Cameron on French Open: Five things we’ve learned

Defending champion Rafael Nadal waves by his a birthday cake on centre court after defeating Japan's Kei Nishikori during their fourth round match of the French Open at the Roland Garros stadium. (AP/Michel Spingler)

Whew. That was a fun week.

The first week of the 2013 French Open is behind us. The favourites pulled through (sometimes barely), there were unexpected finishes and more five-setters than we could have even hoped for.

Here’s a look back.

Nadal isn’t invincible

You’ve heard it before: Rafael Nadal is the King of Clay. And it’s true. He’s a seven-time French Open champion and the clear favourite to win the 2013 tournament.

That being said, he’s not invincible. It’s obvious that Nadal’s knee issues haven’t completely disappeared and every time he stretches and slides across the Roland Garros red clay, Nadal fans hold their breath.

Nadal dropped the first set in both his opening-round and second-round matches. Many people didn’t expect Nadal to drop a set all tournament, let alone against Daniel Brands and Martin Klizan. Who are they? Exactly.

Novak Djokovic is in Nadal’s half of the draw and the two will likely meet in the semifinals, that is, if Nadal’s knees hold up.

Serena Williams can’t lose

In 2011, Serena Williams was rushed to the hospital due to a blood clot. She thought that was the end of her career.

Fast-forward two years and Serena is perhaps playing the best tennis of her career at the age of 31.

“I promise you, my body has never felt better,” Serena recently told Essence Magazine.

What a terrifying thought for all of Serena’s opponents.

Serena has won 28 straight matches and counting, she’s only dropped 10 games (yes, you read that correctly) in the first four rounds of this year’s French Open.

Serena first won the French Open in 2002 and she hasn’t won it since. That shouldn’t be the case much longer.

Federer is a Twitter star

This week Roger Federer won his 900th career match and reached his 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. Kind of a big deal.

But forget about that. Why? Because Federer joined Twitter and people freaked out.

Here’s what you need to know:

— Federer got a haircut

— Federer got Twitter and his first Tweet was a selfie

You’re welcome Twitter world.

The Marathon Man

Poor John Isner.

Why do I say that? Well, marathon matches love John Isner, but I don’t think the feeling is mutual.

At Wimbledon in 2010, Isner won the longest match in tennis history, which lasted over 11 hours and was played over three days. Three months later, at the U.S. Open, Isner said he was still recovering from that marathon match.

Then, last week at the French Open, Isner fought off 12 match points, but eventually lost to Tommy Haas 7-5, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-7, 10-8. To make matters worse, he fought back from two sets down in his previous match. For a tall guy, who doesn’t move very well, Isner must still be napping.

Poor Isner.

Old man power

Tommy Haas is 35-years-old. No, 35 isn’t old. But in tennis years, he’s ancient, making it even more impressive that he beat John Isner in that five-set marathon match.

In the past year, Haas has played some of the best tennis of his career. He’s knocking on the door of the top 10 and he has become the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since Andre Agassi did it at the 2005 U.S. Open.

Haas is 35 and he’s not even close to nearing retirement. How crazy is that?

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