Top 10: Roland Garros 2.1

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Part 2

(Note that this article is a continuation of Top 10: Roland Garros 1.0 which you can find by either scrolling down or clicking here and a correction of Top 10: Roland Garros 2.0 which was incorrectly published earlier.)

Will

At number five on this list is Maria Sharapova and Francesca Schiavone. Despite not being considered title contenders by many prior to Roland Garros starting, they were among the few top players to surpass their seedings at this year’s French Open. Sharapova has not been particularly successful at grand slams since she came back from major shoulder surgery, this in addition with her not being a great clay court player resulted in few expecting her fortunes to turn around at the French Open this year. Schiavone wasn’t expected to win the title last year, and really wasn’t considered capable of defending the title prior to the tournament starting. (I too was guilty of this and now have to admit that her title last year was fully deserved – she truly is a great champion.) She however put in an amazing run yet again, all while playing a beautiful style of tennis. Both these ladies made it far in the tournament after being involved in matches which they came very close to losing – Sharapova was a set and a break down in her 3^rd round match against the young Caroline Garcia, while Anastasia Pavlyunchenkova was similarly close to knocking out the Italian veteran in their quarter-final encounter. Through their frequently quoted never say die attitudes these respective grand slam champions fought back to win not only those, but quite a few matches at the French Open with Sharapova making the semi’s and Schiavone being the losing finalist. A great display of will and determination by two otherwise very contrasted players.

The New World: China

Ranking number four is the French Open victory of Li Na. The 29-year old, first time grand slam winner, has always been a threat at Wimbledon, frequently putting in decent runs at the grass court major. She was however unexpectedly a force to deal with during the French Open fortnight, taking out big guns, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova in consecutive matches and beating the defending champion, Schiavone in straight sets in the final. What her victory might do for tennis in China will likely only be accurately measured a few years down the line, but if it resembles the surge of popularity which tennis has experienced in other countries which provided grand slam winners in recent years – Serbia, Russia, Italy among them, it is likely that hordes of Chinese children will pick up racquets over the next few weeks. Considering the sheer volume of people in China, the law of averages indicates that a few new Chinese grand slam champions should be along shortly as a result. This in addition with the huge numbers in viewership which having a Chinese audience brings to tennis, means that Li Na is not only a great player, but her win will also do great things for tennis and she is likely to leave have a lasting legacy for the sport.

The Epic Battles

Five set matches comes in at number three on the list. The longer version of the tennis match is truly capable of providing the most amazing imaginable situations in tennis. It was no different at Roland Garros this year. Nadal’s almost loss to Isner would have been one if it weren’t for the match being played over five sets as opposed to three. He is now in the final, with a very good chance of being the eventual champion. Andy Murray too would also have lost earlier were it not for the men’s matches being played over five sets at the majors – against the Serb, Victor Troicki in the 4th round. There were several more high drama five setters played in the 4^th round – Albert Montanes vs Fabio Fognini, Juan Ignacio Chela vs Alejandro Falla and Gael Monfils vs David Ferrer. Not only do five setters cause the better player to win more often than not, but it also has the potential to result in an absolutely thrilling match with no apparent end in sight, capable of testing even the fittest player’s resolve and drive to win.

One might even be able to credit five set matches as the reason why there were far fewer upset results in the first week in the men’s draw as opposed to the mass exodus of seeds which happened in the women’s draw. I’m not suggesting women play five sets – but purely hypothetically if they were to play matches over five – the draw might play out as the seedings indicate it ought to.

Goliath and Goliath

Number two on the list is the Federer vs Djokovic semi final match. It was best described by Nadal as being the “best player of the moment against the best of the history”. This match truly lived up to this billing and was played at immense pace of shot, with overwhelming pressure on the man on a 43-match winning streak to win. The stakes were certainly high – not only was a spot in the final up for grabs, but the number one ranking was also a possibility for the Serbian man, should he have won. Unfortunately for the younger man, Federer was in devastating form, and played the match close to perfection. Particularly surprising was how demoralized Djokovic seemed in the second set, he came across as being somewhat overwhelmed by the occasion or rather the Federer play. All-in-all this was a great match between two giants which serves as excellent advertising for the sport of tennis. Both these gentleman are top fit, played with very little error and proceeded to wow the crowd for a good four hours before Federer left as the victor. It’ll be great to see if he can maintain this standard of play in the final and finally win a final against Nadal, who deservedly carries the King of Clay moniker.

