Allez Martin! Allez! (and other takeaways from our visit to the French Open)

Elizabeth's panoramic pic of one of the courts at Roland Garros. 

The second-largest court, which
was used for the ranked players
to practice during the qualifiers.
Centre Court wasn't open for play. 

We happened to get into Paris around the same time that the world’s best tennis players, so we figured: "What the heck? Let’s go to the French Open!"

Upon arriving at Roland Garros on May 25, for the last day of the qualifying matches, we found people dressed up in old-timey tennis outfits. And jugglers. All kinds of food. And plenty of tennis.

“It’s like a carnival," Elizabeth said.

Yes, a tennis carnival. 

We stopped to watch a practice in the smaller stadium.

The first match we watched featured Martin Klizan from Slovakia against Argentina's Juan Ignacio Londero. Klizan, just a month earlier, had defeated Novak Djokovic as a qualifier at the tournament in Barcelona. And we arrived to see Klizan win the first set but lose the second. But Klizan had a secret weapon – a fan/friend/relative/coach? – who yelled "Allez Martin! Allez!" after every point. And I mean EVERY point.

It sounded like: AH-lay Martin, Ah-LAAAY!

Martin Klizan serving in the decisive third set, which Klizan won to clinch a spot in the tournament. 

The Olde Timey Tennis pros walking the Roland Garros grounds and posing for tourists like us and this dude. 

Jugglers!

Elizabeth was fascinated by the finely choreographed ball boys and girls, who worked really hard throughout the tournament. (One boy, later in the tournament, did collide with a player in a freak accident. He was fine, though.)

The next crew waiting to tag in. 

We also joined quite a few Americans to watch American Grace Min qualify in three sets against Italian Martina Trevisan. 

Min serves in the background while a woman with a Kentucky Derby-esque hat watches with us. 

Grace Min signs autographs after qualifying for the French Open, where she would play another Italian. 

We watched parts of two other matches, including a dominant performance by Georgina Garcia Perez, who dispatched easily with her French opponent. Her serves reached 190 km per hour. And while Perez is listed as 6'2", she looked at least 7-foot-tall out there, especially when she charged the net and was still able to reach a lob that looked like it would have landed close to the back line.

Our last match, which Magdelena Frech of Poland eventually won, was interrupted by rain. Fortunately, we left in time to get a table under one of the food tents.

This giant chalkboard was being constantly and painstakingly updated throughout the day. 

Elizabeth also discovered this vending machine for cell-phone recharging. Instead of using key locks, it uses an individual's finger print. Elizabeth put mine in to charge, but we only left it in there for a few minutes because I still didn't trust it. 

Postscript: 

Unfortuntaley none of the four winners we saw made it past the second round on May 30.

Klizan (of "Allez Martin! Allez! fame) lost in three sets to crowd favorite, the Frenchman and 32^nd ranked Gael Monfils.

Georgina Garcia Perez, who provided the most impressive performance we saw in the qualifiers, easily won her first round match but had a tough draw in the second round and managed to win only one game against No. 2 player in the world Caroline Wozniacki.

As for the other two qualifiers we saw, Magdelena Frech lost 6-2, 6-2 in the second round to American Sloane Stephens and Grace Min lost her first round match.

In between matches. 

AH-lay Martin, Ah-LAAAY!