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It's Wednesday (June 5) morning and I am getting ready to head back to Stade Roland Garros for my final day at the French Open. I am happy and grateful for having the opportunity to be here, but a bit sad at the same time that this was my last day at the tournament. I decide to skip breakfast and have a heavy lunch; a PNY burger, touted as the best in town. It was delicious, as was the chocolate croissant I had.
With Novak Djokovic pulling out of the quarterfinals, there is one less singles match for me to see. Hopefully, the rest of the matches will make up for that. The day begins on Court Philippe-Chatrier with the women's quarterfinal between fourth seed Elena Rybakina and Italy's Jasmine Paolini, who is having her breakthrough season at the age of 28.
Rybakina's smooth game is a bit off the mark today. But a bit is a lot at this level. Paolini may be only 5 feet 4 inches, but she can certainly match her 6-foot-tall opponent with power off the ground as she wins the first set 6-2. The second set is a lot closer and Rybakina breaks in the 10th game to claim it 6-4, sending the match into a decider.
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The first four games of the final set are all breaks of serve, followed by four consecutive service holds. At 4-4, Paolini comes up with another break of serve. The Italian then serves it out to complete the 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win in two hours and five minutes.
The win guarantees that Paolini will break into the world's top 10 for the first time next week. She was ranked 53rd in the world at this time last year, which shows just how much can change for an athlete in a span of 12 months.
I'm still satiated with my heavy lunch and decide not to refuel for now as I wait to watch second seed Aryna Sabalenka take on 17-year-old teen phenom Mirra Andreeva in the second match of the day. It's always exciting for tennis fans to see the rise of a teenager in the sport and I've had my eye on Andreeva since she started her pro journey last year.
Andreeva is known for tennis IQ and her ability to read the play very well. Sabalenka is on the other end of the spectrum, using her strong serve and groundstrokes to ambush her opponents.
Like Rybakina, Sabalenka also starts a bit off. She goes up 3-1 in the first set only to lose the next four games and trail 3-5. The Belarusian is known for her fighting spirit and displays that to win the first set in a tiebreak.
My friend Ashutosh, who is on the other side of the stadium and closer to the court, messages me that something is not right with Sabalenka physically - perhaps she is carrying an injury? Andreeva gets a crucial break to go up 4-2 in the second set. Although she loses that one to go back to 4-4, the Russian teen breaks the Sabalenka serve once again to win the set 6-4 and take this match into a deciding set.
This is the first time I'm watching Andreeva live and she does have great court sense. The Russian reminds me, and others, of Martina Hingis - the Swiss Miss who more than made up for her lack of power with incredible court craft.
The third set is tense and goes on serve, although both players did have break point opportunities. The crowd is cheering both on. After nine holds, Sabalenka comes out to serve to stay in the match. You might think that the occasion may make Andreeva nervous but if it did, she did not show it. On her second match point, Andreeva wins to complete a stunning 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 victory in just under two-and-a-half hours.
One of my favourite parts of the game is watching the post-match interviews, especially after such a big win. When asked how she honed her tennis IQ, Andreeva responded like a typical 17-year-old.
"Me and my coach (the former Wimbledon champion, Conchita Martinez), we had a plan today but again I didn't remember anything. I just try to play as I feel and that's it," the Russian said.
At 17 years and 37 days, Andreeva became the youngest player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Hingis herself in 1997. Her match Paolini guarantees a first-time Grand Slam finalist in women's tennis. I wish I could come back to watch that.
As I walk around the grounds and wait for the evening session to start, I log into the French Open website. The tournament lets ticket holders resell their tickets on the site if they wish to. Hoping I would get lucky, I try to see if tickets were available for any of the last four days. I hadn't budgeted to watch any more matches on this trip, but what the hell!! Credit cards were invented for a reason, after all.
I discover there are a few tickets available for Thursday's women's semifinals, but by the time I go to select the seat, it's already been picked up by someone else. I guess I'm not the only one trying for the last minute. I try several times but get beaten by the fastest finger each time.
I head back inside Chatrier to watch the evening session match - the quarterfinal between fourth seed Alexander Zverev and 11th seed Alex de Minaur. I'm trying to soak it all in as I realize this would be the final match of this trip for me. I wonder how it must feel for players when they know it's their last time competing in a tournament.
The match is peppered with some incredible rallies. De Minaur is known for being one of the best movers on the tour. Zverev is known to be one of the best hitters. The German wins the first set 6-4. The second goes into a tiebreak, where De Minaur takes a 4-0 lead.
The Aussie was part of one of the best feel-good stories of the fortnight as he invited a young die-hard fan, who was loudly cheering him on earlier in the week, to sit in his box for the rest of the tournament.
Zverev finds a way back to win the tiebreak and then looks set to reach his fourth consecutive semifinal in Paris as he moves up 5-2 in the third set. The crowd eggs De Minaur on and the Aussie responds with a break to get the set back on serve.
At 5-4, the crowd does a Mexican wave once again. They certainly hope the match can go into a fourth set. So do I. A quick check into the Roland-Garros website for tickets is unsuccessful once again. I've probably tried about 50 times by this point. I'm kind of tempted to message some players on social media if they have extra tickets in exchange for some loud support from me.
Zverev is in no mood to let this match extend and he breaks in the 10th game to complete the 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-4 win in just over three hours. The post-match interview is done and people are rushing out to get back home. I'm waiting inside, looking all around one last time.
There are a handful of others like me who aren't in any rush to leave the stadium. The ushers eventually ask us to leave, and I take a few final pictures inside an empty Philippe-Chatrier.
As I walk out and head back to my hostel, I look back on the four days with a happy heart. I'm going to try and attend the French Open another year again, but I'd like to see Wimbledon and the Australian Open once each before I return here.
As I ride back in the Metro, I log in again to the Rolan-Garros website. 'Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again' - that famous quote by Stan Wawrinka is running in my head. This time, I managed to find a ticket for Thursday and can add it to my cart. I'm praying it goes through and that my mobile network doesn't go off while completing the transaction.
It doesn't. I'm smiling. I guess I'll have to go through the experience of a final day at the French Open once again. And I hope you will be back to read about it too!!
