Freeze frames from the French Open

Rafael Nadal watches from the baseline as Novak Djokovic, carried forward by his own momentum, stumbles into the net. Nadal spontaneously makes animated gestures to the chair umpire with pursed lips and pointed hand, in the air of a schoolboy bringing the misdeeds of his class rival to the attention of their teacher.

We could ponder forever on the intangible qualities of Nadal that draw us to him, but I believe a key ingredient is the emotional transparency, bordering on innocence, that he displays during battle. This gets reflected in his fist-pumping ‘Vamos!’ after an improbable winner, the agonised distortions of his face as he glances at his Uncle Toni after a bad miss, and the eager gesticulations at the chair umpire to make him take note of an issue that he is, no doubt, already aware of. Nadal bares his soul out there on a tennis court, he unabashedly gives it his all, and we love him for that.

A bevy of former WTA professionals are lined up in the center of Court Philippe Chatrier, with scenes from the original Battle of the Sexes playing on the giant screen behind them in the stands.

In celebration of the WTA’s 40^th year of existence, there was a brief ceremony on Court Philippe Chatrier with a host of former female players, many of them French, appearing on centre court. Seeing faces from a period recently gone by, and hearing names I didn’t remember I had already forgotten – Sandrine Testud, Nathalie Tauziat – gave me a warm feeling of recognition. This was compounded by the unusual sight of people we are used to seeing with braided hair, tennis skirts and white sneakers suddenly burst upon us with flowing locks, smart casuals and high heels, but looking as toned as ever. As the Amazonian group turned on the smiles for the cameras, the WTA’s tagline seemed to make more sense than ever – Strong is Beautiful.

Sara Errani watches from a corner behind the baseline as Serena Williams pummels another forehand into the open court. The TV camera zooms in on Errani, as she widens her clear blue eyes and draws out a long, heavy breath.

It was hard not to feel sorry for Errani as her semi-final against the World No. 1 wore on. The result was never in much doubt right from the start, and it only got progressively worse. But what can you actually do in such a situation, when you know your opponent is operating on a level you have no hope of access to? You do what Errani did – pump yourself up by hopping proactively while returning serve, put every muscle and strategic nous you have into each shot you hit, run around the baseline like crazy, and then when you watch the inevitable thunderbolt whiz by you, you widen your eyes, exhale, and repeat the drill.