I love tennis.

I used to follow every single match when I was in school or had full access to the sports channel. I developed a real liking to Roger Federer. And in response, a dislike to Rafael Nadal.

Ever since I went to college, I haven’t really been watching much tennis. Roger Federer, whom I still love, I would occasionally google him to check up on his progress in the Grand Slams.

So, French Open going on now. I googled Federer again. And saw that he, predictably won the 3rd round. He would be playing against a 21 year old Goffin, who happens to be a big fan of his. His response to this knowledge is quite funny.

Informed that his next opponent is an unabashed fan, Federer grinned and replied, "Not the first time it happens."

Extracted from latimes.com

Anyway, my attention flashed to a header ‘Serena Williams's first-round loss at French Open makes history’. OMG! Serena Williams? She couldn’t have faced any top seeds in the first round! Its almost a given that a seeded player would win their first match in a Grand Slam. And i knew that I had to read the article.

She lost to Virginie Razzano, ranked 111th in the world from France. That was quite a news. I read on and then came across a story on Razzano which made me sigh.

The rowdy spectators in Court Philippe Chatrier would have been pulling for Razzano anyway, of course, because of her citizenship. But their support was particularly strong because of her recent heartbreak, well-known in France: Razzano's fiance — Stephane Vidal, also her longtime coach — died at age 32 of a brain tumor in May 2011, a little more than a week before her first-round match at last year's French Open.

He had encouraged her to go ahead and enter the tournament, so she did, honoring his memory by stepping on court to play, a black ribbon pinned to her shirt. When she walked out of the locker room for what turned out to be a straight-set loss, she wore a gold chain that Vidal had given her as a Valentine's Day gift a few years earlier.

Extracted from latimes.com

I am a sucker for these kinda things. It was quite a story. Romantic, that’s what it is. Yea, i had a picture in mind of what Razzano would look like. Probably a demure lady (cause they always are in story books).

Oh well. I googled.

Aih. All muscular. I forgot she was a tennis player.