TENNIS FRENCH OPEN – The 2014 French Open is finally here! Tennis fans have been waiting with bated breaths because this year’s event, the 47th Championships since the Open Era (1968), promises to be an epic tournament on both the men and women’s sides. Cordell Hackshaw
Interviews, Results, OOP, Draws from the 2014 Roland Garros
The 2014 French Open is finally here! Tennis fans have been waiting with bated breaths because this year’s event, the 47th Championships since the Open Era (1968), promises to be an epic tournament on both the men and women’s sides. The draws are loaded and they offer many interesting match ups not only in the first rounds but also in the latter stages of the tournament if seeds hold true to form. The defending champions Rafael Nadal of Spain and Serena Williams of the United States are both here and seeded No1. The world’s number ones have not had a stellar clay court season as they did last year, winning multiple titles at the big tour events. However, they are prodigious talents with both the experience and confidence to put themselves deep in the draws despite the shaky season. Nadal is looking for his 9th overall title in his tenth appearance and 5th in a row here in Paris. The Spaniard’s credentials on clay need no introduction as he is far and away, the greatest clay court player ever. Meanwhile, Williams is going for her 3rd title in Paris. She has never defended the title here making it the only major where she has failed to do so at least once. She has done it at Wimbledon twice (2002/2003 and 2009/2010), Australia (2009/2010) and the US Open (2012/2013). The American might not be the “classic clay court player” but since 2012, she has been showing herself to be quite adept on this surface. Nadal and Williams are also trying to further cement their names in the history books with overall major titles. Winning here will give Nadal his 14th title equally Pete Sampras’s effort and tie him for 2nd on the all-time list. Williams wants to equal fellow Americans Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova to be 4th on the list with 18 singles titles.
Interestingly enough, neither Nadal nor Williams is the overwhelming favourite at this major event. There are several players who see themselves holding up the singles’ trophy at the end of the two weeks. Nadal can expect competition from his “arch nemesis” Novak Djokovic (2) in particular, Stanislas Wawrinka (3), Roger Federer (4), David Ferrer (5), Andy Murray (7) as well as several young players like Milos Raonic (8), Kei Nishikori (9) and Grigor Dimitrov (11). Williams has former champions here Na Li (2), Maria Sharapova (7) and Ana Ivanovic (11) along with Agnieszka Radwanska (3), Simona Halep (4) and Petra Kvitova (5) all looking to take this title away from her. The American has to also deal with her own personal demons which have caused her to self-implode most infamously here in Paris in 2012.
With all that being said, THE DRAWS: In an effort to make things simple, the 128-player draw will be divided into halves and then quarters which will be headed by the top seeds of the sections. These are not predictions but merely possible projections. This is tennis after all. The game is won on the court and not on paper.
MEN’S
Men’s Top Half: Nadal (1)/Wawrinka(3)
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Nadal’s Quarter [1/4]: Nadal is likely to face his countryman Ferrer (5) in the quarterfinals but he must get past another compatriot Nicolas Almagro (21) in the 4th Round. Almagro handed Nadal a rare defeat in Barcelona earlier this year. Ferrer might be up against Dimitrov (11) who will be looking to make a major splash here. Tommy Haas (16), oldest man in the draw at 36 as well as one of the youngest, 20-year-old Dominic Thiem of Austria are ones to watch in this section. Thiem who took out Wawrinka in Madrid could face Nadal in the 2nd round.
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Wawrinka’s Quarter [2/4]: The 2014 Australian Open champion is looking to be the 1st man since 1992 when Jim Courier did it, to win the first two majors of the year. The Swiss should have a relatively easy time getting to the Round of 16 though Feliciano Lopez (26) might be a bit of a task. Wawrinka could face either Fabio Fognini (14) or homecrowd favourite Gael Monfils (23). Richard Gasquet (12) or Murray (7) could be potential quarterfinals opponent for Wawrinka.