The Rivalry Continued

For the fourth time in the finals at Roland Garros, Federer will have to overcome the much favoured to win Nadal. Whether or not Federer can tame the lefty topspin forehand which Nadal will direct to his one-handed backhand will surely provide some clue as to the winner of this match. If Federer is capable of hitting through his backhand and getting the result he craves, this match is likely to go down as his finest
grand slam victory ever. If Nadal executes his tactically superior game plan, as I suspect he will, it’ll be a record equalling sixth French Open title for him. As a result, this match will be one for the history books regardless of who wins, and as such tops this list at number one.

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Top 10: Roland Garros 1.0

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The 2011 French Open has come and (almost) gone. A glorious fortnight of tennis provided some of the stories of the year, as well as creating great anticipation for both Wimbledon, and the US hard court summer swing which follows it. Among the noteworthy happenings include the failure of the top American players of the last decade, Serena and Venus Williams, along with tour veteran Andy Roddick to compete in the tournament – all withdrew prior to the start of Roland Garros due to injury. Hopefully this has provided them with some extra time to prepare for the abbreviated grass court season, and will we see them perform well on a surface better suited to their respective games. Additionally, the fashion contest which plays out in the first week of the tournament, lived up to expectations with not only Maria Sharapova looking great, but Bethanie Mattek-Sands also drawing attention with her warstripe-painted face, as did Novak Djokovic’s Sergio Tacchini retro looking shirt. I personally appreciate the poetry of Roger Federer in red playing against a clad in blue Rafael Nadal in the final tomorrow.

These along with more serious stories like Virginie Razzano competing at the French Open shortly after losing her husband to an extended battle against brain tumor, and tennis-serious stories such as Amelie Mauresmo attempting a comeback in the mixed doubles – thwarted by her not having been part of doping control programs over the past two years - and the hiring of Anastacia Myskina by Svetlana Kuznetsova to occasionally help her out as coach all made headlines over the French Open fortnight.

Premier Service

However the top 10 stories of the French Open 2011 starts at number ten with the service motion. Roland Garros is considered to be the major at which the serve is of least importance – the clay surface is after all viewed as the ultimate service motion neutralizer. Yet the serve turned out to be the shot of the French Open starting with the five setter played between John Isner and Nadal. The tall American managed to keep himself in a the match by serving fantastically, he eventually won two sets in tie breakers via his serving ability, coming within one set of dumping the defending champion out of the tournament in straight sets. Other serve success stories include Maria Sharapova’s excellent run at the French Open. Her much tinkered with service motion was working to full effect and played a definitive role in her semi final run at a tournament played on a surface hardly beneficial to her less than excellent motion and hard-hitting game. Probably the most apt citing of the difference a great serve can make in a match would be the consistency and general excellence of the Federer serve in snapping Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak. No doubt about it, when things got tight in a Federer service game, his serve was the shot that enabled him to hold. It served him well in the couple of tie breakers too. No pun intended.

The French Open

At number nine is the success of French players at the Paris tournament. Marion Bartoli, a player entertaining to watch due to her ninja serve and  unconventional double fisted grip on both sides, made an excellent semi-final run by beating among others the German, Julia Georges, considered a dark horse for the title, and former champion at Roland Garros, Svetlana Kuznetsova. The French men too provided some excellent tennis to watch. Gael Monfils, flamboyant as ever, reached the quarter-final, while countrymen, Gilles Simon and Richard Djokovic lived up to their top 20 rankings to make the round of 16. An interesting point to note, is the extreme variety in the style of play of the French players. As mentioned Bartoli’s double handed grip is quite unconventional, as is the one handed backhand as played by Gasquet fast becoming. Monfils’ and 3rd ranked Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s showy style of play, punctuated by their extreme athleticism is the contrasted by Simon’s quiet counter punching game. The number of French players ranked in the top 100 illustrates the good move by the French Tennis Federation to provide support to talented players without interfering too much in their coaching setup. This in stark contrast to many other federations that are being asked all the more questions about their tactics and spending habits in churning out baseline hogging juniors, all checking the three shots stereotypically required - a solid serve and powerful forehand, along with a double-handed backhand, while few actually enjoy long-term success as professional players.

