French Open has surprisingly had far fewer upsets this year so far. iSporter Hirok Banerjee looks at how the big names have done in the first week of the Open and tells us what to expect in the further rounds.
From the looks of it a mouth-watering match could be on the cards. With most of the top seeds still in the tournament after the the first week, it looks set to be a very absorbing 2nd half at Roland Garros.
Roger Federer, the defending champion is at his usual graceful ruthless self. The lazy perfectionist moving lithely across the court with a strong forehand and an enviable single-handed backhand, is yet to drop a set. This in a context of him landing in a tough draw! The 4th round match with Wawrinka was a perfect example of how Roger operates. Down 3-4, 15-40 in the 2nd set on Wawrinka's serve, any other player would have started thinking of the 3rd set. The next 2 points turned the match decisively. Wawrinka made 2 unforced errors and then that was it. Roger broke back. And when it went to the tie-breakers, Federer with his track record, it was a foregone conclusion. All throughout the match Wawrinka did match him shot by shot and looked very much a part. Do we have a new Federer from the same country? Only, Wawrinka's hunger for perfection and the will to win will decide that. Roger, on his part gave the impression that he hardly exerted himself.
Rafael Nadal stung by an early exit last year on a surface on which he is regarded as one of the best ever is playing some of his best tennis so far. The top-spin forehand and the tireless legs are holding firm. Nadal saw off a spirited challenge from Hewitt in his 3rd round match. Hewitt threw whatever he could at Nadal only to see everything coming back across the net at him. He had no answers to Nadal's questions, much like all of the others who stood on the other end of the court for the last four years.
Of all the claimants to the championship Andy Murray has had a torrid time this year. Nearly out on the 1st round, Murray clawed back and hung on in every match of the first three rounds. This year looked like it might just be England's. Fresh from a T20 World Cup victory, and a football team which is potentially dangerous, Murray could have given his countrymen one more reason to cheer. But that was not to be, as the long matches seemed to have taken a toll on him. He was the biggest catch of the first week as he lost his fourth round match to Berdych in straight sets.
Novak Djokovic, the 6 feet 2 inches Serbian with a big heart and talent to match both Rafael and Roger on any surface is someone whom you can never count out. Having dropped 2 sets so far he hasn’t exactly set the Roland Garros on fire. It will be interesting to see how far he can go on a surface he doesn’t enjoy much. Whether he or anybody else can mount a serious challenge to Federer and Nadal will be difficult to say.
Overall, an engrossing 2nd half on the cards at Roland Garros. So here is to a week of exciting and breathtaking tennis. May the best win!
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
Show/hide comment form
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
