NBC Sports Goes French This Weekend

Starting on Friday, NBC starts its coverage of the semifinals and finals at the French Open. I give credit to NBC for allowing Tennis Channel to air the Robin Soderling vs. Tomas Berdych semifinal match live in its entirety, Friday morning at 7 East/4 West.

However, it does mean some shenanigans for NBC. The Rafael Nadal-Jergen Melzer match will be live in the East at 11 a.m., however, it will also air at 11 a.m. in the Midwest, 11 a.m. in the Rocky Mountain region and 11 a.m. in the West, meaning delays in three time zones. If the Nadal match starts a little before 11 a.m. in the East, NBC will delay it to show it in its entirety, but let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point.

Anyway, here’s the NBC press release about French Open championship weekend.

NADAL SEEKS FIFTH FRENCH OPEN TITLE AS NBC SPORTS PRESENTS LIVE COVERAGE OF THE FRENCH OPEN FINALS SATURDAY & SUNDAY

NEW YORK – June 3, 2010 – Rafael Nadal seeks his fifth French Open title that will get him closer to Bjorn Borg’s open era record of six as NBC Sports presents live coverage of the French Open men’s finals on Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. ET.  Nadal, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, whose last Grand Slam title came at the 2009 Australian Open, must first get by Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the semifinal round Friday (11 a.m. in all time zones on NBC).  Melzer upset No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. On the women’s side, No. 17 seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy takes on No. 7 seed Samantha Stosur of Australia each seeking her first Grand Slam title.  Live coverage of the women’s final begins Saturday at 9 a.m. ET.

Host Ted Robinson anchors NBC’s coverage from Roland Garros, joined by analyst John McEnroe.

MEN’S BRACKET: Nadal is looking for his fifth French Open title which would put him just shy of Borg’s record of six during the open era and will give Nadal his first Grand Slam title since the 2009 Australian Open.  Nadal, the No. 2 player in the world takes on No. 22 seed Melzer who at 29 years old is the oldest player in the men’s draw. Melzer is playing in his first Grand Slam semifinal. 
 

With a win at the French Open (coupled by Roger Federer’s loss in the quarterfinals), Nadal will regain the World No. 1 ranking that he held from August 18, 2008 – July 5, 2009. Prior to that, Nadal ranked No. 2 behind Federer for 160 weeks. In 2008, Nadal became the first player ever to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.

The other semifinal match will have No. 5 seed Robin Soderling taking on No. 15 seed Tomas Berdych, who has not dropped a set in five rounds at this year’s French Open. Soderling defeated Nadal last year in the fourth round at Roland Garros.                    
 

ROBINSON ON SIGNIFICANCE OF FEDERER LOSING IN QUARTERFINALS: “Watching Roger Federer fall to Robin Soderling made me wonder if spectators on July 17, 1941 understood the significance of Joe Di Maggio’s 56-game hit streak ending. Federer’s streak is the ‘DiMaggio of tennis.’ 23 straight Slam semis—we will never see anyone APPROACH, let alone surpass, that record.”

ROBINSON ON WHO NADAL WANTS TO PLAY IN FINALS: “The most interesting question of this French Open- who was Nadal rooting for? Could it be that Rafa would prefer to face a 16-time Slam champ over the only man to ever beat him on this surface? Many think the answer is yes.”
 

ROBINSON ON A NADAL-SODERLING FINAL: “A Nadal-Soderling final would provide all the basics of terrific sports theater- redemption, revenge, revolution (if Soderling were to walk away from Paris as champ).”

ROBINSON ON UNDERDOG JURGEN MELZER: “Jurgen Melzer has played wonderfully to reach this point- a first-ever Slam semi at age 29. But he hasn’t faced Rafa. He hasn’t yet absorbed the relentless hammering of Nadal’s groundstrokes on red clay. He hasn’t experienced the concept of trying to win THREE sets from Rafa. Nor has he ever experienced the moment- a Slam semi.”

ROBINSON SUMS IT UP: “Together, it reads like a Rafa day—will Soderling be there on Sunday as well?”

WOMEN’S BRACKET: The women’s final is set for Saturday morning with No. 17 seed Schiavone taking on the No. 7 seed Stosur. Both Schiavone and Stosur are playing in their first ever Grand Slam Final. Schiavone’s previous best in a Grand Slam has been reaching the quarterfinals of  Wimbledon in 2009, The U.S. Open in 2003 and here at the French Open in 2001. Stosur defeated four-time French Open Champion Justine Henin and the No. 1 seed Serena Williams on her way to her first ever Grand Slam final.

ROBINSON ON STOSUR’S RUN: “She has had the greatest Grand Slam for a woman on clay that one can have without actually winning the tournament. She beat Henin, Serena and Jankovic, all former No. 1’s. It’s hard to fathom having to beat that kind of field and STILL have to win the Final.”
 

ROBINSON ON STOSUR’S SERVE: “She has the second best serve of any woman in the sport next to Serena…and she’s a close second.”

ROBINSON ON SCHIAVONE: “She is going to be 30 years old in two weeks and t
his is likely her last chance to win a Grand Slam event. There has never been an Italian player in a Slam final so this means so much for her country.”

COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS: Following is the schedule for NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2010 French Open, which culminates with live HD coverage of the Women’s (June 5) and Men’s (June 6) Finals: 

Friday, June 4, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (all time zones) – Men’s Semifinals – Nadal vs. Melzer

Saturday, June 5, 9 a.m.-Noon ET – Women’s Final (Live) – Schiavone vs. Stosur

Sunday, June 6, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. ET – Men’s Final (Live)

There you have it.