Men Bottom Half: Djokovic (2)/Federer (3)
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Federer’s Quarter [3/4]: Federer getting to the finals of majors are no longer foregone conclusions. He has not reached the finals of a major since Wimbledon 2012, his last major victory. In fact, he is now struggling to get to the second week of majors. However, this year, Federer has renewed confidence, strength and a new coach in the form of Stefan Edberg. Things have been going rather well though with the birth of a second set of twins, Federer might be distracted as he lost 2nd round in Rome couple of weeks ago. Nonetheless, Federer will very much like a 2nd French title. He has the unpredictable and enigmatic Tomas Berdych (6) as a possible quarterfinal opponent. There is a possible 4th round clash between the Swiss and Ernests Gulbis (18) of Latvia. An interesting bit of side note: John Isner (10) could possibly face Nicolas Mahut in the 2nd round.
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Djokovic’s Quarter [4/4]: There is no doubt about it that Djokovic wants this title badly and honestly, this is a good year for him to do it. He is the odds on favourite to dethrone Nadal here. His preparations have been excellent and he has beaten Nadal twice this season in emphatic fashion. However, he has a “Swiss problem.” In 2011, the Serbian looked poised to dethrone Nadal as he had beaten him 4 times for the year including twice on clay. Djokovic made it to the semifinals but ran into Federer who handed him his first defeat for the year. Federer is now again in Djokovic’s half. Furthermore, Djokovic has only lost to Swiss players this year; Federer twice and more prominently Wawrinka at this year’s Australian Open. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13) looms in the shadow as a possible Round of 16 foe for Djokovic. There is also a mouthwatering possible Round of 16 match up in this section: Raonic (8) verses Nishikori (9), who is under the tutelage of 1989 French Open champion, Michael Chang. The winner will likely face Djokovic in the quarters.
WOMEN’S DRAW
Women’s Top Half: Williams (1)/Radwanska (3)
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Williams’ Quarter [1/4]: There will not be a repeat of last year’s final as both Williams and Sharapova (7) are in the same quarter and slated to meet in the quarterfinals. Williams may in the 3rd round face her older sister Venus Williams (29) who is far from being a threat these days. However, the younger Williams could face Sabine Lisicki (16) who took her out of last year’s Wimbledon. Sharapova could face 2010 French Open finalist Sam Stosur (19) in the 3rd round and possibly Dominika Cibulkova (9) in the Round of 16. There is a dangerous floater in this section in the form of Kaia Kanepi (25) who has made it to the quarters here in Paris twice in 2008 and 2012.
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Radwanska’s Quarter [2/4]: Radwanska (3) could be facing Angelique Kerber (8) in the quarterfinals if the seeds hold true to form but the Polish number one has to get passed Spain’s Carla Suarez-Navarro (14) in the 4th round. There is a potentially interesting match in the 3rd round between veteran Flavia Pennetta (12) and rising star Eugenie Bouchard (18). Lurking in this section is the 2010 French Open champion and 2011 finalist Francesca Schiavone.
Women’s Bottom Half: Li (2)/Halep (4)
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Halep’s Quarter [3/4] Newly crowned 4th ranked player in the world, Simona Halep will be looking to confirm her new status in the game here in Paris. The Romanian should have an easy time to the quarters as the only player of prominence is Sloane Stephens (15) whose stocks have been quietly declining since her Australian Open semifinal appearance in 2013. Ekaterina Makarova (22) might be a testy opponent for Halep in the 3rd round. Also in this section are 2011 Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova (5) and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic (11) who can potentially meet each other in the 4th round. Last time they played in Miami, Ivanovic lost 12 straight games after taking the opening set. She might want to avenge that horrible loss. Ivanovic will face home crowd favourite Caroline Garcia in the 1st round. 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova (27) is a dangerous floater in this section.
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Li’s Quarter [4/4]: 2014 Australian Open champ, Na Li will be looking to collect her 2nd major of the year with a strong showing here. She will have to get passed Andrea Petkovic (28), Caroline Wozniacki (13) and 3-time semifinalist here Jelena Jankovic (6) in the 3rd Round, Round of 16 and quarterfinals respectively. Jankovic could possibly face last year’s semifinalist and finalist in 2012 Sara Errani (10) in the 4th round. It really should be no problem for the 2nd seed Li to move through to the semifinals at the very least as she has shown herself in the past of being a very competent clay court player. However, Li like top seed Williams, has shown in the past to be capable of self-destructing on court.
