Tennis followers are in for a deal with! Roland Garros has arrived, and Wimbledon is quick approaching. Easily the thrilling time in our sport. Two of the largest tournaments condensed over an eight-week interval.
The contrasting surfaces of the clay at Roland Garros and the grass at Wimbledon will see vastly totally different adopted enjoying kinds.
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The French Open is a beast that’s the most bodily demanding of all slams with the purple filth creating heavier enjoying situations. It’s tougher to win free factors with a serve, slightly gamers should interact in gruelling baseline exchanges.
No one did this higher than Rafael Nadal. The most dominate participant on these courts, his harm withdrawal was a large blow to the match. His omission a lot to the frustration of the followers, will likely be seen as a possibility to his rivals, an opportunity for a brand new champion. The query is who will that champion be?
Australia’s greatest possibilities
I’m taking a look at Australia’s male primary, Alex De Minaur as our greatest likelihood. The clay floor is De Minaur’s least favorite of the 4 slams, however his sport isn’t with out advantage on it.
Having grown up on the clay courts in Alicante, Spain, he’s comfy on the floor and we should bear in mind it was solely twelve months in the past within the semi finals of the Barcelona Open that he held match factors towards Spanish phenomenon and world primary, Carlos Alcaraz.
The darkish horse we’ve forgotten about
The Italians have a few of the most enjoyable prospects in males’s tennis. With a lot consideration on Jannick Sinner I believe Lorenzo Musetti is the one to be careful for. Bursting onto the scene when up two units to like towards Djokovic within the 2021 French Open version earlier than operating out of fuel, he’s now extra mature and bodily sound to outlive essentially the most demanding of slams.
The ladies’s draw, in the meantime, additionally has a participant value preserving our eye on for a probably deep run.
She’s gained right here earlier than in 2017, however we haven’t seen Jelena Ostapenko return to that kind since. That is till now. An spectacular 2023 has served as a reminder that class is everlasting.
The Latvian is likely one of the purest ball strikers on the ladies’s tour and possibly the feistiest competitor. Whether it’s frosty handshakes or ongoing battles with digital line calling, there’s at all times a purpose to tune in to Ostapenko’s matches.
And now she’s again to enjoying her greatest, she may very well be on our screens for the complete two weeks. On a aspect word, hold a watch out for her self-designed outfits, they actually divide opinion.
The Men’s Champion
In 2021 I had simply completed a three-hour session at Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Academy with an 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz.
Ranked 130 on this planet on the time everybody was speaking about this child. I used to be blown away with how good he was, as was my coach, Peter Luczak.
Talking over lunch we each agreed that he was going to do huge issues in our sport. Pete proposed a wager within the type of a brand new golf driver that he’d win French Open within the subsequent ten years. I took him up on it, on the time Rafa and Novak had been unstoppable and gamers like Thiem and Ruud had been knocking on the Roland Garros door.
I’ve been regretting that wager ever since! Alcaraz is an absolute beast, he appears the inheritor to Rafa’s throne and the one particular person capable of cease him is one the best to have ever performed the sport in Novak.
The Women’s Champion
I’m trying on the champ, Iga Swiatek, to bounce again right here and declare her fourth Grand Slam title. Knowing how aggressive she is after lacking out on silverware within the lead ups in Madrid and Rome she will likely be seeking to atone. Since successful right here in 2020 she has established herself as one of the best participant on this planet. Watch out for her superior motion which is so essential on clay.
Regardless of who wins the French Open, it shapes to be an excellent version. There’s one thing within the air {that a} altering of guard is approaching. Could or not it’s at this 12 months’s Roland Garros? We’ll discover out in two weeks!
John Millman is an Aussie tennis veteran, with one ATP Tour title to his identify and a victory over Roger Federer within the fourth spherical of the 2018 US Open.
Source: www.news.com.au
