French Open Recap: Day 4

Yes, I am well aware that we skipped Day 3.  I blame my busy schedule and I blame Serena Williams for leaving me dumbfounded for over 24 hours.  Thankfully we have Teraesa here to keep us updated on the happenings of Day 4.

And you’re out!….and YOU’RE out!:  Okay, let's be honest, we knew it wouldn’t last - all those American women in Paris.  Now that I think about it, we could call it….The Curse of Jamie Hampton.  Now, I like Jamie Hampton, but since she retired and broke the unbeaten streak for the ladies from the USA, all hell has broken loose.  Yesterday was the crazytown match involving Serena Williams (which I’m sure my sister has mentioned above).

Just one note about that match - I grieve for that tennis dress Serena was wearing.  It was so pretty! I hope she wears it for her mixed doubles match with Bob Bryan (who must be winning the Olympic “Who Will Play With Serena” sweepstakes).

Okay, back to business.  Seriously, the losses were a bit expected.  Did we really expect Sam Stosur to fall to Irina Falconi? Or for Vania King to beat Dominika Cibulkova, who’s been on fire lately?

One other note: I had to tweet Chris Fowler Monday.  He kept calling her the “Pocket Rocket”.  He swore to me he wasn’t aware this was a type of vibrator. Ha!  See below. 

@OmItOut no. I certainly did not know that.It's not my nickname for her!Hockey star Henri Richard original Pocket Rocket.

— Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) May 28, 2012

Add to the mix Melanie Oudin’s and Alexa Glatch’s straight set losses, and Venus Williams' dismantling courtesy of Aga Radwanska and see - where did all this begin? Two words -  Jamie Hampton.  Poor Jamie.  Of course, we knew one American woman would win today - because she played another!  Sloane Stephens pretty much demolished Bethanie “Queen of the Eyeblack” Mattek-Sands. 

Shaked and Baked:   Brian Baker’s 2012 French Open came to a close today, but not without a fight.  He was dominated by Gilles Simon in the first two sets, before rallying and forcing a fifth.  Although he lost the match, I have a feeling we’ll see more of him soon.  

Have You Read….PseudoFed?:  I am a big Roger Federer fan.  But you have to admit he is achingly open to parody given his overwhelming perfection.  Enter the twitter feed of @PseudoFed.  For example: 

Just discovered that they have put me tomorrow on a strange court. Apparently I am playing Suzanne and the court is Long Long #confused

— Not Roger Federer (@PseudoFed) May 27, 2012

Brilliant!  As of yesterday, apparently PseudoFed has a blog.  Even more brilliant.  You’re welcome. 

French Word of the Day: So today’s word is: détruire: to destroy, to wreck, to ruin.

“Sloane a détruits Bethanie sur la court aujourd’hui.” (Sloane destroyed Bethanie on the court today.)

Use it in a sentence tomorrow, won’t you and let us know how it went?

Teraesa Vinson is a contributing writer to OnTheGoTennis.  To follow her on Twitter, click here.

Photos:  AP and Getty/Mike Hewitt