The first drunken Scotsman has already been spotted in the city centre while a couple of footballs, signed by Pele, were hoofed into the crowd here at Roland Garros yesterday after the men's singles final. Goodbye tennis, hello soccer.
Carlos Moya caught the impending mood just before the women's final on Saturday when he played a prolonged game of tennis-football on the centre court. And very accomplished he looked.
Similarly so yesterday. The 21year-old from Palma won his first Grand Slam title with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 victory over his fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja. This was not a match to linger in the memory, although it may have considerable significance for Moya.
This 6ft 3in right-hander first drew attention at the 1997 Australian Open when he knocked out the holder, Germany's Boris Becker, in the first round and went on to reach the final, which he lost to Pete Sampras.
This rush to fame took its toll, Moya failing to get past the second round of his next four Grand Slams. He rediscovered his touch in this year's clay-court season, reaching the semi-finals in Estoril and Barcelona before winning in Monte Carlo.
Yet Moya is no mere clay-court specialist, as he showed on the hard courts of Melbourne. He has a good serve, a devastating forehand and is more than capable at the net. This victory could see him make a concerted push for the No. 1 spot, although not until after Wimbledon.
The first set yesterday seemed likely to be conclusive and both men displayed nerves. However, it was 12th seed Moya who began to impose his greater range and weight of shots, while Corretja failed to reproduce his best form.
Moya missed one match-point at 5-2 before serving out for the title and dropping spreadeagled on the red dirt. Corretja leapt over the net to embrace him and, in turn, they were hugged by Pele, who presented the trophy.
Pele also produced two World Cup footballs, indulged in a spot of head-tennis with both players and then watched as they kicked the balls into the crowd. Moya appeared a touch reluctant, as if a football signed by Pele was too precious to release. The tennis was barely over when football had taken over.
On Saturday, Monica Seles failed to complete the fairytale of adding to her victories at Roland Garros between 1990 and 1992 when Arantxa Sanchez Vicario defeated her in the women's final.
Sanchez Vicario's simple and heartfelt "I'm so sorry I beat you" captured the occasion. Seles had arrived in Paris less than a fortnight after her father Karolj's death, with immense sympathy buoying her every step and stroke.
She was asked after her 7-6, 0-6, 6-2 defeat whether her appearance in the final in any way compared with the previous occasions.
"I don't remember how it used to feel. I'm in the present right now," Seles replied firmly and, as is her custom, she gave a little nod to reinforce that this particular line of questioning was over.
The severity of Seles's semi-final victory over Switzerland's Martina Hingis, the world No. 1 and pre-tournament favourite, was riveting, but sustaining such intensity requires plenty of games in the bank and her father's illness prevented that.
In Saturday's third set the errors, virtually non-existent against Hingis, multiplied. Seles missed five break-points whereas Sanchez Vicario needed only one to build an impregnable 4-1 lead.
Sanchez Vicario knew the crowd was on the side of Seles, yet there was never a trace of irritation or self-pity. "I love this tournament," she said. And so she should.
This was the Spaniard's sixth French Open singles final and her third victory, the other two coming in 1989 against Steffi Graf when she was 17, and four years ago against Mary Pierce.
Her two dogs are named Roland and Garros in honour of those wins but she does not intend buying a third. "I would need a huge new house," she said, although she could certainly afford one.
For Hingis, at least there was some consolation for her singles exit when she shared the women's doubles title with Jana Novotna. The Swiss and the Czech, seeded second, beat the top-seeded partnership of Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva 6-1, 7-6 in the final.
In the men's event, the Dutch pairing of Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis scored a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and Daniel Nestor of Canada.
The Williams sisters met in the mixed doubles final, Venus and Justin Gimelstob beating her younger sibling Serena and Luis Lobo 6-4, 6-4.
