[brandiweb]

Hello all,

I've decided to comment The frenchies adventures in Australian Open 2009. :bleus::bleus::bleus:

To start out, some numbers:

We have 27 !! frenchies in the main draws at AO2009. Among them a past winner, Amelie Mauresmo and last year's finalist, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Both of them have been injured coming in, but are going well and are ready to start this new campaign. (news and audio here: http://www.fft.fr/open-australie/2009/?ID=4558)

The field:

15 Boys
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (6) vs Monaco
Gilles Simon (7) vs Andijar
Gaël Monfils (13) vs Vassallo Arguello
Richard Gasquet (25) vs Junqueira
Paul-Henri Mathieu (29) vs Nieminen
Julien Benneteau (48) vs Baghdatis
Marc Giquel(52) vs Nalbandian
Michaël Llodra (56) vs Malisse
Florent Serra (58) vs Karanusic
Fabrice Santoro (60) vs Ferrero Our Veteran
Nicolas Devilder (70) vs Guccione
Jeremy Chardy (73) vs Daniel
Arnaud Clément (88) vs Stakhovsky
Adrian Mannarino (129) WC vs Verdasco
Sébastien de Chaunac (252) Q vs Darcis

12 Girls
Alizé Cornet (16) vs Koryttseva
Marion Bartoli (17) vs South
Amélie Mauresmo (22) vs Govortsova
Virginie Razzano (62) vs Gajdosova
Nathalie Dechy (69) vs Kutuzova
Aravane Rezaï (81) vs Makarova
Mathilde Johansson (85) vs Craybas
Julie Coin (92) vs Vesnina
Séverine Bremond (94) vs Vaidisova
Camille Pin (97) vs Zheng
Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro (105) vs Zahlavova Strycova
Kristina Mladenovic (WC) vs Schnyder she's 15 and the youngest of the band

Who will go farthest this year ? I say Gaël Monfils or Ritchie look the more ready for it. But beware of French surprises. A Jo can hide in every frenchie !!!

and Allez les Français ! :bleus::bleus::bleus:

[VYholden]

salut, madame --
found a link to this forum on TW. while my prime interest/reason for watching tennis is rafa and the rest of the spanish men, my positive feelings also extend to the frenchies, esp. simon, gasquet, et amelie. (i spend about about 5 weeks in paris every year, usually in june; last year went to RG for the first time...)

i'm happy to see richard playing well and with conviction so far this year. amelie is a lovely person (enjoyed seeing her during the AO draw) and i hope she goes far. simon--well, i remember him in the early rounds of the AO last year and thinking he had some good stuff...! what's the news in france re tsonga's back problem?

allez--tout le monde!

[JakeBarkings]

Madame,

This is great that you are doing this chronicle!

Maedal,

Welcome to TAT!

[brandiweb]

salut, madame --
found a link to this forum on TW. while my prime interest/reason for watching tennis is rafa and the rest of the spanish men, my positive feelings also extend to the frenchies, esp. simon, gasquet, et amelie. (i spend about about 5 weeks in paris every year, usually in june; last year went to RG for the first time...)

i'm happy to see richard playing well and with conviction so far this year. amelie is a lovely person (enjoyed seeing her during the AO draw) and i hope she goes far. simon--well, i remember him in the early rounds of the AO last year and thinking he had some good stuff...! what's the news in france re tsonga's back problem?

allez--tout le monde!

Bonjour maedal !
nice to have some european pals ...
I love Rafa too. He's a great kid with a ravishing smile
My french favs are Amelie and Ritchie, so we have quite similar tastes !

Jo will be playing and we hope he won't be stopped by his back in this Open ...

Welcome to TAT, a real nice place for tennis and much more

[brandiweb]

Madame,

This is great that you are doing this chronicle!

Maedal,

Welcome to TAT!

Thankyou GVGirl, will do my best.

[fuesquemill]

Merci Madame, et bienvenue maedal!

[VYholden]

thank you for the warm welcomes, GVGirl, madame, et scotty...looking forward to animated discussions as our frenchies progress thru the AO...!

[LasTins]

madame
this is a great idea . will follow this thread and the chronicles of the frenchies throughout
I am a big Rafa fan - but I love Richard and his game . I hope he has a good tournament.
Looks like he is off to a good start this year so far.
any news on Jo wili's back - hope he can play to try and defend his AO final result.

[rowneigerie]

LOVE it, Madame!

I, too, will be looking forward to reading this thread throughout the tournament.

Good luck to the Frenchies!

[QQQQQ-Trek]

Co-sign what Jessie said - can't wait to read more Madame!

And welcome maedal!

[brandiweb]

Love it when a promising frenchie wins her match

Mathilde Johansson d. Jill Craybas 6-2 1-6 7-5 :bleus: after saving a match point !!!

that's the 5 out of 5 for the french girls today !!!!

[formobilagsw]

Ah...Madame, how far do you see Alize going?

[brandiweb]

Day 1 Summary

Day 1 is over and it went really well for the girls with 5 out of 6 through to the second round.
The boys have a hero: Fabrice ! :bleus:

Girls results:

Alize Cornet started out the day with a win 6-3 6-4 over up and coming Mariya Koryttseva. She will be meeting german A. Petkovic in second round. Alize was not in a very good form and has a shoulder bothering her. This does not look very good for later rounds …

Marion Bartoli followed Alize's example and defeated in two sets M. South 6-2 6-4.

Nathalie Dechy started strong with a 6-3 6-0 defeat of qualifier V. Kutuzova:



Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro put out some good tennis to beat B. Zahlavova Strycova 6-3 6-4.

