Paris: “Jeu, set et match Rafa Nadal.” The words are likely to be heard seven times at the French Open as the Spanish juggernaut guns for a record-extending 11th title at Roland Garros.
Nadal, who has a 79-2 win-loss record on the Parisian clay, enters his title defence after a stellar season on his favourite surface. He won at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, claimed a record 50 consecutive sets, then bounced back from defeat in Madrid to take the title in Rome.
His last defeat at Roland Garros came in 2015 when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. While upset by Dominic Thiem in Madrid earlier this month, he will be harder to beat in the best of five sets.
“Nadal is always the favourite, then I come behind with four or five other players,” said Thiem, who ended Nadal’s 50-set winning streak.
The 24-year-old Austrian is the only player to beat Nadal on clay in the last two years but he was thrashed in straight sets by the Spaniard in last year’s French Open semifinals. Still, Henri Leconte, the 1988 runner-up, feels Nadal could be vulnerable.
“For the moment Dominic Thiem beat him in Madrid but still Rafa is the number one,” he said. “But there’s still an opportunity for someone to beat him at the French. It’s difficult because it’s five sets. I don’t know why but there could be an opportunity. He is the best player of all time on clay.”
If Thiem cannot deliver, the 21-year-old Alexander Zverev might be the man in the absence of Roger Federer, who is skipping the claycourt season.
“Zverev is way more mature now in the last two or three months, even since Australia,” three-times French Open champion Mats Wilander said.
Zverev lost to Nadal in the Rome final but showed the full potential of his game when he took the second set 6-1 before fading away. “Nadal doesn’t really have a weakness,” added Wilander.
Although ranked outside the top 20, the 2016 champion Djokovic will also be closely watched, having shown signs that he is emerging from the toughest spell of his career.
Serena, Venus get wildcard
Paris: Serena and Venus Williams were handed a wild card into the French Open women’s doubles as the American sisters seek to add a third Roland Garros title to their triumphs in 1999 and 2010. They have won 14 Grand Slam doubles as a team but since their last win together in Paris they have only featured on two further occasions at the tournament, losing in the first round in 2013 and the third round in 2016.
