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.
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