French Open Crisis Center

Mornin', everyone. We're about to watch what has to be one of the least predictable of major finals in recent memory, although my abiding concern is that Sam Stosur may come out snorting fire and blow out Francesca Schiavone. You can get more on my reasoning if you check out the "5 Questions" (about the women's final) feature posted on the Home page.

So to my mind, the big question going in is about Schiavone emotional, sentimental state of being here, especially during the second week. It may be a buzzkill, but in my experience the suppression of emotion is a critical factor in winning critical matches, although after you've shown you can get the job done and do hang a few big ones up, the trend is reversed. Then you can feed off sentiment, and draw on the confidence you've banked and enjoy the moment.

The biggest challenge for Schiavone, even bigger than wrangling Sam Stosur's kick serve, will be letting go of her emotions, getting to a place in her head and on that court where it's not about how hard you worked to get to this point, not about how you've prepped and waited your whole life for this moment, not about making sure you enjoy the experience. You're not really supposed to enjoy the experience; you're supposed to be so anxious you puke in the locker room and then go out with a nervous system so tightly wound and high-strung that you successfully block out the entire context of what you're doing. Everything.

That's somewhat counter-intuitive, and impossible to completely accomplish. But if you work that "enjoy the moment" territory too hard, you'll find yourself standing on the platform of the station, gazing around at the pretty scenery, while the train - the match - pulls out and leaves you behind.

This is why it's so difficult for first-time finalist who are mature enough to appreciate what they've achieved just getting there. It's far, far better to play a historic match when you're 18, 19 years old and don't known nothin'. Schiavone will be in best shape if she comes to grips with the fact that this is the chance of a lifetime, and finds a way to block out all the rest of it, and live in the moment, which is quite different from enjoying the moment.

-- Pete

For more on the clay-court game, Roland Garros, and the Nadal-Federer rivalry, check out my e-book, The Clay Ran Red.