Good Bye French Open!

Congrats to Ana Ivanovic on winning her first Grand Slam title. She played flawlessly against Dinara Safina in Saturday's final. The nerves and mistakes we saw in her final appearance in Australia were no where to be seen. Her 6-3, 6-3 win and with Maria Sharapova's early exit sends her to #1 in the world! Her confidence and improved fitness made the difference. Safina ran out of gas in long points and by the middle of the second set she had nothing left. Safina's energy both positive and at times negative carried her through the tournament. Her fight, desire, fire are her both her strengths and unfortunately her weakness. She gets that from her older brother Marat Safin! Her road to the final was long and tiring as she took out Sharapova, Dementieva, and Kuznetsova. Be watching out for her to make another run at Wimbledon later this month! 

Before the players came on the court as they waited in the locker room, Ivanovic and her trainer did medicine ball work, footwork drills, running, jumping and stretching. They made sure that she was mobile and loose from the first serve. This extra effort has separated her from the rest of the WTA tour. Most other players don't travel with a trainer but for Ana it has been worth it. When not on the road, besides her normal work outs and on court time, she takes kickboxing and does other cross training. 

Now for the men's final. I am not sure what to say. Rafa Nadal just zoned - making 10 unforced errors the whole match, keeping Roger Federer to 4 games total. He took out Federer 6-1,6-3,6-0. I was up at 6 am expecting a match that would go down in the record books, and like many of you, were left feeling disappointed. Nadal was simply too good. However, I would have liked to see more energy, more positive body language from Federer. Well, watch out for Nadal at Wimbledon - he is going to be after Federer on his own court! 

The clay court season has been fun! We have learned from it and now we get to welcome the grass courts! Time to serve and volley! 

Congrats to Ana and Rafa!!