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shanghai nono

3K views 44 replies 7 participants last post by  Truc 
#1 ·
roger and nole have already arrived in shanghai and the rest of the gang should be there pretty soon! i've heard the groups will be drawn on wednesday ie. today for me.

meanwhile the bryans have pulled out due to injury... arnaud and mika's qualification is now solid as ever lol (as long as mika's previous injuries are holding up, i suppose)

i should look forward to all the PR and dressing up for photo shoots and such, and hope that the frenchies won't look too stupid in their half western half 'oriental' suits :eek:
 
#2 ·
#5 ·
#3 ·
meanwhile the bryans have pulled out due to injury...
They must take care preparing to the DC final with Russia :devil:
I guess is was about traditional photo sessions when players are offered to put on some national clothes, of China in this particular case.

And the draw is...

RED GROUP
Knowles/Nestor
Aspelin/Knowle
Dlouhy/Vizner
Clement/Llodra

GOLD GROUP
Hanley/Ullyett
Damm/Paes
Bjorkman/Mirnyi
Erlich/Ram

Personally, I like it.
 
#4 ·
They must take care preparing to the DC final with Russia :devil:

I guess is was about traditional photo sessions when players are offered to put on some national clothes, of China in this particular case.

And the draw is...

RED GROUP
Knowles/Nestor
Aspelin/Knowle
Dlouhy/Vizner
Clement/Llodra

GOLD GROUP
Hanley/Ullyett
Damm/Paes
Bjorkman/Mirnyi
Erlich/Ram

Personally, I like it.
I like it too, all groups are tough I guess :p
Good luck to our Frenchies! :bounce:
 
#8 ·
Arnaud in L’Équipe today:
« Déjà, je ne trouve pas très normal que les équipes de double soient associées à la même cérémonie que les joueurs de simple. Cela n’a quand même pas la même valeur… Et pour tout dire, ce n’est pas un rêve pour moi d’être là. Ça me gonflerait presque. Même si l’on gagne, ça n’aurait pas un dixième de la valeur de notre titre à Wimbledon. »

(It means something like: I don’t find very normal that the doubles teams take part to the same ceremony as the singles players. It’s not the same achievement… And to be honest, it’s not a dream for me to be here. It almost annoys me. Even if we win here, it won’t be worth 1/10 of our Wimbledon title.)
 
#10 ·
I appreciate his honesty ! I think the same.
I mean, the masters has just a financial value that's all ! Nobody cares who won the masters, only the grand slams are prestigious in the palmares.
But arnaud is the first player to admit it. Usually, players make all their possible to play this tournament, only because the prize money is huge ! :rolleyes:
 
#9 ·
His audio interview is a little bit more enthusiastic:
http://www.fft.fr/filinfos/default.asp?ID=3353
Arnaud praises the organization and they have fun with Bruno, Richard and Eric.
Then he comments in great detail on the suits for the ceremony. ^^ His was too long - the problem is not him being too short, but the suit being too big, he says. He prefers tight-fitting clothes ("qui moule les formes").
Mika says it's a great occasion and it's nice to be spoiled like that at the end of the year, with their own car with their names on it, their personal driver, the massages, etc.

And he confirms they will stop playing together after the Masters Cup.
 
#12 ·
His audio interview is a little bit more enthusiastic:
http://www.fft.fr/filinfos/default.asp?ID=3353
:lol: I love this interview :p


Arnaud seems quite excited, he speaks so quickly than he forgets what he wants to say... lol
"On m"avait dit "les chinois sont bien organisés", eh ben oui les chinois sont bien organisés" lol
The suit and tie explanation is just hilarious :lol:
He doesn't like the suit at all (me neither), especially the cut, too long, too large "moi ma veste elle est trop lo,gue pour moi, et c'est pas parce que je suis trop petit c'est que la coupe est trop longue !" "par contre le col mao j'aime bien, par contre, pantalon mal coupé, veste mal coupée, moi j'aime bien quand c'est un peu plus ceintré, plus près du corps, ça moule les formes " :lol:

Truc, did you understand what micka says at the end, about their habits from wimbledon... "vous inquiétez pas pour nous, on est toujours...alcoolique" ???
Je me rappelle que pendant wimbledon après chaque match gagné ils ouvraient une bonne bouteille... ça pourrait donc être ça, non ? lol

Anyway they seem to have fun in shangai with bruno, richard and eric.
 
