With his athleticisim and agility, Rafael Nadal looks set to equal Bjorn Borg’s record six French Open titles. A Seshan takes a look at his chances
The second Grand Slam of the 2011 tennis season, the French Open, commences on May 22 at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris. Roland Garros was a famous and daring French aviator and World War I pilot. The French Open ends the spring clay court season in tennis. The venue is less than half the size of those of the other three, viz, the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, leaving the authorities with only two viable options to accommodate the growing number of spectators: either the expansion of the existing facility or the relocation of the event, both of which are being debated.
The championships will start on a Sunday unlike the other three Grand Slams which begin on Monday. It is played on clay in contrast to the Plexicushion of the Australian Open, the hard court of the US Open and the grass of Wimbledon. It is a slow surface with a bounce higher (above the shoulder) than on other surfaces that makes the serve not as effective as in the case of the latter. As a result, serve-and-volley players like John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Pete Sampras failed to win the title despite their high rankings. The Europeans (other than the British) and Latin Americans enjoy the advantage of having been brought up on clay unlike the British trained on grass and the Americans and the Australians on hard courts. It is a different ball game altogether with finesse required like in drop shots as against the brute force of aces and smashes on the faster surfaces. Sliding to take a ball is a unique feature of clay courts.Slice is effective on clay. Since the commencement of the Open era in 1968, Latin Americans and mainland Europeans have won the French Open in 37 years, the remaining being shared by US (4) and Australia (2). Of the 43 women’s championships since 1968, 13 were won by the US, 5 by Australia and one by UK, the balance accounted for by mainland Europe and Latin America. Because the game is slow and played from the base line, there is scope for long rallies. The current record for the number of shots in a rally at the French Open is reported to be 68 in a match between Mats Wilander and Guillermo Vilas in 1982.
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The three tennis champions who will be most motivated to win the French Open, each for his own reason, are Rafael Nadal, the defender, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Of them, only Nadal and Djokovic have had consistently good records at clay court events. Federer’s performance has not been top class. But his motivation would be to show that he is still a player to reckon with.
For Nadal, a left-handed player, a win this year would mean a sixth victory, equaling the record of Bjorn Borg, though not consecutive. He is World No. 1 and acknowledged as the King of Clay. His athleticism shows up in his agility on the court and bulging biceps. He seems to be all over the court at the same time! Becker once said anyone playing against Nadal should avoid engaging him in long rallies. However, his backhand is not as strong as his other strokes. I have seen him taking advantage of the slowness of clay to convert a backhand into a forehand! The tactic is to move to the other side of the ball using the time available.
Going by the current rankings, I would expect the draw to be such that Nadal and Djokovicto meet in the final of the French Open this year. Novak is in top form and has had a 38- match winning streak that includes titles at the Australian Open and several ATP Masters tournaments. He defeated Nadal in Madrid and Rome recently. If Queens Club is the tune-up for Wimbledon, the Rome Masters is the preparatory ground for the French Open, being the last clay court event before the Grand Slam. If he is successful at the French Open, it would mean being halfway to a calendar-year Grand Slam, last achieved by Rod Laver in 1969. After the defeat at Rome, Nadal admitted that Novak “is very, very good, that's the problem. He has all the shots.”
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For the women’s title, the chief contenders are Caroline Wozniacki, Samantha Stosur, Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova. Sharapova’s decisive win at the Italian Open on May 15 should inspire her to do her best at the French Open as it is the only missing championship to qualify her for the Career Grand Slam. Francesca Schiavone, the defending champion, has not been much in the news recently.
As for Indians, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi brought glory to the country by winning the Men’s Doubles twice (1999 and 2001). Bhupathi has the additional distinction of winning the Mixed Doubles in the French Open in 1997 partnering Rika Hiraki. Combining with Lukas Dlouhy, Paes won the doubles in 2009. Having had some brilliant successes recently, there is a good chance of the Indian duo winning the doubles championship. They are currently world No. 1 in doubles. Ramesh Krishnan had been the Junior Singles Champion in 1979. Vijay Amritraj could go up to the third round in 1974. Ramanathan Krishnan could play only at Wimbledon and not at the other Grand Slams due to lack of sponsorship. The Indo-Pak team of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi may be expected to move into the second week. They shocked Paes and Bhupathi at ATP Indian Wells in March when the latter were nursing injuries.
Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza may do well in the first week of singles. Sania’s best has so far been the second round in Mixed Doubles in 2007. She reminds me of the punishing forehand of Steffi Graf and the whacking of balls by Monica Seles. She is effective both down the line and cross court. Her ground strokes are solid. Two areas where she needs to improve are service and backhand.
