ENGLISH
Posts in the Early Summer 2017 Weekend TripS series:
1. Introduction
2. Part I: Lyon
3. Part II: Bremen
4. Part III: Thalys and Paris
5. Part IV: Roland Garros 2017
As usual, I went early to Stade Roland Garros, arriving there at around 9 AM and was amongst the first ten spectators at the gate today, haha. Though, as usual as well, the gate was only opened at 10 AM. Just like last year, btw, there were three security checks prior to entering the site 😛 . Anyway, I had toast sandwich for breakfast, which was okay. I loved the cappuccino, btw, mostly because it looked like this, haha:
The first matches today would start at 11 AM. I was torn between watching my “usual” women’s legends final at Suzanne Lenglen or the boys (junior) singles final at Court No. 1. In the end, I chose the women’s legends final as I was already quite close to the court anyway, haha.
The final was between the defending champion, Lindsay Davenport/Martina Navratilova, and Tracy Austin-Holt/Kim Clijsters. Overall, the match was okay though it was clear Kim Clijsters was the best player on court; and there were too many errors from Navratilova and Davenport. Btw, it was nice to get a glimpse of Big Babe Tennis (a term describing women’s tennis being dominated by strong, tall players who play with a lot of power (in the early 2000s)), when Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters were exchanging big cross-court shots in some of the points. Even though Navratilova and Davenport fought, in the end, Austin-Holt/Clijsters won the match 6–3, 3–6, [10–5].
After lunch, I went around the venue a little bit to stretch my legs before, at around 2:30 PM, going to my seat at Court Philippe Chatrier. Btw, at first I wasn’t sure with my seat as it was in one of the top rows in the stand (so it was quite some “distance” from the court), but this turned out to be good because the whole time, the seat was covered by the shade of the press boxes! Haha 😆 . You know, it was a really hot and sunny day today so it was nice to sit under some shade, really 😀 .
The women’s singles match started at 3 PM. I just realized this year that the trophy (Coupe Suzanne Lenglen) was brought into the stadium in a Louis Vuitton box, though, haha. This was prior to the finalists entering the court. Anyway, not long after, Jelena Ostapenko and Simona Halep were welcomed in the court and took their seats. Ostapenko won the coin toss and chose to receive.
Then, the match started.
I won’t go to too much tennis details here, but Ostapenko started really well. As a young player in her first grandslam final, she was fierce! I like this attitude from a tennis player. The first set went pretty much neck to neck, until Halep broke Ostapenko’s serve in the tenth game and took the first set 6–4.
Halep took the first three games of the second set, though those were three close games. At this point, Ostapenko was down 4–6, 0–3. I was hoping Ostapenko would not give up at this point and kept on fighting, so that the final would last a little bit longer so my ticket worthed more, lol 😛 . And, gladly, she was not!! She believed on herself, sticked to her own game, which was to be hyper aggressive, and eventually turned the fortune around. She won six of the next seven games and won the set 6–4!
The third set started out similarly, where Ostapenko was immediately down 1–3. Again, at this point she did not give up and kept pressuring Halep with all those aggressive shots. From 1–3 down, she won five straight games and, thus, winning the match 4–6, 6–4, 6–3!! WOW!!
Understandably, Halep was upset but she was, as always, gracious in defeat (IMO, Simona Halep is one of those players with great sportsmanship). The trophy ceremony followed afterwards, where Ostapenko was handed her first ever singles trophy, and it happened to be the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, a grandslam trophy!!
It will be interesting to see how Jelena Ostapenko goes from hereon forward. I hope she can keep on this level of play and, especially, her fight to prove that this victory is not just a one time wonder thing. We will see…
Anyway, the men’s doubles match followed afterwards. Btw, the draw of this event also fell apart in this tournament, where two unseeded teams made the final: Ryan Harrison/Michael Venus and Santiago Gonzaels/Donald Young. For whatever reason, I felt really tired already and so I decided to skip this final and went back to my hotel. Well, but only after dinner at the restaurant I always visited every year nearby the venue, of course (read Part III ) 😛 .
BAHASA INDONESIA
Posting-posting dalam seri Early Summer 2017 Weekend TripS:
1. Introduction
2. Part I: Lyon
3. Part II: Bremen
4. Part III: Thalys and Paris
5. Part IV: Roland Garros 2017
Seperti biasanya, aku berangkat awal ke Stade Roland Garros, dimana aku tiba sekitar jam 9 pagi dan termasuk dalam 10 penonton pertama yang datang hari ini, haha. Walaupun, seperti biasa sih, gerbang baru dibuka jam 10 pagi. Seperti tahun lalu, btw, ada pemeriksaan sekuriti sebanyak tiga kali sebelum masuk 😛 . Anyway, aku memesan toast sandwich untuk sarapan, yang mana rasanya biasa aja. Aku suka cappuccino-nya, btw, karena penampilannya seperti ini, haha:
Pertandingan-pertandingan pertama hari ini akan dimulai jam 11 pagi. Aku bingung akan menonton pertandingan “seperti biasa” yaitu final legenda putri di Suzanne Lenglen atau final tunggal putra junior di Lapangan No. 1. Pada akhirnya, aku memilih final legenda putri karena toh aku sudah berada di dekat sana, haha.
