Roland Garros - our day at the French Tennis Open - a grand slam!

Today we were all pretty excited - off to the tennis.  We had our metro travel all sorted - one line and about 20 stops and we were there! We stopped and brought water, baguettes and ham and some snacks to see us through the day and then we were lining up with thousands of others to go through the multitude of security checks - this went really fast and they were a well-oiled machine and within the hour we were sitting in our seats on Court 1 - amazing.

Here is Connor ready for the tennis and pretty excited! 

At Rolland Garros court 1 is the 3^rd major court at Roland Garros - the 1^st being the Court Philippe-Chatrier and the 2^nd being Court Suzanne-Lenglen.  

There were also 14 other general courts which we also had access to.  These were the best tickets we could get when they came on sale - we were pretty happy and we had some great games lined up on our court -

First we got to watch Tomas Berdych who is seeded number 7 play Canadian Vasek Pospisl.  Berdych was the victor in 3.  Such hard hitters and serves we could hardly see at over 200km an hour!  Great up first game which kept us all enthralled both tennis and crowd watching.

Here is Tomas in action.....................on the clay courts they really slip and slide around

The serve speed - 

Our second game was one that was already three sets in due to the rail delays of yesterday and it was two French players; an older guy who is nearing the end of his career Julien Benneteau and a young gun Lucas Poulle, Pouille was two sets to one up.  This game had the crowd in full voice cheering for their favourite French player…….and it was great, they were very closely matched and while Benneteau had some set points it was Pouille who was able to finish off and win the tie break and ultimately the match 3-1.  Fab game!

Here is the young gun doing his post-match interview

Connor just having a wee rest - this tourist business is pretty exhausting........

The crowds below that we could see from the top of our stand - there are seats that you can sit and watch the big screen - at this point there were some quite big ques to get into the general admission courts.  

Next up we had the girls game and our first match was Venus Williams (seeded 9^th) vs Annet Kontaveit from Estonia.  It was pretty exciting getting to see one of the famous Williams’ sister live in action.  Venus won in straight sets although there were some long games and close sets and there were times when it looked like she might go down - both sets ended in a tie-break with the experience of Venus coming to the fore in these.  Venus is super tall and athletic and the players certainly give their all in each and every point. 

Venus warming up - 

Venus in action - full stride 

A happy Venus wins = I missed the shot where she jumped for joy at winning - she was clearly relived after two close sets! Great effort by both.  

The sweeping of the courts in between matches - very cool and efficient.  It is amazing how clear you can see where the ball has landed on clay.  The umpire at times though has to jump in and out of their chair to check when there are challenges!

Our last girls game and the one Karl was looking forward to was Victoria Azarenka number 5 seed in this tournament and former world number 1 (and the ex-girlfriend of Red Foo!)  and Karin Knapp from Italy.  The first set was really close and there was some great tennis.

Great moving in the first set

At full stretch and hitting winners! 

The kids and Bub watching intently

The fist pump showing her desire to win

And then Azarenka got hurt, required some medical attention and while she continued she was unable to move as freely as before and she lost the first set.  By the middle of the second set she was clearly not going to be able to make it through and retired but not before having a wee meltdown and smashing her racquet multiple times on the ground during a break - great for the boys to see - not!

Injury break - gutted for her! 

The little plane camera - pretty cool

As people moved around the complex watching different games there were often spare seats and so we were able to move around and trial sitting in different area which was great.  We did, however, prefer our seats which were at the end of the court.

The view from some different seats for the boys and Bub

By this time it was nearing 7pm and while there was a last game scheduled to be played on our court it was shifted to Court 2 so it could begin earlier - we had access to Court 2 and all other courts below Court 1, but we decided to explore the shops more fully and wander around the whole complex which is pretty big............................... 

We also did a little bit of shopping - so cool! Got a few balls, towels and bags so are all set for our tennis at home………… it really was crazy being at Rolland Garros and Emma and I kept saying to each other “here we are at Rolland Garros in France……” and saying to the boys - you are 6 and 10 and the first games of tennis you watch are at a Grand Slam - unreal times here on our sabbatical!

We did this and also had a quick look on Court Suzanne-Lenglen and then could hear a match going on in Court Philippe-Chatrier and as there was no security at the steps decided to pop up for a look at “Centre Court” and who happened to be playing but ...............................

Wow - way cool -

Serena Williams - world number 1 - wahoo! We took our seats and watched the remainder of her match against Magdalena Rybarikova from Slovakia.  It was a quick match with Serena winning 6-2, 6-0.  She is amazing - athletic, fast and a different level to what we have seen from the other girls matches today - impressive! And her winners speech was done in French - you go girl!

Watching Serena at a grand slam with the Eifel Tower in the back ground - life is good.

Winning with ease! 

Congrats Serena - another win - and yes Number 1

The amazing centre court! 

Hubby on centre court at Roland Garros 

Wow, the end of a great day.  Now for the metro ride home and a very late dinner.  It was after 9pm by the time we got home - all still buzzing after a great day at the tennis!

A wee misadventure that occurred today was as we were leaving the train station - the hard plastic doors that let you out closed on mum and she walked straight into them breaking her glasses! Thankfully she was okay and the lenses were not smashed and a bit of DIY from Deano and she is still able to wear them - thanks to very sticky NZ plasters! She will need a new pair but is keen to wait until she is in NZ……………where she can converse in English - we will see if they last that long - poor mum!