The French Open at Roland Garros begins on Sunday, May 28
and so it’s time for me to list my 10 things to look for at the second Grand
Slam of the tennis season. Click here to view the seeds. Click here to view the
draw.
#1. Can anyone stop
Rafael Nadal? Rafael Nadal comes into Roland Garros having won clay titles
at Monte Carlo (ATP 1000), Barcelona (ATP 500), and Madrid (ATP 1000) while
also reaching the semifinals at Rome (ATP 1000) before falling to Dominic Thiem, who is the #6 seed at
Roland Garros.
While he is seeded #4, Nadal comes into this event as the
heavy favorite to win. Andy Murray
has never won the French Open, Novak
Djokovic has just one title all season at Doha, which is an Australian Open
tune up, Stan Wawrinka failed to
reach the quarterfinals at all three ATP 1000 Masters events on clay, and Roger Federer is skipping the event.
Given Nadal’s historical success at Roland Garros and the
lack of anyone really emerging as a serious contender, it will be a major
disappointment for Nadal and his camp if he doesn’t walk away with his 10th
French Open title.
#2. How much will the
absence of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova hurt the women’s competition? Serena
Williams will not play in the French Open due to her pregnancy and Maria Sharapova was denied a wild card
because of her suspension for doping. Sharapova is eligible to play on the WTA
Tour again, but the only way she could have gotten into the French Open this
season was through a wild card since her ranking isn’t high enough to play in
the qualifying rounds.
With Serena Williams unable to compete, Maria Sharapova’s
presence could have given the women’s draw a real boost in terms of ratings and
interest. While the French Tennis Federation did what was perhaps the morally
right thing to do, they certainly weren’t thinking of their fans or ratings
when they decided to not grant her a wild card. If the women’s tournament
suffers from a lack of ratings and ticket sales, the decision to not give
Sharapova a wild card may come back to haunt the event.
#3. Is Dominic Thiem the best hope to knock off
Rafael Nadal? With Murray, Djokovic, and Wawrinka all looking like long
shots to upset Nadal, most people see Dominic Thiem as the guy with the best
chances of taking out the King of Clay. Thiem took out Nadal in the
quarterfinals at Rome, but lost to Nadal in the previous two clay events in
Barcelona and Madrid. Since he has faced Nadal a lot recently and can say he’s
beaten him on clay earlier this season, I give Thiem a puncher’s chance at
taking out Nadal at Roland Garros, but nothing more than that.
Note: If Thiem were to face Nadal, it would be in the
semifinals after a projected quarterfinal match against Djokovic.
#4. Can Angelique Kerber
go the distance? Angelique Kerber
comes into this event as the #1 player in the world and with both Serena and
Sharapova out, she is on paper the heavy favorite to win it all. The biggest
hurdle she faces could be herself. The furthest she’s gone at Roland Garros is
the quarterfinals and that was back in 2012. The only player who might be
considered the favorite ahead of Kerber is Garbiñe
Muguruza, who won the event last year. Unless it’s Muguruza who takes her
out, it will be a major disappointment if Kerber doesn’t go all the way.
#5. Will Andre Agassi
make the difference for Novak Djokovic? One of the major headlines coming
into the French Open is defending champion Novak Djokovic’s decision to hire Andre Agassi as his coach. It’s unclear
how long Agassi will work with Djokovic, but he will be his primary coach for the French Open at least. A lot of people see this move as an act of
desperation on Djokovic’s end, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad decision. As a
player who also most excelled on the hard courts, Agassi can relate well to
Djokovic as he tries to go about finding more success on the dirt. Given their
similarities, this could be a good pairing.
#6. Will Petra
Kvitova make a run? After being sidelined for an extended period of time
due to a robber stabbing her hand with a knife, the fact that Petra Kvitova can compete is a miracle
and fantastic news. She’s currently the #15 seed and will be making her season
debut. The furthest she’s gone at Roland Garros is the semifinals back in 2012,
so if I can be honest, I have a hard time seeing her find that same level of
success this year.
#7. Can Andy Murray
get back to the Final? Andy Murray lost to Novak Djokovic in the final last
year. As the #1 seed, Murray has a great shot of getting back for
a second straight year. Nadal, Thiem, and Djokovic are all on the opposite side
of his draw, which is obviously good news. The biggest threat on his side
appears to be Stan Wawrinka and he hasn’t exactly lit the dirt on fire this
clay season.
#8. Can Garbiñe
Muguruza defend her title? As the defending champion, Garbiñe Muguruza is
the biggest threat to Angelique Kerber in this event. She comes in as the #4
seed and would face Kerber in the semifinals should they meet. While I agree
that Kerber should be the favorite considering her ranking and recent success,
it’s pretty tough to pick against Muguruza at this event. She won it last year
and seems to enjoy the clay as much as anyone in the women’s draw.
#9. Will anyone from
France step up? #31 Gilles Simon, #28
Caroline Garcia, #24 Richard Gasquet, #16 Lucas Pouille, #15 Gaël Monfils, #13
Kristina Mladenovic, and #12
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are the seeded players from France in both the men’s and
women’s draws. At every Grand Slam, players from the home country always have a
bit more pressure on them to deliver the goods and represent their country with
pride.
Sadly for France, they’ve not had a champion at Roland
Garros in quite a while. Yannick Noah
is the last Frenchman to win the event back in 1983 while Mary Pierce is the last Frenchwoman to win the event back in 2000.
Odds look slim that either drought will end this year.
#10. Can Karolina
Pliskova back up her ranking? Karolina Pliskova is ranked #3 in the world
and with Serena Williams out, she’s the #2 seed at Roland Garros. She’s been
playing some fantastic tennis as of late, reaching the final of the 2016 US
Open and the quarterfinals of the 2017 Australian Open.
However, she’s not found success at Grand Slams away from
the hard courts, failing to get past the second round at both Roland Garros and
Wimbledon. On the clay this season, her results haven’t given us any reason to
think she’ll have much improvement. She lost in the quarterfinals at Stuttgart,
the Round of 32 in Prague, the Round of 32 in Madrid, and quarterfinals in
Rome. If I can be honest, I’ll be surprised to see her survive into the second
week.
Predictions: As
far as my predictions go, I have Rafael Nadal defeating Andy Murray in the
men’s final 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to win his 10th French Open title. In
the women’s draw, I have Garbiñe Muguruza defeating Simona Halep in the final
6-4, 6-3 to win her second French Open title.
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