Roland Garros 2011 review, Azarenka, Zvonareva and Jankovic announce WTA Championships Istanbul

So everyone enjoyed the French Open 2011?  I never in my wildest dreams would have expected Na Li to win at the ladies and I never thought that Novak Djokovic in this super form of his would lose to Roger Federer.  My preview was completely shot down and I don’t mind at all. Like I wrote previews are nothing more than predictions even though it was exciting when Maria Sharapova made it to the semis. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Na Li takes home the Roland Garros  2011 crown

And as an Asian I am very proud that Na Li has won the Roland Garros 2011 tournament. I really really never saw this one coming. She was awesome in Australia and then we get nothing. No finals, early exits, funny press conferences but outside that we get nothing and all of a sudden she is there and has a very heavy draw. She takes out Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova on her way to the finals. That are two heavy matches in a row and then takes the finale as well. Amazing stuff by Madame Li.

Maria Sharapova awesomeness

I have to praise Sharapova’s awesome Facebook message though.

Put myself in a position to win the BIG one and came up short!! No excuses!! All the credit to Li Na for playing a great match. I need to get better and keep working. I want to thank all my die hard fans for cheering me on the past 2 weeks. Can’t wait to smell the grass!!!

And she came up short. Just a little…better luck next year.

Caroline Wozniacki cries

My other contender, Caroline Wozniacki, went down in the first week.  From what I read is that was cried in the dressing room. The not having won a Grand Slam thing has gotten to her from what  I read. It’s really not a big deal from my point of view. Yes, the Grand Slams are the most important on the tour but there are only four them each year. There are more premier tour events and smaller ones that will accumulate enough points to justify that number one spot. It still shows that you are the best.  And it only means that you are missing one of the majors. But Wozniack is still young, she is only 20 and still has her entire career ahead of her.

Taken from her official Facebook:

It wasn’t a good day for me yesterday, Daniela played amazing tennis. To cheer myself up I’ll be watching the Barcelona – Manchester United game tonight, should be a good one!

I am sure that she enjoyed that match. Or whatever you want to call it because at time Manchester United looked like they were on the field because they had to. By the way Caroline’s favorite Spanish team is FC Barcelona. As is mine. Oh and here is a photo of Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki at the ITF Champions dinner. Looks good, huh?

Martina Hingis returns

But as an old die hard Martina Hingis fan, I was particularly pleased by the return of Hingis in the Legends tournament.  Hingis played doubles with former rival and longtime friend Lindsay Davenport and defeated Martina Navratilova / Jana Novotna 6-1 6-2 for the Roland Garros Legends 2011 title.  Photos of Hingis at the end of this post and courtesy of longtime friend and photographer François from WagoPhoto.

Victoria Azarenka, Vera Zvonareva and Jelena Jankovic in Istanbul

Now you may wonder what is so special about the three of them being in Istanbul but it is a special occasion because they are there to announce the launch of the WTA Championships. The last big tournament of the year and you can only participate when you have accumulated a certain amount of points. You can follow the Race to Istanbul on the WTA Champions site.  It is not written in stone yet but I may actually attend this year in October in Istanbul.

Would I deny you these pics of Azarenka, Zvonareva and Jankovic ? Ofcourse not! Enjoy the photos.

Victoria Azarenka

I’m in Istanbul for the launch of the WTA Championships. I’m really excited to be here because I’ve heard amazing things about the city!

Vera Zvonareva

In Turkey with Vika and Jelena Jankovic where we are helping to announce the WTA Tour Championships which will be held in Istanbul for the first time this year. Here’s a picture from earlier today.

Jelena Jankovic

Had anoter nice day here in Istanbul today. We announced that BNP Paribas and Türk Ekonomi Bankasý will become the title sponsors of the Championships. Here is a nice picture of me and Vera Zvonareva at the announcement.