The Variables

Ranking eight on this list is the number of variables in a tennis match. Roland Garros 2011 has displayed that everything from the tennis balls used, windy conditions or bad scheduling can potentially influence the outcome of every match. The change from Dunlop to Babolat tennis balls at the French Open this year, has been considered an advantage to hard-hitting players. In addition the frequently windy conditions on court Philippe Chatrier while a negative for most players, is particularly detrimental to flat hitters of the ball, with the lower error for margin on their games being accentuated by the wind. Finally the frequently questionable scheduling at Roland Garros can significantly impact a tennis match. When players have to sit around for innumerable hours waiting for a game to begin, timing meals and warm ups correctly can ascend to an art. In addition the suspension of a match can affect the entire dynamic and momentum thereof, or provide a less than fit player with a much-needed recuperation period. Then of course players have to adapt to the surface they’re playing on, and the opponent they are playing against. Players that manage to progress to the 2nd week at a major should certainly be credited for being able to manage all the various facets of preparing for and playing a tennis match well.

The Big Four

At number seven is the success of the top four men’s tennis players with all four reaching the semi finals as their seeding indicates they ought to. The ability to be top-notch week in-week out is a quality to be lauded. This provides fans with potentially great matches in the semi’s and finals and draws plenty of media attention to tennis. Murray vs Nadal, Federer vs Djokovic and now finally the by now classic match up of Federer vs Nadal are high profile enough for even the most casual tennis fans to be watching the final few days of tennis at the French Open.

Exodus

The failure of many of the top seeded women’s players to live up to their ranking ranks at number six. While it is probably not the best scenario for women’s tennis to have it’s number one player continually have to dodge questions on the validity of the rankings, due to her losing prematurely at one of the major tournaments of the year, it did provide us with several of the best stories of the tournament, the home favourite Bartoli put in a good run, veteran Sharapova completed her comeback, Francesca Schiavone continued her love affair with Roland Garros for a few matches longer, and Li Na might have just provided us with a huge percentage of Chinese tennis players ranked in the top hundreds in a few years. All-in-all the current unpredictable nature of women’s tennis, though not capable of providing a Nadal-Federer calibre match up, does bring quite a few beneficial and enjoyable aspects to the tennis on display. (It also makes everyone that hazarded a guess at picking a winner look a little stupid, which I of course love…)

Stay tuned for an update, which will include the top 1 to 5 stories of the 2011 French Open.

Just a quick explanation on the lack of recent entries – I’ve been writing exams and as a result unfortunately not found the time to write. Even watching the tennis has required some careful strategic planning on my part. I will however be yours for a considerable while after this, including throughout Wimbledon – hope you’ll stick with me

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Roland Garros 2011: A Review Of The Remaining Matches In The Men’s Draw

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Roger Federer. Often argued to be the greatest tennis player of all time. 16-time grand slam winner. Former world number one. Former winner at Roland Garros. Only man yet to drop a set at the French Open 2011. And yet he is still only the third favourite to win according to the bookies. In contrast to basically the entire rest of his career, Federer is not really under pressure to achieve great things here at the French in 2011, it is rather the two 24-year olds, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who have to play with the weight of big expectations.