Final tahun ini adalah antara juara bertahan, Lindsay Davenport/Martina Navratilova, dan Tracy Austin-Holt/Kim Clijsters. Secara keseluruhan, ini adalah pertandingan yang oke dimana jelas Kim Clijsters adalah pemain terbaik dari keempatnya kala itu; dan terlalu banyak kesalahan sendiri di tim Navratilova dan Davenport. Btw, asyik rasanya bisa sedikit mencicipi menonton Big Babe Tennis (sebuah istilah yang mendeskripsikan tur tenis putri yang didominasi oleh pemain bertubuh tinggi dan kuat yang bermain dengan pukulan-pukulan keras (di awal tahun 2000an)), dimana Lindsay Davenport dan Kim Clijsters saling memukul pukulan keras cross court di beberapa poin. Walaupun Navratilova dan Davenport berjuang dengan gigih, pada akhirnya Austin-Holt/Clijsters menang 6–3, 3–6, [10–5].
Setelah makan siang, aku berkeliling arena untuk meluruskan kaki, dan sekitar jam 2:30 siang, aku masuk menunju kursiku di Lapangan Philippe Chatrier. Btw, awalnya aku kurang sreg dengan kursiku yang berada di salah satu baris teratas di sana (jadi lumayan “jauh” gitu deh dari lapangannya), tetapi ternyata ini ada enaknya juga karena bagian ini justru teduh terkena bayangan ruang-ruang booth media! Haha 😆 . Jadi ceritanya hari ini kan panas banget gitu mana mataharinya bersinar terik pula. Jadi enak dong ya duduk di bawah bayangan yang teduh gitu, haha 😀 .
Pertandingan final tunggal putri dimulai jam 3 sore. Aku baru sadar tahun ini loh bahwa pialanya (Coupe Suzanne Lenglen) dibawa masuk ke stadionnya di dalam sebuah kotak Louis Vuitton (pastinya ori mah ya nggak mungkin KW, haha 😛 ). Ini dilakukan sebelum kedua finalis dipanggil masuk ke lapangan. Tak lama setelahnya, Jelena Ostapenko dan Simona Halep disambut masuk dan kemudian duduk di kursi mereka. Ostapenko memenangi coin toss dan memilih untuk receive (Halep servis duluan).
Lalu, pertandingan dimulai.
Aku tak akan menulis terlalu banyak detail tenis di sini. Ostapenko memulai pertandingan dengan baik. Sebagai pemain muda di final grandslam pertamanya, ia sungguh berani sekali! Aku suka deh attitude ini dari seorang pemain tenis! Set pertama berlangsung cukup ketat, hingga Halep mematahkan servis Ostapenko di game kesepuluh dan memenanginya 6–4.
Halep langsung memenangi tiga game pertama di set kedua, tetapi ketiganya adalah game yang dimainkan dengan ketat. Di saat ini, artinya Ostapenko ketinggalan 4–6, 0–3. Aku hanya berharap Ostapenko tidak menyerah dan terus bertarung, sehingga finalnya berlangsung lama dan aku nggak rugi beli tiketnya, haha. Dan pada akhirnya, Ostapenko beneran memenangi set kedua dong! Ia tetap percaya diri dengan permainan hiper agresifnya, dan akhirnya berhasil membalikkan situasi. Ia memenangi enam dari tujuh game selanjutnya dan mengklaim set kedua 6–4!
Set ketiga dimulai mirip seperti set kedua, dimana Ostapenko langsung tertinggal 1–3. Lagi, di waktu ini ia tidak menyerah dan terus menyerang Halep dengan pukulan-pukulan agresifnya. Dari posisi tertinggal 1–3, ia menang lima game berturutan dan akhirnya memenangi pertandingan dengan skor akhir 4–6, 6–4, 6–3!! WOW!!
Tak mengherankan, Halep kecewa dengan kekalahannya tetapi, seperti biasa, ia bersikap ksatria dan menerimanya (Menurutku, Simona Halep adalah salah satu pemain yang paling menjunjung sportivitas). Upacara penganugerahan piala diadakan setelahnya, dimana Ostapenko diberikan piala tunggal pertamanya, dan pialanya adalah Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, sebuah piala grandslam!!
Akan menarik untuk mengikuti bagaimana prestasi Jelena Ostapenko setelah ini. Aku harap sih ia mampu mempertahankan level ini dan, terutama, kegigihannya untuk membuktikan bahwa kemenangan ini bukan lah kebetulan semata. Kita lihat saja…
Anyway, final ganda putra diadakan setelahnya. Btw, undian ganda putra tahun ini juga hancur nih di turnamen ini, dimana dua tim yang tidak diunggulkan masuk ke final: Ryan Harrison/Michael Venus dan Santiago Gonzaels/Donald Young. Namun, entah mengapa aku merasa sungguh lelah sehingga aku memutuskan untuk melewatkan final ini dan pulang ke hotel. Eh, tentu dengan mampir dulu di restoran langgananku di dekat situ untuk makan malam yah (baca Bagian III) 😛 .
