As the hectic summer tennis season kicks into high gear, fans have already seen their fair share of drama. Even before the top players paraded into Paris for this year’s French Open, there was already growing buzz over who would be holding the winner’s trophy above their head at the end of the fortnight as the newly crowned champion.
On the women’s side, the overwhelming favorite and defending champion Serena Williams had suffered from illness and poor performances in her warm-up tournaments earlier this season, leaving many to wonder how she would fair in France. Her best friend and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki withdrew from the tournament due to injury, as she had broken her ankle in early April and has not fully recovered. In a similar fashion, Roger Federer broke the hearts of his fans everywhere when he announced he too was skipping the tournament, halting his record of 65 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments played (totaling a phenomenal 17 straight years of Grand Slam appearances). Federer’s had a shaky 2016 so far, as he’s been plagued by both a knee surgery following his Australian Open semi-final loss and now the return of back problems he has cited in the past.
But the drama didn’t stop there. Nine-time French Open champ and the so-called “King of Clay,” Rafael Nadal abruptly announced his withdrawal from the tournament on Thursday, following a second round, straight set victory. Nadal cited a wrist injury as the reason for his exit, ultimately denying him a shot at a record ten titles at Roland Garros.
With both Federer and Nadal absent from the field, one must believe that this year, the French Open is Novak Djokovic’s to lose. Djokovic, the world number one, has been on fire and seemingly unstoppable over the last year and a half. With eleven Grand Slam titles already to his name, Djokovic is surely on his way to catch up to Nadal and Federer’s 14 and 17 titles, respectively. The French Open is the only roadblock in his way from joining them and a small group of other elite players to achieve a career Grand Slam. But it’s certainly not for lack of effort, however. The 29-year-old Serb has been a three-time finalist in Paris--twice falling to Nadal, and last year to Federer’s Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka. Could he have taken home the hardware in the past? Possibly, but Nadal is called the King of Clay for a reason, and when his game is on in Paris, there is almost no stopping him. Wawrinka is a bit more of a dark horse, surprisingly beating the top two seeds en route to earning his two Major titles. However, this year, Djokovic will be the one to come out on top.
In the first week of competition, Wawrinka barely survived the first round, as he was dealt a five-set test against Lukas Rosol. Number two seed Andy Murray had a scary start as well, needing five sets in both his first and second round matches to secure a victory. Meanwhile, Djokovic has had smooth sailing so far, and is yet to drop a set. Wawrinka and Murray pose the greatest threat to Djokovic, simply because they both have the experience of playing for titles on the main stage, and have won them as well. Even big servers like Milos Raonic and John Isner won’t be able to do much damage given that the clay court slows down their monster serves, benefitting an already excellent returner like Djokovic. His eye is on the prize, and this year, he’s destined to get it.