Rematch

Nadal, being defending champion and the clay court player that he is, was the favourite prior to the tournament despite losing to Djokovic on clay twice this year already. Since the tournament started he has dropped down from that position in the estimation or rather guestimation of most tennis fans and bookies, largely due to his lack of form, or even the motivation for which he is normally continuously lauded. In addition Nadal has to face the man who ousted him from Roland Garros in 2009 in their quarter-final on Wednesday, while Federer, by virtue of an up-and-down win over Gael Monfils, and Djokovic, courtesy of a walkover, are already preparing for their much-anticipated semi-final clash. Nadal has admitted that he cannot win the tournament playing at the level he has thus far. Suddenly there is chatter that he might not even progress past the encounter against the Swede, Robin Soderling. Soderling managed to beat Nadal in 4-sets in 2009, but suffered a straights sets rout at the hands of the Spaniard in last year’s final. The result of tomorrow’s match will depend largely on which Nadal comes to play; if it is the somewhat despondent man we have seen thus far at the French, reminiscent of him during his failed 2009 campaign, it is likely that Soderling will have an excellent opportunity to achieve a newsworthy scalp at Roland Garros. With his immense power, and clear motivation to win attitude illustrated by his prolonged fist pumping celebration upon winning his 4th round match yesterday, it seems the big, tall man has a chance and could perhaps oust the defending champion for the 3rd straight year. For Nadal to win, he will have to hit some form during this quarter-final match. Should that happen, the top seed will in all likelihood retain that form, and go on to retain the title. Nadal in form, is truly unbeatable over 5 sets on the clay of Roland Garros.

The Hard Court Aficionado

Of course Andy Murray and Juan Ignacio Chela are still alive in this half of the draw. Murray, being the far superior tennis player, ought to win this match with some ease over the man still most well-known for his bouts of bad sportsmanship. Murray’s ankle injury however could prevent this result from being a given. Either way, it is unlikely that this match will affect who is the eventual champion at Roland Garros. Both Soderling and Nadal, the two possible semi-final opponents for Murray – should he win – ought to be the victor over the not-so-happy-on-clay Scot, who has a definite – not just according to the British press – chance to win one of the other two remaining grand slams of the year.

The Aging King and The Young Prince or at this point… David and Goliath

On the other side of the draw, we only have 2 men left standing; if Soderling is the winner over Nadal tomorrow as many expect him to be, the stakes surrounding the Federer-Djokovic semi-final will drastically increase. The odds appear to be stacked as follows at this point: If Nadal wins tomorrow, he will almost certainly go on to win the tournament. If he loses, the winner of this semi between the legend and pretender to the throne, will very likely determine who wins the Coupe de Mousquetaire come Sunday.

Federer might be playing fairly well here, but Djokovic is like I’ve said before, in the form of his life. His confidence is through the roof – almost everything he tries, he manages to pull off. Despite being past his prime, Federer is still the most technically gifted player to ever hold a tennis racquet. He is probably better suited to the playing conditions and the clay courts of Roland Garros too. All-in-all this match ought to still be won by the form man, Djokovic. It can be taken for granted that he will be playing at an incredibly high level throughout. The outcome of this match rests on Federer’s somewhat rusty racquet. It’ll be great to see what he brings to the court, and how much he troubles the currently staggeringly beautiful play of the Australian Open Champion.

The Odds

According to the bookies a Djokovic vs Nadal final is most likely. A match between these two players at this stage of their careers is likely to be epic, and an incredibly tightly contested affair. Like previously mentioned the Spaniard will be in form if he makes it this far in the tournament. This would be a great match which ought to bring to an end Djokovic’s unbeaten run. There’s no beating an in form Nadal on clay over 5 sets.

The Dream

 Having been a fan of the Nadal-Federer rivalry for all of it’s existence, I would love to see these two men in the final again. Just imagine the quality of the semi-final match between Djokovic and Federer, if the Swiss player played at a level able to end the incredible run of the younger man. Imagine if her were to bring that level of play into a final against Nadal, how amazing that match would be… This is very likely wishful thinking, but there are a lot of winners in this dream. Not least of all the viewers.

Who Do You Think Will Win?

 

(Then it would be great if you could share this entry via Facebook, StumbleUpon or Twitter. The buttons are available at the bottom of this specific entry’s page. Comments would be appreciated. Would love to hear how everyone else thinks the draw will pan out… And then finally, I am writing blog entries for www.tennisgrandstand.com. New entry The Top 5 Of The Last 5 Days Of Tennis At Roland Garros, would love it if you could check it out. S)