I've Got a Feeling: France's Road to the Davis Cup Final

Here is a series of three videos documenting France's journey to the 2010 Davis Cup final. As it stands, the French lead the tie 2-1 after some pretty heroic play by Clement/Llodra to come back from two sets to love down against Troicki/Zimonjic. Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils will face off in the morning to see if the tie will go to a decisive fifth rubber. If the fifth is live, I'd play Tipsarevic and Llodra, but there are plenty who disagree. Anyway, this weekend's final has nothing to do with the videos below. First, I would like to note that I do not speak French, at all. So, these clips may make perfect sense if you can understand what they're saying, but I think they were only made more amusing by the fact that I couldn't understand. Feel free to watch for yourself (although I warn you they're long,) but I've also included a few of the questions that really puzzled me. If you want to cut down on watching time, I suggest watching Part 2.



I like the music during the player introductions. I feel like I'm about to watch some kooky 'band of superheroes' movie. Why are they eating a formal dinner in a locker room and why is Richard cutting Gael's meat? Gilles and Richard have to carry Bennedra's bags as the non-participating members, lol. At 9:16, please note this is the first appearance of I've Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas, but by no means the last.



We kick things off again with I've Got a Feeling. Also, if you're going to watch anything from these three videos, watch the very beginning of Part 2. I want to party with the French Davis Cup team, and by that I mostly mean I want to hang with Michael Llodra because he is both crazy and awesome. Add in Gael's rockin' dance moves and Jo's flare for karaoke and we're good. I'm so tempted to make a Gasquet joke here, but I almost feel like it's in bad taste. 4:35-a) this is hilarious and b) Guy Forget can't do push ups correctly. Why do they sing so much? At 5:22, I would really like to know what possible situation occurred where Gilles had to go downstairs in jeans and no shirt. I'm not complaining, but I'm really curious. I really really wish I understood what went along with the hand motions at 6:25. Please note that I've Got a Feeling resumes at 8:15. Why isn't Feli wearing a shirt? Again, not complaining, just an observation.



Does Forget ever shut up? I know he's the captain, but I don't think anyone else has spoken for the entire 30 minutes. Also, I made up an entire monologue for this part since I don't understand it, but I somehow doubt my version is really how it went down. I'm guessing this conversation may have been Forget justifying his player choices for the semis. But I could be totally off the mark. I love the head bobbing at 6:20. It's so perfectly in sync. I also love the fact that they are playing scrabble. By now you should notice that I've Got a Feeling reemerges at 9:05. Finally, I've got nothing to describe what's going on at 9:42, but I thought I should point it out.

I promise a real post on Monday to recap all the Davis Cup action, or even tomorrow night if I get around to it. But for now, this late night rambling will have to do. If you happen to speak French and watch these videos, feel free to clue me in on anything I may have missed.

What’s Up on Wednesday?

In case you really haven’t been following Wimbledon, or my blog, Wednesday is men’s quarterfinals day at the All England Club. If you’ve checked out the post below, you’ll know that the women’s quarterfinals were riddled with upsets. The only favorite to make it through was Serena Williams, who is now heavily favored to win her 13^th major title. Serena is the first seed on the women’s side and after Tuesday’s action, Zvonareva, seeded 21, is the only other seed in the women’s top four. There aren’t quite as many possibilities for upset on the men’s side. In fact, the ‘worst’ player Federer could face in a potential final would be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who is seeded number 10, not exactly Petra Kvitova. However, we also have the chance of seeing the top four men’s seeds advance to the final four of the tournament. Let’s see what stands in their way.

First up on Centre Court…Roger Federer vs. Tomas Berdych:

Berdych has beaten Federer twice, most recently in Miami in March of this year. This means that he has a chance. Federer hasn’t looked quite so invincible lately as he has in the past and exited the French Open in the quarterfinals for the first time in 24 Grand Slams. Berdych actually reached the semifinals at the French Open. Could he really repeat the feat at Wimbledon? No. Berdych may have a big game, but so does Federer and when it comes down to it, Federer is mentally tougher. Federer can fight back if he finds himself in a hole (see: first round match against Falla.) I feel like Berdych might self destruct. I saw him beat Andy Murray in Paris, which was a great result for the Czech and he does play an excellent game of tennis. However, I’m not giving up on Roger yet.

Next…Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Andy Murray:

Andy Murray is Britain’s best hope of winning any major title in the foreseeable future. After living in London for six months, I’m fairly sure that even the English would put aside their hatred of the surly Scot if he could win their hometown slam. I would love to see the celebrations if Murray won Wimbledon. The Brits have nothing else to do now that England’s out of the World Cup. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though. Murray still has two matches to win before we crown him Champion. Tsonga is seeded tenth and prior to this year, his best result at Wimbledon was the 4^th round. He’s an excellent player, but grass isn’t his favored surface. I think Murray should make it through to the semis, but I’m not calling him for the final until I find out his opponent.

Who’s up on Court 1…Novak Djokovic vs. Yen-Hsun Lu:

On paper, this is the most lopsided match up of the day. Lu is the only unseeded man left in the tournament and he is ranked number 82 in the world. Djokovic is an Australian Open champion ranked number 3. Clearly he will go into this match as the favorite; however, Andy Roddick was also heavily favored against Lu. Lightning doesn’t strike twice. Lu has had a dream run at Wimbledon this year, but Djokovic should win. He toughed it out against Hewitt on Monday even though he was clearly feeling ill. A couple of years ago, I think Djokovic would have fallen apart against a player like Hewitt on a good day, no less when he was feeling poorly. He’s not exactly known on tour for sticking out a match when he isn’t feeling well. I think Djokovic is maturing and should have no issues ending Lu’s tournament.

Finally…Robin Soderling vs. Rafael Nadal:

We saw this match up just a few weeks ago and it ended up being a bit one sided, but for some reason I find myself looking forward to this match most of all. As I said, there’s a good chance that the top four seeds will end up in the top four this year, but I think the man with the best chance of stopping that is Robin Soderling. I think Robin Soderling is capable of winning a Grand Slam. I’m not saying he’ll win Wimbledon this year, but I think he’s definitely a contender for a major title. Nadal doesn’t look as unshakeable as he did in Paris and Soderling has beaten him before. This should be a close match. I honestly think Nadal will prevail, but I would love to see Soderling pull off another great upset.