#19 ·
Thanks to everybody for the interviews and translations!

The one thing that puzzles me is this:

No more Arnaud/Mika? Then what?
I know, but when Mika says that (he means their goal was to win a Grand Slam and it's done), the journalist answers "that's not a scoop, we already knew that". So I thought you Clément girls already knew about it too.
Or was it just a joke and I got it wrong?? :eek:
(Marine, comment tu as compris le passage, il dit bien qu'ils devraient arrêter après Shanghai, non?)

Their match is on the ATP livestream at the moment. It looks eeeeeasy so far.

Edit: They had match point at 5-4 in the 2nd, missed it on a good serve from the other guy and they've barely won a point since then, one set all now...
 
#11 ·
I agree, it's a bit provocative, of course, but I like the honesty too.
Good for them and they should enjoy it (the audio interview sounds like they do), but he's right about both issues (the doubles and the importance of that title for them compared to a Grand Slam).
 
#14 ·
Ok. A good bottle of wine doesn't make people alcoholic. LOL
Does it exist chinese wine, Via ? :p
 
#15 ·
well, glad that he's finding things new and exciting, despite the little complaints... he won't be back at a final again, so he'd better enjoy what he can.

it's obvious that no one finds this year-end tournament essential (except when the no.1 title is still up for grabs), but apart from the money, it's also the prestige to qualify and turn up and get pampered all those different ways. so i guess, it may be more like a reward than a challenge.

chinese wine... are you kidding me? the chinese are big buyers of french wine ;)
 
#20 · (Edited)
I jinxed them.
They wasted a MP at 6-2 5-4 in the 2nd set and it completely turned around after that, they never really recovered from it, Knowles-Nestor were winning games to love and leading 9-2 in no time in the final tie-break.

What a waste, I know things can change fast in doubles, but they really should have won that match.

Edit: L'Équipe writes they even had 2 MP, sorry, I was not watching all the time.
 
#21 ·
It looked so good when Arnaud & Mika were up a set and break. Then I had to leave to work and when I got there they had lost... :sad:

Elina
 
#23 ·
Thanks for all the information and translations :) Those last ones really are very important to me :p
I like it that Bruno is there also to get pampered :D All his hard work as a coach should also be rewarded :angel:

And maybe Clément/ Clément will be the next team? It is my dream team for sure :hearts: :lol:
 
#26 ·
And maybe Clément/ Clément will be the next team? It is my dream team for sure :hearts: :lol:
Sorry Kezzi but it's not a great idea :unsure: lol

They (arnaud/mika) should keep on playing together it's a good team, able to make good results, plus they're close friends et seem to have lots fun on the tour.
 
#28 ·
#29 · (Edited)
The journalist should have asked for more explanations instead of saying "we already know that, let's talk about something else"... Apparently, he was the only one to know about it.
I'm not sure it's definitive.

In L'Équipe today:
« J’ai été mauvais, friable du fond et en retour. C’est gavant », a ruminé Clément. « Mais Nestor s’est mis à bien retourner, a tempéré Llodra. Depuis qu’ils se sont séparés, en août (ils se sont juste rabibochés pour disputer le Masters), Nestor et Knowles ne se parlent pas au vestiaire. Mais ça ne les a pas empêchés de gagner. Comme quoi, il n’y a pas de logique… »
Arnaud means he played poorly, from the baseline and in the returning game, and he's pissed. Mika adds that Nestor started returning well too.
Since they’ve broken up, Nestor and Knowles don’t talk to each other anymore in the locker room, and yet, they managed to win…
 
#34 ·
#35 ·
:rolleyes:

Here's an article from AFP http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gfYJk5iBT4avYvU83EVC2u_i9flg :

