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3 The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, May 29, 2020 By Breanna Henry TV Media L ive sports may be hard to come by these days, but some networks are reach- ing back in time to help you satisfy your sports cravings. You can catch the 2009 French Open Men's Singles final air- ing Sunday, May 31, on NBC, and whether you're watching it for the first time or reliving the excitement, this is a match that really delivers. The show- down between Robin Soder- ling and Roger Federer leans just far enough away from one-sided to stay exciting through each set, but the real story lies in how they got there. I don't believe spoiler warn- ings are required 11 years af- ter an event, but here it is, just in case: If you don't want to know the outcome of this classic game, look away now. Federer wins the champion- ship match handily, in three sets. Tennis isn't exactly the most popular sport in North America, so for those who are unfamiliar: Roger Federer is, by the numbers, the greatest men's singles tennis player in the Open era. At the age of 38, more than 20 years since his professional debut, he still holds a Top 5 ranking in the world from the Association of Tennis Professionals. He has earned the second most prize money of any player and cur- rently has a, quite frankly, as- tonishing win record of 1,242- 241 in singles matches and more than 100 career titles. His game has been so consis- tently exceptional throughout his career that a time traveler from 2009 wouldn't be sur- prised by what he has achieved today, perhaps aside from one crucial title he earned in this very match. In order to achieve a "Grand Slam" in tennis, a player must win the U.S., Aus- tralian and French opens, as well as Wimbledon. By 2009, Federer had won each of those championships at least three times (and twice he managed to win three of them in a single year). The only championship title that eluded him was that of the French Open. Three years in a row, after making it to the fi- nal, Federer lost that title to Olympic gold medalist Rafael Nadal. Even those who aren't ten- nis fans will know the name of that young Spanish player who, at the time, had just hit five consecutive years of Grand Slams. He came into the 2009 French Open at first seed (just above Federer, who came in second), but in one of the biggest upsets in sports history, Nadal was taken out in the fourth round by the tournament's 23rd (of 32) seed, Robin Soderling of Swe- den. Nadal dominated every op- ponent on his way to the fourth round, handily defeat- ing all three of his Section 1 opponents before his shock- ing loss to Soderling in four sets. The world of professional sports is a mysterious thing from the outside, and I can't be the only one left wonder- ing whether 2009 would have been the year Federer was fi- nally able to overcome his main rival and how the feeling of victory may have changed, knowing he wouldn't get the chance to try. Often, we see sports as fan- tasy, with larger-than-life sto- ries of Davids and Goliaths, determination and domina- tion. You can't help but feel this movie-in-the-making match would have gone down differently if there were script- writers involved. To this day, the 2009 final match against Soderling is the only French Open title Roger Federer has ever won, and you can watch it again, or for the first time, Sunday, May 31, on NBC. 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You can tell it's recent because he gives a full review of Netflix's "Too Hot to Handle." CNN partnered with Sesame Street to do a coronavirus town hall for kids. Bert and Ernie were there, which makes sense since Bert's been cutting his own hair for years. The Late Late Show with James Corden Here's my tip: If you want to save money on advertising, just make a product that people who are on TV will like, and they will casually mention it on the air in the hopes that you will one day send them some for free! Jimmy Kimmel Live We are now a month and a half into quarantine, and I've noticed there are a few phrases I've been hearing a lot. The worst one is "the new normal." Stop saying that. The president wants us to gargle Lysol, and we have to wear scuba masks to Trader Joe's. It might be new, but there is nothing normal about this. late laughs Grand Chelem: Rewatch the 2009 French Open on NBC sportszone screenscramble Unscramble the letters for each word to reveal five movies and TV shows. Then, rearrange the circled letters to discover the actor who has appeared in all five. Solution on page 4.

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