Possibly the official French Open Thread...

Serious question. Why are most of the women coached by their father? I find this creepy, like Daddy can't stand to let go of his baby girl. Most of the top men seem to have non-family coaches. Wouldn't it make sense that as you get older and holes start to develop that you'd seek outside counsel instead of working with the same guy who taught you how to serve 15 years ago?

 

It's pretty simple. If an American is playing, that's what ESPN will show.

I don't know if most are. You've got some high-profile ones that are (Sharapova, Williams) or were (Capriati, Dokic). But just as many (Davenport, Henin, Clijsters) aren't (or weren't).

And sometimes the women are coached by their mothers (Hingis, Dementieva for a while).

One reason is the women tend to join the tour at a younger age. You don't typically see teen-age boys in main draw events and qualifying, but you do see many teen girls.

 

Good point. I think I'm just creeped out by the dads still coaching when the daughter's out of her teens is all.

 

Trust me, sportschick, the non-daddy coaches are way, way creepier than the daddies.
At least with the daddies there's a better than even chance they're not getting up close and personal during the down time.

 

Venus was going down to Jankovic the day the draw came out.
She's beaten both sisters on big stages, isn't a bit afraid of them, moves much much better, and can handle the place. And is about 100 times more consistent.
She's gone far beyond being an up-and-comer this year. She's the No. 4 seed. I think she's already here.

 

I'm probably just remember that gawdawful losing streak she had last year.

And on the non-daddy coaches . . . eewwwwww. One more reason to never have kids.

 

I don't know why exactly, but I've never really warmed to Maria Sharapova. I don't know if it's because I'm a child of the Cold War, and she's just so Russian, or because she takes random bathroom breaks, or changes her racket when she hasn't broken a string to break her opponents momentum, but I just find it hard to root for her.

I do, however, admire her competitive jones. She's just crazy competitive. You've got to love that. Against Schnyder today, it was like she was peppering the ball against a cement wall, and yet she hung on long enough and didn't choke in big moments and ended up winning. I really don't think she moves well enough to win this tournament -- she's just so damn tall, her strides are too long -- but I admire how bad she wants to win this thing.

 

Tough loss for Schnyder, whose resume is the poster child for "creepy."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20040201/ai_n12587140

 

Wow, very creepy. That woman has to have some major stuff going on in her head.

 

Schynder's husband/coach looks like a serial killer - a combination of Charles Manson and Christian Slater.
And the fact that he's an improvement over the last one says it all.

Sharapova is about as Russian as I am. If she were even still the teensiest bit Russian, she would be able to slide on the clay. She just tiptoes on it. She's all-American.

But she has balls. Wants it bad. All the best do. It's the best thing about her.

 

Sharapova is a FLORIDIAN. Don't think anything else.

Serena-Henin in the quarterfinals. That's going to be fun.

 

By Russian, I mean cold and aloof. She's the opposite of Anna Pornikova, who was always smiling and grinning. Sharapova is Russian in that she looks like she has the sneer you wear when you have to stomp through the Siberian snow to feed the chickens.

Not like, she actually grew up there, even though she lived there until she was seven. And she has a Russian citizenship, by the way.