Les Français Arnaud Clément et Michaël Llodra se sont inclinés face à la paire tchèque Lukas Dlouhy/Pavel Vizner 3-6, 6-3, 10-5, lors de leur deuxième rencontre de poule du Masters de double, mercredi à Shanghai
Ils avaient déjà perdu lundi leur premier match au "super tie-break" face à la paire Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor, malgré le gain de la première manche et deux balles de match dans la deuxième.
Deux défaites qui ne laissaient à la paire française que des chances très théoriques d'aller encore en demi-finales.
"On a une nouvelle fois bien commencé, a commenté Michaël Llodra, mais on a fait un mauvais jeu dans la deuxième manche qui nous a coûté le set. Au super tie-break, c'est toujours un peu la loterie. Rien n'est fini, on a le mérite d'avoir gagné un set à chaque fois. Avec un concours de circonstances on peut peut-être encore aller en demies, mais pour l'instant on est spectateurs."
"J'étais peut-être un poil meilleur qu'au premier match mais encore insuffisant", a constaté pour sa part Arnaud Clément.

I'm including a Google translation which was pretty good for Google ;) but clearly not as good as our human translators (Marine, Truc...:worship: ) :

The French Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra were
Inclined facing the Czech pair Lukas Dlouhy / Pavel
Vizner 3-6, 6-3, 10-5, in their second match
Hen's Masters double Wednesday in Shanghai
They had already lost their first match Monday at
"Super tiebreak" to pair Mark Knowles / Daniel
Nestor, despite the gain in the first round and two
Matchpoints in the second.
Two defeats, which did not leave the French pair
That very theoretical chances to go even in semi
Finales.
"It was once again a good start," commented
Michael Llodra, but it was a poor game in the
Second round that has cost us the match. In super tie-
Break, it's always a bit of lottery. Nothing is
Finally, it has the merit of having won a set each
Once. With a combination of circumstances it is perhaps
Still going to be half, but for the moment it is
Spectators. "
"I was perhaps a bit better than the first match
But still not enough ", said for his part
Arnaud Clement.
 
#36 ·
I'm disapointed, they should have won this match.
I think they're not very motived. Just a pity.







Irina; how're u ?????
 
#37 ·
it's a pity but not surprising, given we've all seen how arnaud looked at a shanghai press conference!

he should have been at his yearly ski trip instead :eek:

anyway if tournament entries still have a six-weeks cutoff then we will find out about adelaide (sans RR) next week. time flies.....
 
#38 ·
it's a pity but not surprising, given we've all seen how arnaud looked at a shanghai press conference!

he should have been at his yearly ski trip instead :eek:
No, in november he's in a sunny place, and in december in l'alpe d'huez... lol
Pauvre petit... lol
 
#39 ·
ahh i see, shanghai is not sunny enough.

they have one last match to play on friday night against aspelin and knowle... the other guys may need to win to play in the semis, so again it's a question of motivation.
 
#43 ·
They were much better than Novak! They had MP, they played tons of tiebreaks...
I watched the match again today, they were not bad (while Novak was plain embarrassing).

I just realized - a little bit late - that Mika was having a sort of blog for Sports.fr during Shanghai:
http://www.sports.fr/fr/cmc/list/tennis/200711/506.html
He explains he's a bit ill since they arrived in Shanghai and he can't take any medication because of the doping tests (he'd need the authorization of an Australian organization, so it's too complicated and he doesn't take anything). He never mentions his leg injury.
He thinks it's completely stupid to play a super tie-break at the Masters Cup. He's fine with it during the year, but they should have 3 "real" sets at the TMC.
As for the matches, he always points out how close it was and how well he played himself. ^^ For example in the 2nd match, he lost only one point on his serve. So he kind of suggests Arnaud was the weak link. But Arnaud himself admits it, he was quite dejected about his performance after the first match and "disillusioned" (even though the Masters aren't so important for them, Mika says it again right away in his first entry).
 
#44 ·
thanks truc... no the scorelines weren't that bad, they were also the lowest ranked in the group so perhaps that made sense too.

so they weren't feeling 100% either... maybe it had something to do with their disgust with their monkey suits :lol:
 
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