And finally 23 years old Mathilde Johansson had a surprise win on veteran Jill Craybas 6-2 1-6 7-5. Bravo Mathilde ! :bleus:



The only defeat came from Aravane Rezaï who after a good first set lost her stamina and the last two sets 1-6 7-5 6-4 against promising young Russian Ekaterina Makarova. (sorry the 5 Aravane pickers !)


Boys Results:

Hard day for some of our boys. Mikaël Llodra lost against back in-form qualifier Xavier Malisse that played beautiful tennis to defeat him 7-6 6-1 6-1. Bravo Xavier !
Marc Gicquel managed to save a set in his loss to David Nalbandian 6-1 4-6 6-2 6-3.
And Julien Benneteau couldn't match Marcos Baghdatis' love of Australian Open. Marcos won 6-3 7-6 6-2. Allez Marcos !

But the three others came through.
Paul-Henri Mathieu went lucky after 2 years of first round forfeits for injury, he benefitted from Nieminen's fatigue over Sydney who abandoned at 6-2 4-1 for the frenchie.
Jeremy Chardy won his first Australian Open match at the third attempt, beating Marcos Daniel 6-4 6-4 6-1. He now will meat Mister Djoko ! Can he do it ?

And finally, our beloved magical artist of the small yellow ball threw a spell at Juanqui and won 6-3 6-2 6-7 6-2 !!!

Hero of the day: Fabrice Santoro



Madame

[FateHostera]

Jeremy Chardy won his first Australian Open match at the third attempt, beating Marcos Daniel 6-4 6-4 6-1. He now will meat Mister Djoko ! Can he do it ?

I sure as shootin' hope so!


Great summaries Madame!

[VYholden]

madame, thank you for the summary and photos. i enjoy watching santoro. (he reminds me of the singer gilbert becaud--he has the same sort of coloring and tete, no?) amelie is up today--allez, amelie!

[boleroman]

I truly don't know what it is- and I know it's wrong to generalize.....but, through the years (Frankie Durr, Noah, Pioline, Leconte.....), I have just always loved watching French players. SUCH style. SO much wish that Richie can get in together one day- and Tsonga's body can keep it together- for them to win big. AND, the current French doubles players are just such joys to watch.

SO- I say, Allez Frenchies! AND I also welcome maedal.

[catermos]

Great idea Madame. Welcome maedal!

[Erexecike]

Quelle bonne idea! Merci.

Merci ESPECIALLY for the photo of Fabrice Santoro. Santoro is my favorite French player, male or female. He will be missed. I wish his matches would be televised here in the US. If he and Roddick make it through, we'll get to see him play in his last AO. Not a big Roddick fan (although he gives great press!) but I'll have to cheer for him this time. Go Roddick! Allez Santoro!

[brandiweb]

Day2 Summary

Day2 finished the first round. Out of 27 frenchies on the starting line, 2 out of three made it through, with 18 frenchies to the second round. This is a brilliant score ! Allez les bleus. :bleus:

Boys Results:

Let's start with the boys today. 9 played among which our 4 best French men: Jo, Gilles, Gaël and Ritchie. The four came through and two lesser ranked frenchies joined the group. Good tennis playing in a torrid and windy Australian Open.

Gilles Simon was on exhibition to defeat Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-1 6-1. Confident and tranquil, he needed a set to really find his groove.
Jo Wilfried Tsonga d. Juan Monaco 6-4 6-4 6-0 quite easily and said his back was ok. Way to go Jo.

Gaël Monfils d. Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-1 6-3 7-5 showing off his wonderful fluid slidery tennis and crazy mimics.



Richard Gasquet d. Diego Junquiera 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-4 after losing the first set. It was a hard tiring first match under the heat but he made it through using his service and volley. Allez !

Qualifier Sébastien de Chaunac d. Steve Darcis 2-6 6-3 0-6 6-2 6-2. It's only the second time he wins a match in a Grand Slam.

And at the end of the day, Arnaud Clément survived a very hard five setter defeating Serguei Stakhovsky 6-3 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-1. Memories of his 2001 run to the final, and the desire to go back up the rankings to where he belongs helped Arnaud find the fight in him. Vas-y La Clé.

Wild Card Adrian Mannarino lost to Fernando Verdasco 6-0 6-2 6-2. It was a hard defeat that will stay in his memory and remind him of the road still to cover to get all the way up there.

Nicolas Devilder couldn't find the energy to fight against Aussie and crowd favorite Chris Guccione for a 6-4 6-2 6-4 loss.
Florent Serra lost a long battle in the end of the evening against Karanusic 6-3 1-6 6-3 3-6 6-3. A day to forget ...

Girls Results:

Viriginie Razzano d. Jarmila Gajdosova 6-1 6-7 6-4 in a difficult three setter.



Camille Pin lost to Chinese favorite Jie Zheng 6-3 6-3.

Amélie Mauresmo had a good win against Olga Govortsova 6-4 6-3. Her thigh is fine and she is feeling quite good. Allez Amélie !



Séverine Brémond beat down and under Nicole Vaidisova in an easy 6-2 6-1. Maybe Nicole should take a break, no ?

Wild Card Kristina Mladenovic almost created the upset of the day with her three set combat against Patty Whacky Schnyder 6-2 4-6 2-6. Good learning experience !


And Julie Coin beat Elena Vesnina 6-4 4-6 6-1. She is happy playing for the first time all these big tournaments. She hopes to go as far as possible and gain good heavy points to continue on her upward path.

Player of the day: Arnaud Clément ! :bleus:

[Elelaytet]

Love the Arnaud photo, Madame!