John Farley Spotlight: The French Open: Who's in Your Conversation?

The French Open, Roland Garros, is upon us. The high hopes of the qualifiers are now energizing the city as the main draw players alight on the "la Ville Lumiere" and take to the practice courts. And it is this time each year that Madame Anais Flournoy hosts in her palatial accommodations located in Saint Germain-des-Pres in the 6th Arrondissement on the beautiful Seine, the most prestigious of the pre-tournament social events where tennis journalists, broadcast commentators, tournament organizers, tennis sports legends, sponsors, and tennis association and federation biggie-wigs come together to discuss which WTA players should be in the conversation for Roland Garros.

I was quite surprised a few weeks ago when I received an invitation from Madame Flournoy to attend the event. I immediately accepted the invitation and made my travel plans. The invitation made it clear that the event was not a formal affair and that casual dress was preferred. Not being sure what to wear, I thought I'd get in touch with Bethanie Mattek-Sands to see what she thought. Not being able to reach her, I decided to just go with some pleated, beige slacks and a blue-striped banded collar shirt. In her invitation Madame Flournoy explained that bloggers were not usually invited to attend, but I was given a wildcard because she had quite enjoyed a number of blog posts I had written on the WTA. After securing modest accommodations, I flew to Paris, took in some sights, and grabbed a taxi to Madame Flournoy's residence.

I was greeted warmly by an attendant, somewhat hesitatingly put on my name tag which read [John Farley: (wc) Blogger], and graciously given some information on how the event is organized. As is the event custom, the guests are grouped according to whom they feel should be included in the conversation to make the Roland Garros final. Looking out over the very spacious area I noticed banners on poles around the room with players names on them with a group gathered around each banner. At quick glance of the banners I saw the names Radwanska, Muguruza, Svitolina, Williams, Halep, Mladenovic, Wozniacki, Kerber, Konta, Kuznetsova, Vandeweghe, and others. (I learned later that the Vandeweghe contingent had "crashed the party" and brought their own pole and banner.).

Around the room there were a few familiar faces I had seen on the TV or computer screen - mostly Tennis Channel commentators - Tracy Austin, Brett Haber, Paul Annacone, Justin Gimelstob, Lindsay Davenport, and others. I saw Tracy Austin talking to Justine Henin under the Svitolina banner. Ben Rothenberg, freelance writer for The New York Times, had just joined the group. So I thought I'd mingle and go over there and catch their conversation. Austin and Henin were talking about Rothenberg's hair. ("He looks like he just lets the north wind comb his hair. No, I heard roto-rooter does his hair.") Everybody chuckled. Old joke I thought, anyway Svitolina has won 4 tournaments this year and they're talking about Rothenberg's hair?

I decided to move on. But as I was mingling I thought to myself: "Ok, Kerber is in a funk, Serena is pregnant, Halep turned her ankle in Rome, Muguruza's got a pain in the neck which hopefully isn't Sam Sumyk, Radwanska lost in the first round of Stuttgart and didn't play Madrid and Rome because of injury, Cibulkova didn't make it beyond the 2nd round in either Madrid or Rome, Konta got bounced early in Stuttgart and Madrid reaching only the R16 in Rome, Keys didn't make it past the first round at either Madrid or Rome and hasn't gone deep since her wrist surgery, Wozniacki retired in a first-round match in Strasbourg, and Camila Giorgi is now ranked #99." Yea, so who has a convincing conversation? (May the injured heal quickly.)

I decided to stop thinking and mingle some more. I dropped by the Karolina Pliskova banner where an argument was ensuing between arch supporters and a waiter (serving rich French pastries and glasses of Chateau Lafite Rothschild) who felt Kristina Mladenovic's (the French #1) recent gain of momentum put her at a higher level in the conversation. Like kids on the playground they went at it in the best English they could muster:

Pliskova Supporters (PS): "She's ranked #3 in the world and #2 in the Porsche Road to Singapore."
Waiter (W): (imagine French accent) "But we are talking about who is the hotter player now. Kristina was in the finals in both Stuttgart and Madrid. Pliskova lost in the first round in Prague to Giorgi and in the second round in Madrid."
PS: "Yes, but Kristina lost in the first round in Rome."
W:  "She was exhausted from all those finals - a mere nothing, not even a blip in her momentum."
PS: "Karolina won in Doha and reached the semis in both Indian Wells and Miami."
W:  "My point exactly, she's on a slide. Kristina is on the rise."
PS: "What? Karolina reached the QFs in Rome.  She has a bigger game that can take out more players. She's been in the US Open Final.  She's been there."
W:  "She was knocked out in the first round here last year. She doesn't have a clay game."
PS: "Yea well, Mladenovic only made it to the 3rd round here last year."
W:  "She had a bad draw. Had to play Serena. Anyway, that was last year. She's more French now a year later."

