At the French Open (Roland Garros)

Since I'm here during the French Open (known as Roland Garros to the French), I figured that I have to try to go check out one of the matches. Tickets have been sold out for ages, and a quick scan online showed that tickets were going anywhere from $2-300 to $1000. I decided to try my luck anyway and went to the stadium today. There were scalpers abound as soon as you walk

out of the subway station and tickets were going for ridiculous prices. Fortunately I met a nice, retired French gentleman whose wife couldn't make it because she wasn't feeling well. So I was able to buy the ticket at face value and he and I chatted and watched the game together.

It happens to be the women's semifinals today. First up was Maria Sharapova vs. Ana Ivanovic. Maria looked gorgeous as usual (see her picture to the right) but unfortunately she didn't seem to be having a good day. On the other hand, Ana seemed to be very on top of her game and played extremely well, defeating Maria in two sets (6-2 6-1). The second match was between defending champion Justine Henin and #4 Jelena Jankovic. It was a much more interesting game as both played very well and Justine proved why she is #1 in the world and defeated Jelena (6-2 6-2). So it will be Justine against Ana on Saturday in the finals.

It was a lot of fun getting to experience Roland Garros first-hand. The energy and tension in the stadium do not really translate to broadcasts on TV. Even though I was never a huge fan of tennis, now I'm a convert.