just can't believe my eyes! I was on the first row so i have seen him really well and OMG he's so beautiful, it's just unbelievable. And his voice is just OMG i'm going to die right now! Really that was a great moment and i insist : at this time he was playing great! When he left he signs for a lot of people, with smiles and everything, he was so cute! Then Roddick and Hewitt came on the court and Marat had a short talk with Lleyton, kind of "when and where are you playing" thing... But i'll show you the pics !
Then the match! I'm french and here people just love Marat ! It was really cold and it was a bit late too but a lot of people have stayed until the end and it's not that often in the first days and for non french players! The first set was not that bad but he was making so many errors, that was not the great Marat that we know... He had opportunities but missed them. The second set : that was our Marat or near, he was playing solid, with great backhand and the forehand was back... But i don't know why i didn't believe it would last. He was taking so many risks and it was obvious he was still struggling with himself...
Then the nightmare started : i have never seen Marat playing like that, unable to put a forehand in the court and unable to make a volley! Btw he lost the first set going to the net like a fool and won the second from baseline so someone can explain me why the hell he starts to go again at the net in the third!!!!!! Well that was not the worst...
I can see him losing, it's painful but i can, but i can't see him SUFFERING like that. Really it was just heartbreaking because he was desperate and completely lost on the court. Fighting Gonzalez, fighting himself, fighting his game... Just awful to see him like that... But he was fighting, he has lost the belief at the end but i don't think he gave up. He really tried but nothing was going his way. But these stupid mistakes on the advantage or BP points : OMG !
But, in all this sadness something great happened. It was 5-0, change over and Marat had the head in the hands, just to try to forget what was happening i guess! And then all the crowd started to yell his name, cheering for him ( we were doing it from the start but this time it was really huge). And it last until he walked on the court and then i'm nearly sure that Marat was really moved of that because he was puting his fingers in his eyes really strong, like when you feel the tears coming and just want to hold them... The people around me felt the same way and really it was a really moving moment... I'm sure his ego was dead to think of a 6-0! Then he broke back with everybody cheering and supporting him. Unfortunately he can't hold his serve and lost... And when he went out of the court, everybody was stooding up, applausing for him and on the screen we saw he made a bye bye sign and he was breathing hard with the shoulders going up and down and i'm sure he was again near the tears...
I've never seen him this way, so sad and desperate and i think it's worst than the loss... But to tell the truth he's hitting the ball well, that's just he doesn't make the good choices on important points and that sometinmes his mind flows away... For now he can't play a full match at the highest level but as i've seen roddick, hewitt and others in practice i swear that Marat was the most impressive, he has an incredible power when he hit the ball and everything seems so easy, it's amazing... But in match it doesn't work for the moment!
I stop here because i'm too long and i'm maybe boring you! I agree with others about the psychological trouble and the confidence question... He really needs a good win to start to believe again but i'm a bit worried about the way he's going to find the wish to go through all this pain... Because today for him it was obvious that he was suffering so much! And, i'm maybe wrong, but i've not seen him looking at Peter during the match... I don't want to judge Peter's work because he's a great coach but i don't know what his plans are to help Marat roght now but obviously they're not going in the right direction... Let's keep hope for the rest of the season!
Okay let's start by the practice. It was just fantastic. Peter came first and smiled when he saw how many people were there to watch Marat! Then he talked a bit with a guy about marat's knee and he was saying that this cold weather was a bit too hard for him but that it was going better... Then Marat arrived (it was 13H35), relaxed and smiling. He was hitting with del Potro... AND i have to say that in the practice his forehand was amazing compared to the match where it was just awful and btw i have a question : Marat has trained only 30 minutes whereas i saw Gonzalez who has trained i think more than 40... And Marat has not done a lot of volley during practice, i wonder of that was not a little bit too short to get the rythm...
I've already seen him like in last Bercy and other french open but, believe me or not, he is MORE GOODLOOKING THAN EVER!!!!!!! I just can't believe my eyes! I was on the first row so i have seen him really well and OMG he's so beautiful, it's just unbelievable. And his voice is just OMG i'm going to die right now! Really that was a great moment and i insist : at this time he was playing great! When he left he signs for a lot of people, with smiles and everything, he was so cute! Then Roddick and Hewitt came on the court and Marat had a short talk with Lleyton, kind of "when and where are you playing" thing... But i'll show you the pics !
Then the match! I'm french and here people just love Marat ! It was really cold and it was a bit late too but a lot of people have stayed until the end and it's not that often in the first days and for non french players! The first set was not that bad but he was making so many errors, that was not the great Marat that we know... He had opportunities but missed them. The second set : that was our Marat or near, he was playing solid, with great backhand and the forehand was back... But i don't know why i didn't believe it would last. He was taking so many risks and it was obvious he was still struggling with himself...
Then the nightmare started : i have never seen Marat playing like that, unable to put a forehand in the court and unable to make a volley! Btw he lost the first set going to the net like a fool and won the second from baseline so someone can explain me why the hell he starts to go again at the net in the third!!!!!! Well that was not the worst...
I can see him losing, it's painful but i can, but i can't see him SUFFERING like that. Really it was just heartbreaking because he was desperate and completely lost on the court. Fighting Gonzalez, fighting himself, fighting his game... Just awful to see him like that... But he was fighting, he has lost the belief at the end but i don't think he gave up. He really tried but nothing was going his way. But these stupid mistakes on the advantage or BP points : OMG !
But, in all this sadness something great happened. It was 5-0, change over and Marat had the head in the hands, just to try to forget what was happening i guess! And then all the crowd started to yell his name, cheering for him ( we were doing it from the start but this time it was really huge). And it last until he walked on the court and then i'm nearly sure that Marat was really moved of that because he was puting his fingers in his eyes really strong, like when you feel the tears coming and just want to hold them... The people around me felt the same way and really it was a really moving moment... I'm sure his ego was dead to think of a 6-0! Then he broke back with everybody cheering and supporting him. Unfortunately he can't hold his serve and lost... And when he went out of the court, everybody was stooding up, applausing for him and on the screen we saw he made a bye bye sign and he was breathing hard with the shoulders going up and down and i'm sure he was again near the tears...
I've never seen him this way, so sad and desperate and i think it's worst than the loss... But to tell the truth he's hitting the ball well, that's just he doesn't make the good choices on important points and that sometinmes his mind flows away... For now he can't play a full match at the highest level but as i've seen roddick, hewitt and others in practice i swear that Marat was the most impressive, he has an incredible power when he hit the ball and everything seems so easy, it's amazing... But in match it doesn't work for the moment!
I stop here because i'm too long and i'm maybe boring you! I agree with others about the psychological trouble and the confidence question... He really needs a good win to start to believe again but i'm a bit worried about the way he's going to find the wish to go through all this pain... Because today for him it was obvious that he was suffering so much! And, i'm maybe wrong, but i've not seen him looking at Peter during the match... I don't want to judge Peter's work because he's a great coach but i don't know what his plans are to help Marat roght now but obviously they're not going in the right direction... Let's keep hope for the rest of the season!
We have to follow English here, it's a proboards demand and we get fined for using other languages