Anyway, I bailed at that point, but before I did I took a glass of the Rothschild just to say I actually sipped a wine that expensive.

Journalists were at a high level of alertness and taking notes like crazy. I mean, you don't want to be left out of the conversation about who's in the conversation. I saw Jon Wertheim, tennis journalist for Sports Illustrated, making the banner rounds probably looking for material for one of those elegant collages he pieces together for Tennis Channel. Madame Flournoy was flitting about enjoying reminiscing with some of the tennis legends the days when there were only four or five banners at the event. I noticed Mary Carillo was herding a group of them over to the photo-shoot area. They were all still looking pretty good. Not a make-up girl in sight.( By the way, the most number of French Open wins is held by Chris Evert at 7.)

I wasn't sure where to go next - so many options. I caught sight of the Halep banner so I wandered over there still sipping the Rothschild. Darren Cahill, Halep's coach, was there. I knew coaches were not invited to the event so I figured he was invited in his capacity as a Tennis Channel commentator. Anyway, he was talking with Katrina Adams, USTA President and Steve Simon, WTA CEO. I figured that might be a juicy exchange so I nonchalantly made my ear available to the conversation. To my delight and surprise actually, Cahill and Adams weren't talking players but were giving Simon an earful about the WTA Media Platform not yet being operational. I thought now there's something worthy of conversation. I was eagerly awaiting Simon's response, but just then Madame Flournoy got on the microphone to thank everyone for coming and, as she said, "thrilling all of Paris with their presence." She also mentioned that the attendants would be bringing out Chocolate Grand Marnier Souffles to the buffet tables. (Simon - saved by the Belle) I wasn't sure how the Rothschild would go with the Grand Marnier, so I backed off the souffle. Cahill, Adams, and Simon headed to the buffet tables, so I went looking for a new banner to hang out at.

I looked around. I was surprised to see a Kvitova banner so I headed over there. She put herself in the conversation with an announcement that her name was on the official entry list for Roland Garros. Her banner groupies said she was definitely on track for Wimbledon and would make a last minute decision soon on Roland Garros. The Wimbledon conversation will definitely have a different flavor with Azarenka, Sharapova, and Kvitova in there. Talk is cheap they say but not with those three. Meanwhile, back to the French.

I noticed Courtney Nyugen, writer for the WTA and the queen of eclectic twitter minutiae, surfing the banner locales. I thought if she's looking for a guest for her next webcast, WTA Insider, I volunteer. Might be refreshing to get a perspective on this event from the only blogger in the house. I lost sight of her as she got consumed by the overflowing Muguruza banner crowd.

I walked over to an inviting sofa to relax. As I sat there the banners were coming down and the groups dispersing. Time to go I thought. I found Madame Flournoy, thanked her for the invitation, and promised her I'd send her the blog post that came out of my visit. As banner bearers passed by, she graciously saw me to the door. I stepped out into the glittering Paris night and hailed down a taxi. As I was chauffeured of sorts back to my hotel, I tried to take it all in.

So who does have a convincing conversation? Of course there are the names of those on a obvious hot streak - Svitolina, Mladenovic, Halep, Karolina Pliskova, and maybe a few others, but there are so many who could take it. That's what makes this year's Roland Garros so exciting. Recently in a post-match interview Simona Halep was asked who she felt the favorite was for winning the French. After making the point that it was definitely not her, she said, "about 15 players." I agree with her in spirit but not in quantity. The number could easily be twice that. These days nobody comes out of nowhere. The radar is full of players bulging with the potential. Who knows who may get tapped by the magic wand of good fortune from mother nature and roll through those 7 matches (or more) and emerge from the pack hoisting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen Trophy.

Epilogue: The movie shown on my flight back to the states was "The Conversation," an Academy Award nominated film by Francis Ford Coppola. It was about a guy who professionally eavesdropped on people's conversations. What can I say?



Anyway, that's how I see it.