espnW Blog: French Open
AP Photo/Michel SpinglerRafael Nadal celebrates his 27th birthday and is hoping to take another step an eighth French crown.
AP Photo/Andy WongVictoria Azarenka could become the fifth woman to win the Australian Open and the French Open in the same year.
Julian Finney/Getty ImagesLast year at the French Open, Germany's Julia Goerges clocked the fastest serve on the women's side with a 125 mph shot.
Courtey of Joanne GerstnerPARIS -- Maria Sharapova has it right: Paris is one of the best places on Earth to just observe the world around you. Some of the things I have seen so far: a cute young couple from Prague getting engaged by the Eiffel Tower, and then tearfully calling their parents to share the happy news.
Joanne C. Gerstner PARIS -- One of the fantastic things in Europe is to stumble upon farmer's markets. Today, in my daily Metro-combo-walking voyage to get to Roland Garros, there was a lovely market set up on the corner of my subway stop.
Joanne C. Gerstner PARIS -- The tennis fans who come to watch the French Open are a passionate group. The cheering sections tend to break down by national lines -- with the majority of fans being French -- and they go wild for their home country players.
courtesy of Joanne GerstnerPARIS -- It had to happen sometime. Rain and cool weather have finally hit the French Open, and I have no right to complain. It's in the mid-60s here, with a 60 percent chance of rain Sunday, according to the French weather service.
Courtey of Joanne GerstnerClay courts are messy, dusty, and can be quite fussy.A couple of things that can happen to a hard court, leaves piling up or bird droppings, can be washed away with a hose. The red clay courts of Roland Garros, the very thing that makes the French Open so special, require a lot of TLC to stay in good repair.
PARIS -- I'm doing a lot of walking every day, which is great. Love getting a good workout, and also getting to see, hear and smell Paris. My walks, usually to the Metro and Roland Garros, make for amazing people-watching and window-shopping.
Joanne C. GerstnerPARIS -- I was duly warned, by three people, that the soft-serve ice cream at Roland Garros was dangerous stuff. One taste, and you're hooked.Ice cream, on any hot day, is always yummy. But this Roland Garros stuff is amazing.
PARIS -- It's probably too soon to make a solid decision, but the evidence is mounting that the women are behaving much better than the men at the French Open.There is a list of fines, updated daily and tacked to a wall in the media operations hub of Philippe Chatrier.
Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesPARIS -- It's easy to forget that Maria Sharapova is actually Russian.She speaks English fluently, and flawlessly, like an American. She sounds American, with only a tiny hint of an accent, and throws around the "uhs," "you knows" and "likes" that litter typical American speech patterns.
PARIS -- There are a lot of statues scattered around the grounds of Roland Garros, celebrating the greats of French tennis.My favorite, by a long mile, is the super cool statue of Suzanne Lenglen, the first woman in the world to turn pro in tennis, stationed in front of the stadium named after her.
Joanne GerstnerPARIS -- The opening day of a Grand Slam tournament has the feel of the first day of school, mixed with a circus. People were excited, even a touch nervous, walking into the grounds of Roland Garros on Sunday morning.
PARIS -- This is the lull before the French Open starts Sunday, so I decided to make the most of my small bits of free time to see some of Paris.I am lucky to have visited this beautiful place a few times before, and one of my favorite things to do is the scenic tourist boat ride on the river Seine.