The idea of this post is to gather the information on Paulo’s favorite music so that we all could get the idea of what his playlist might look like

From a 2005 interview, Paulo mentioned U2, Coldplay, David Gray and Avril Lavigne. He also introduced us to a French electronic pop duo called, AaRON a couples of years ago. And now he lets us know that he’s a fan of James Blunt and Mokaiesh.

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Here are some of my favorite works from these artists to get you started — in case you’re not familiar with them

- “All I Want Is You”, “With Or Without You” and “Walk On” are my U2’s favorites!

- Paulo mentioned “Politik” in an interview with Eurosport. “Lost!” from their latest album fits the tennis theme quite well My all time favorite from Coldplay has to be “Yellow” and “Fix You”.

- David Gray… He’s British so OF COURSE, he’s cool! lol Try “Please Forgive Me”, “The Other Side” and “Flame Turns Blue”. (I don’t remember that Paulo knew David Gray. He’s one of my favorites! )

- What can I say about Avril Lavigne?! Girls should find “Things I’ll Never Say” adorable. And “Losing Grip” is a song I can listen to when I have a mood swing. lol *Yes, we all know she can’t sing live.*

- We’ve learned that Paulo likes “U-Turn (Lili)” by AaRON from Eurosport interview. Another awesome piece called, “Endless Song” definately worths a listen!

- James Blunts. Surely everyone knows the guy so…

- Mokaiesh, a French rock band. “Comme Elle Est Belle” has a nice sound to it! Their album is not suitable for those of you who like peace and quiet. lol

During a search through my old hard drive, I found another surprise!!!!!

Paulo’s transformed into an animation for the Roland Garros 2003 Game which was released for PC and PlayStation.

He also took part in the motion capturing process. Here are some screen caps and Paulo in-the-making of RG 2003, the game

Random post

Two scans from previous issues of French Tennis Magazine:

Here are two more pictures of Paulo from his early years!

He was so… blonde! lol

Paulo came out second best today against Fernando Verdasco. He lost the match in straight sets. However, reaching the last four is not considered as a bad start to the year!

Next up for Paulo is the Medibank International in Sydney. The draw is out and he’ll play Andreas Seppi in the first round. You can see the draw HERE.

A good run continues for Paulo in Brisbane when he booked his semi finals spot on Thursday night. Paulo won the Nick Bollettieri alumni showdown against Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-4. The Japanese appeared to have a physical problem and called for the trainer in the second set. Paulo stayed focused and won his third consecutive matches without dropping a set in 2009. He will play Fernando Verdasco for a place in the final.

Pictures:

In case you miss this nice surprise… Wilson puts up their new “Pro Tour Players” feature on their official website. And yes, Paulo is in it as well!!

I also found this cool poster from a French Tennis Magazine:

(Please credit the blog if posting elsewhere.)

Some words from Paulo via AFP:

Mathieu was in excellent form as he beat a disappointing Ernests Gulbis, who bundled top seed Novak Djokovic out of the tournament on Tuesday.

Mathieu broke the Latvian once in each set as he cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 win.

“I played a good match from the beginning to the end – I played pretty solidly,” Mathieu said.

“I played well from the baseline – I didn’t miss too much. I was in control, I think.”

He admitted he was expecting to play Djokovic, but said taking on Gulbis was also a challenge.

“The level is very close so you never know who you are going to play,” he said.

“Every match you play is going to be tough. He had a very good match yesterday so I knew it was going to be tough today.”

Mathieu faces a tough quarter-final against 19-year-old Japanese player Kei Nishikori, who upset fifth seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 in a late match on centre court.

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“I was in control, I think.” — We think so, too! lol

>> And a little piece of post-match news from L’Equipe:

Mathieu a choisi

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU auraitpu se faire unemontagne d’Ernests Gulbis, qui, la veille, avait envoyé sur les roses Novak Djokovic. « Il aurait pu, convenait Loïc Courteau, le nouveau coach de l’Alsacien, et je lui ai donné le choix : soit tu fais comme tout le monde, tu te dis que ce mec est un dieu et c’est mort ; soit tu considères que vous avez des qualités de frappe proches, donc que tu peux rivaliser, et tu n’oublies pas que le lendemain d’un exploit, souvent, le héros n’est pas complètement remis. Paulo a choisi la seconde option. Il l’a dominé en puissance du fond, il a été plus rapide que Gulbis et l’a fait forcer. » Mathieu, qui ne se ressent plus du tout de son os fissuré au pied droit, a d’abord résisté avant d’estoquer (6-3, 6-4). Au troisième jeu du match, il sauva deux balles de break, « importantissimes », jugea-t-il après coup, pas peu fier de n’avoir toujours pas été breaké cette année. Aujourd’hui, en quarts de finale, Mathieu poursuivra sa revue d’effectif de la jeunesse dorée. Après Gulbis, cap sur Kei Nishikori, passé l’année dernière du 279e au 61e rang mondial et tombeur hier de Tomas Berdych (7-6, 6-3). – F. Be.

One break in each set was enough for Paulo to get pass Ernests Gulbis. Paulo went down three break points early but fought them off, as well as the one break point when serving for the match! (Classic Paulo, I know )

We all have to give a big thanks to his sharp backhand today 90% of the time when they were locked in a backhand battle, Paulo came out on top. Impressive stuff!

There’s also an obvious improvement at the net and his movement. I guess Loic, the coach, gets some credit for this one.

Here are HQ pictures from Gettyimages:

I have to admit that it is difficult to keep up with all the private jokes in Paulo’s MTF forum. Seems like we’ve invented names for our PHM every other week! And of course, with all the holy items Paulo’s been involved for the past year… It’s easy to get lost in the jungle of fangirls

Mr.President: If we think of ourselves as a nation; Pauloland — Paulo, of course, is our elected president. Not that anyone ran against him. And recently we named “Nicolas Devilder” as our VP. Why? Because they won an epic battle in Bucharest, capturing the first ever doubles title together! That’s HUGE, people!!! Paulo and doubles aren’t known to be the best of friends.

Pineapple: Nickname given to Paulo by his Chinese-speaking fans.  The name “Paulo” sounds similar to “Pineapple” in Chinese. (Thanks for enlightening us.) Paulo made quite an impression around the world

Vamos: We’ll never know why Paulo chooses to “Vamos”, I guess. But who cares? It’s cool! Especially when you’re French! So we, the fans, do “Vamos” with him sometimes. We did not fail our Spanish/French class. We’re just embracing the world cultures. Fun fact to this is that David Ferrer attempted to find out why Paulo ditching his national “Allez” in Wimbledon 2007. But no, the Spaniard failed to get his answer. Thanks anyway, David!

The Holey Sock: It literally is the sock with a hole in it.  Here.
Our first holy item, I’d say. Not too many people make you go “awwwww” by wearing a holey sock. Worth mentioning.

Zadig et Voltaire: Rockin’ French clothing brand which Paulo seems to adore. We caught him buying – at least – FOUR different colors of the same shirt design! Proofs: [x] [x] [x]

He looks great in them nevertheless so this is why I name our chat thread as “The Zadig et Voltaire Appreciation Thread“.