A Stroll Around the Grounds

While waiting on the women's final and to find out who Robin Soderling gets to play in the men's singles final ...
Yes, it is finals weekend, but that doesn't just mean singles. Between the juniors, seniors and wheelchair tennis, there is all kinds of action going on at Roland Garros during this time of the week. Here are a few observations:
• Quick - who's the most successful women's tennis player today? Serena Williams? No. Venus Williams? Try again. Justine Henin? Maria Sharapova? Jelena Jankovic? Wrong.
The correct answer would be Esther Vergeer of the Netherlands, who won the wheelchair women's event – 6-0, 6-0 over compatriot Sharon Walraven. Now, I don't know too much about wheelchair tennis, but Vergeer, through her sheer dominance, has given the event some exposure in the mainstream press. This is now her 15th Grand Slam singles title in the wheelchair event. She has another 14 titles in doubles. Over the course of her tennis career, Vergeer has a singles record of 582-25, has only lost one match since March 31, 2001 and is currently on a 383 match winning streak. Imagine the attention able-bodied WTA players would receive if one of them could win over 95 percent of her matches.
• The junior events are winding down. In the boys' event, Agustin Velotti of Argentina is playing Andrea Collarini of the United States (Yes - the United States!). Collarini apparently grew up and spent his formative years in Argentina, but it's still nice to see a young American player doing well on clay. Collarini is currently ranked 669th in the ATP rankings – it will be interesting to see how he develops. Velotti is also in the finals of the boys' doubles event, which features four players from South America – Velotti and Facundo Arguello are playing Duilio Beretta of Peru and Roberto Quiroz of Ecuador.
In the girls' event, we get a little bit of the international taste of the sport – Elina Svitolina of Ukraine will be playing Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the final. Both are only 15-years-old. Svitolina is ranked 1,096 in the WTA rankings, and Jabeur is 724. It seems safe to assume that both are going to be moving up in the not-too-distant future.
The girls' doubles features eight players from six nations – spread out over three continents. Timea Babos of Hungary and Sloane Stephens of the U.S. are in the finals as of this writing. I got to see Stephens playing Vera Zvonareva in Indian Wells earlier this year. It doesn't seem likely that she'll be an all-time great player, but she looks like a solid one with a good game. She should be part of the future of U.S. women's tennis once Venus and Serena Williams move on.
• There's plenty of action in the doubles as well. In the mixed doubles, Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic beat Yaroslava Shvedova and Julian Knowle in a tight three-set match. Srebotnik is a player who came along at about the same time as Kim Clijsters, Jelena Dokic and Justine Henin. She reached 20th in the singles rankings but has made a nice living for herself in doubles, winning four mixed doubles Slams there. This has been a nice event for Srebotnik, as she was also runner-up in women's doubles. Zimonjic has won four mixed doubles titles and two men's doubles titles at the Slams. He and Srebotnik also won Roland Garros together in 2006, but they've been runners-up three other times, making them one of the more successful mixed doubles pairings in recent years.
• Venus and Serena Williams, took the women's doubles final 6-2, 6-3. For all their success in singles, this is the 12th Grand Slam titles for Venus and Serena in doubles – and it's their fourth consecutive Slam. Venus and Serena could very well be the first players to win THE Grand Slam in doubles since 1999, when Martina Hingis accomplished it with two different partners. This final was played on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but you can pretty well guarantee that if Venus and Serena are going for the Slam at the U.S. Open, that final will be on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
• In the men's doubles event, Zimonjic and his partner, Daniel Nestor, will be playing Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy for the title. This result comes on the heels of a win over Mike and Bob Bryan at the Australian Open earlier this season. Don't look now, but Nestor and Zimonjic might also have a chance at THE Grand Slam this season.
More on the singles finals later.