The WTA field in Paris is one filled with great varieties. There is no real clear-cut favourite to take the title. The romantics will surely pick Justine Henin as their favourite, while the French crowd will be cheering for locals, especially Aravane Rezai who took down Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams to win the Madrid title. Venus Williams will go into the French Open with quite a bit of momentum having won a clay court title and was in the Madrid final just last week. Even though Serena Williams is rusty after missing three months due to a knee injury, you can never count out the younger Williams who won the French Open in 2002. Here is an analysis of the top five women seeds.

Fifth seeded Elena Dementieva enters the French open with some recent poor results. Dementieva has not a reached the quarterfinals of a clay court tournament in 2010. Even with the easy draw that Dementieva has received, you can bet your life that she will find a way to choke.

Whoever decided to awaken Jelena Jankovic from her slumber of a full year, I have only six words for you- THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! The win in Indian Wells and the runner-up position at Madrid should indicate that Jankovic should atleast improve on last years showing of a defeat in the fourth round.

Third seed Caroline Wozniacki has sort of lost her momentum since reaching the US Open final, add to that the expectations from her rise to number two in the WTA rankings and you’ve got quite a dilemma on your hands. Only last year Wozniacki had wrestled the WTA Iron Woman title from Jelena Jankovic after the latter pricked her hand on the WTA cursed spindle (the no.1 rank) and fell into a long slumber. With e recurring ankle injury Wozniacki is out of contention for the French Open title, which is such a shame because her counter puncher game is so well suited to the rigorous dirt of Roland Garros.

After putting in a lot of work in Serena Williams’ absence, Venus Williams has finally risen to number two in the WTA rankings. Things are looking positive for Venus after winning twelve matches on clay and winning a clay court title. Roland Garros is the Grand Slam that highlights Venus’ vulnerabilities a great deal, she has lost in the third round here for the past three years! One can never count out Venus; she has a good great game, but an even more powerful determination.

It seems that determination was the chloride to the Williams gene pool, and Serena Williams soaked in more than her fair share. Even though Roland Garros has not been as fruitful a Grand Slam as the other three Grand Slams have proven for Serena, her sheer will power is lethal enough to make her a serious contender on any service. With the women’s field in such disarray, 2010 could just be the year that Serena Williams finally adds a partner to her lone French Open title.

Image Source:

http://www2.tennisserver.com/images/meaney/070607/SerenaWilliams01.jpg

Top 5 Men at Roland Garros

It’s that time of the year again when tennis goes to the gritty dirt of Roland Garros. The French open is renowned for its physically gruelling matches and shocking upsets. It will come as no surprise to a lot of tennis fans that the script has been flipped on its head again. The men’s field is not as strong as in previous years and the Williams sisters are ranked at the top two spots on the WTA rankings for the first time since 2003. Today I want to review the top five players in both the male.

Robin Soderling will most definitely be the fifth seed seeing as both Juan Martin Del Potro and Nikolay Davydenko have withdrew due to injuries. Last year proved to be the jolt Soderling’s career needed when he ended Rafael Nadal’s four year rule at Roland Garros. Since that epic victory Soderling has kept up the momentum to crack the top ten. Soderling is currently enjoying a career high ranking of no.7, but enters the French Open on lacklustre performances in 2010, it is doubtful that he will be able to match last year’s performance.
It seems that Andy Murray has let the ball drop since last year when he (seeded third) reached a career best quarterfinal at the French Open. However, this year Murray will be seeded fourth and with no title in his 2010 resume. Even though many people don’t really expect that much from Murray at Roland Garros, a good draw and his sheer determination might see him repeat last years feat.

What the hell is going on with the third seeded Novak Djokovic? The last two years have seen Djokovic go from being the only player to challenge Nadal and Federer on every surface to being a floater. In 2008 Djokovic reached the semis or better in every clay court tournament he played, he looked to be the only player who could usurp Nadal at the French when he resumed his stellar performance on clay in 2009. With only one semi on clay in 2010 and a withdrawal in Madrid, things don’t look that good for the Djoker.

With four French Open crowns under his belt, Rafael Nadal seems to be on course to a fifth title. The rest of the top 5 has not mounted a serious threat on clay this year. He has dominated in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid. The revised clay schedule for Nadal has ensured that he will enter the French Open very energised.

For the first time since way back Roger Federer will enter the French Open without a clay court title under his belt. Although Federer has been sidelined for a while due to different illnesses post-Australian Open, he has appeared vulnerable in most of his matches during the clay season. He withdrew from Monte Carlo, lost to Ernest Gulbis in Rome and was tested by Ferrer in Madrid. The straight sets loss to Nadal in the Madrid final has re-ignited the Federer- Nadal rivalry.

Image Source:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/04/23/sports/23tennis.600.1.jpg

Serena Does it Again

When I watched the fourth round match between Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka, I got worried for the chances of Serena Williams to go through to the semis. Firtly, Azerenka had demolished Zvonareva after the latter had led by a set and a break- cue code violation for an obscenity by Azarenka- and the suddenly Azarenka started to clubber the hair of that ball, final score 4-6 6-4 6-0 to Azarenka. Secondly, Serena has proven susceptible to losing in grand slam quarterfinals. And thirdly, Serena had never gone past the quarterfinals at Melbourne on an even year…

After watching Venus Williams crumble in the first quarterfinal after serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set, I was pondering whether to watch Serena play or not. After a bit of mental cognisance, I decided to watch – how bad could it be…?

From the first point it was clear that Azarenka meant business, that girl in pink was thumping that yellow ball with so much conviction that I, just like I am sure Serena as well, was left having to assume that the yellow blur was a tennis ball! In no time at all the first set was over. At that point I decided to go make some cereal (it was around 06h30 am in South Africa), imagine my shock when returned to find the score at 6-4 4-0 Azarenka. Abandoning my cereal to watch the last few minutes of Serena’s match, I rationalizing that the score line was reflecting the severity of Serena’s bandages.

In the recesses of my mind I kept thinking of all the great comebacks Serena had pulled at the Australian Open, I was wishing for one more Houdini act, and sure enough my wish was granted (thinking back I should have hoped to win the lottery). To this day I am still not sure if Serena’s comeback was attributed to her waking up from her slumber and raising her level of play or if it was Azarenka taking her foot of the pedal. To be fair to both players I will say both factors came to play. Just like all those other comebacks Serena just went to another level of play that served to illiterate her dominance and skill as well crushing her opponent. After 4-4 in the second set Azarenka’s shots became more hesitant, gone was the reckless abandonment of the first set. None the less I think everyone saw just how great a player Azarenka is destined to be. After that match I ranked her as the player who will be able to beat threaten Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. She has the kind of game that can frazzle even the best of players (if she can keep her temper in check), I expect a big Roland Garros for her.

It seems that Serena Williams has a thing against blondes at the Australian Open. Almost all of her comebacks have been against blonde Europeans i.e; Svetlana Kuznetsova (2009 because Sveta always makes it so easy), Maria Sharapova (2005 revenge for the 2004 Wimbledon final), Kim Clijsters (2003 to complete the Serena Slam), Sha’ar Peer( 2007 for a bit of diversity) and Lindsay Davenport (2005 why not?).

Photo Sources

1) http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/photos/2010-01-30/201001301264851438348.html?glryid=2010-01-30/201001301264854780765

2) http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/photos/2010-01-27/201001271264574426998.html?glryid=2010-01-27/201001271264574720812