Champion Nouveau

Dinara Safina, here's looking at you, kid.

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She is, in my mind, the story of the tournament. Forget Gael Monfils and his Marcos/Jo-W-like run to the semis. It's all about Dinara. Hell, she is the story of the claycourt season. In years to come, she'll be a Trivial Pursuit question: 'who defeated Justine Henin in her last ever professional match?' It was Dinara. Her streak, from Berlin through to the final here, has included wins over two world #1s in Henin and Sharapova. She has taken out Kuznetsova, Serena Williams, Azarenka, Dementieva (twice). Dinara Safina is a force to be reckoned with, and she is declaring herself.

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Everyone was talking about what a great run Dinara had had, but was pretty sure she couldn't back it up against Kuznetsova. I did it too - I think yesterday I was going with Sveta from the head, but Dinara from the gut. But I picked Dinara, and I was right. There was never, ever a moment in this match when Sveta looked like winning. The match hung on Dinara's racquet, and she rose to the occasion magnificently.

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Sveta certainly did not play as well as she is capable of, and that is very sad for her. She was the only remaining person in the women's draw to have won a Grand Slam title, so now whoever wins the final is going to be a first-time Slam winner, which is going to be great. I'm not really into women's tennis - on the whole, I don't think it's as interesting as men's - but maybe I'll start following it a bit more closely now. Maybe what I really lacked was a champion. On the men's side, I have always had Federer. I was a Federer fan before I was a tennis fan! But on the women's side, there have been players I've liked (Petrova, for example, and, back in the day, Hingis) but I've never had one that I follow like I follow Federer.

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Well, Dinara, get ready, because I think I'm throwing my weight behind you.

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I have liked every little thing about the way Dinara has played this week. She has been let down by her mental toughness in the past, but that is no longer in question. You don't come back from match point down IN TWO SEPARATE MATCHES without having a little somethin' somethin' going on upstairs. Her shots against Sveta today were sweet - the forehand especially, which she crunched like nothing else. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Dinara Safina is not just Marat Safin's kid sister any more.

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Can she win the final, against Ana Ivanovic - who will be #1 in the world come the new rankings on Monday? Can she add yet another scalp to her already impressive collection?

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Yes, she can.

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That's my pick. That's what I'm saying. I'm calling it. Dinara Safina, Roland Garros Champion for 2008.

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Speaking of Ivanovic, what a bizarre match that match between her and Jankovic was. First Jankovic was destroying her, then Ivanovic was suddenly striking it superbly, then Jankovic was destroying her again, then it was a struggle and the Match of a Thousand Breaks. It is sad, really, that one of these girls had to lose... especially as it'll be such an ego blow for Jankovic. Ivanovic is younger, and she made #1 first. Ivanovic won the Serbian National Championships here, and Jankovic can only stand in her shadow.

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I'm sure Jelena's time will come. But it must be very frustrating for her.

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I don't follow the women's game very much, so I don't know, but is Ana always so streaky? She had an amazing hot streak of about ten games in the latter half of the first set and the first half of the second set, then she totally went off the boil and let Jelena back into it. She's not going to stay #1 for a very long time if she doesn't play a little more consistently... but for all I know, she might do, and this match might be an anomaly. Ana and Jelena must know each other's games pretty well, hence the numerous breaks of serve.

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So, regardless of the result on Saturday, Ana Ivanovic is the new #1 for the women's draw. Sharapova falls to #2, Jelena and Sveta are solid at #3 and #4, and Dinara skips into #9. It will be interesting to see how this stands after Wimbledon. Wimbledon traditionally favours a different kind of player, because the grass courts are lightning fast. The finalists last year were Venus Williams and Marion Bartoli, but judging by present form, I don't think we're going to see either there - especially Bartoli, who has been playing dreadfully of late. We might see Serena do well. Ana, as well, will be a big threat. It will be interesting to see how my new champion Dinara does - how will she adjust to the faster game of Wimbledon? I think she'll rise to the occasion with aplomb, but only time will tell. It is, of course, totally irrelevant that her brother Marat hated it - anyone else remember his 'grass is for cows, I'm never coming back' speech? - because Dinara and Marat are DIFFERENT players. Oh yeah.

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The Nadal/Djokovic showdown is first up tonight, followed by Roger versus La Monf. I can't remember ever cheering for Rafa in a semi - I've always been feverishly hoping he'll get knocked out so Federer will have a better chance of winning the tournament... which is bad sportsfanmanship. But oh! how I am cheering for Rafa tonight. The #2 ranking is on the line, and Rafa is going to pound Djokovic and his arrogance INTO THE GROUND. It is only right that this final is between Roger and Rafa. I said yesterday I didn't want to throw around words like 'destiny' but that's pretty much what it is. We have the same set up as the Australian Open semis - Roger, Rafa, Novak and some random French guy. But this time, Novak and the random French guy are going NO FURTHER.

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The standard and difficulty of the Roger/La Monf match will be determined by how well La Monf plays. He is notoriously streaky. Roger might have to weather the storm in some instances, like he did with Gonzalez. But there is no doubt in my mind that my Roger will come out on top.

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And there is no doubt in my mind that Rafa will DESTROY Djokovic, and teach him some respect.

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And there is no doubt in my mind that Dinara Safina can win the French Open. Davai Dinara!

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Roland Garros Results - Day #12

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3 6-2

Ana Ivanovic def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-4 3-6 6-4