We are approaching the end of the month of May. For tennis fans this only means one thing: the culmination of the clay court season at Roland Garros in Paris.
All the speculation surrounding the men’s competition has been centred on the top two seeds, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. If Djokovic emerges victorious, he will become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four grand slam titles at the same time. If Nadal triumphs, he would attain a record seventh French Open title, surpassing even the achievements of the legendary Bjorn Borg.
Nadal perhaps is looking more likely to secure victory for he has recently defeated Djokovic on the clay courts of Monte Carlo and Rome. Yet, with three grand slam victories on the spin, the Serb is going to be uber confident going into the tournament.
However, it would be a serious mistake to rule out the ever-threatening Roger Federer. After all, it was the Swiss master who defeated Djokovic at last year’s Roland Garros before going on to lose to Nadal in the final. Indeed, Federer has shown signs of good form recently, outshining both the top two seeds to emerge victorious on the blue clay of Madrid.
But what of our own nation’s hope for grand slam success? Can Andy Murray overcome the top three seeds? Barring a miracle, I sincerely think not. For one, he has not reached the semi-finals in any of the three clay court tournaments he has played in 2012. Further, he recently pulled out of the Madrid Open due to a back problem and from his words: “hopefully the worst of it’s gone now”, it is evident he has still not fully recovered.
Having said this, the Scot has not failed to reach the semi-final of a major tournament since the 2010 US Open. However, if once again, he reaches this hurdle he is likely to play Nadal who defeated him in straight sets at this stage of the tournament last year.
In terms of outside challengers, Juan Martin del Potro and Tomas Berdych have the potential to go far in the tournament. Del Potro, now fully recovered from a serious wrist injury, has had a good clay court season, conquering all of his opponents at the Estoril Open before losing to Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.
Berdych himself went onto lose to Federer in the final of that tournament but, having also reached the semi-finals at Monte-Carlo and having the experience of a Grand Slam final under his belt, he definitely has the potential to cause an upset in Paris.
Meanwhile, in the women’s competition, we nearly saw a huge shock yesterday, as world number one Victoria Azarenka beat world number 97 Alberta Brianta 6-7 6-4 6-2, after being 4-0 down in the second set. She definitely stands a fighting chance of going far in the tournament, especially after winning the Australian Open title in January.
Despite having a mostly fine year, her defeat at the hands of world number two Maria Sharapova in Stuttgart earlier this month, and her loss to Serena in Spain, means Azarenka is no longer the favourite to emerge victorious in Paris. This being said, her recent losses may give her new resolve to set the record straight by producing her best tennis.
Also in the hunt for the title are of course Sharapova and thirteen-time grand slam winner Serena Williams, who are undoubtedly the form players to look out for.
Sharapova defeated defending French Open champion Li Na in the final of the Italian Open a week ago to claim her second clay court crown this season, but was herself brushed aside by Serena at the Madrid Open a week earlier. Williams went on to defeat world number one Victoria Azarenka in the final of that tournament.
Indeed, she made the tactical decision to pull out of her Italian Open semi-final a week later, in all likelihood desiring to be fresh for her title challenge in the French capital.
The Pole Agnieszka Radwanska is also in with a shout, and dismissing her early exit in Rome, she has only been defeated by Azarenka this whole season.