For about 130 years now,the French open gets better and more exciting year in year out and this year will not be a exception as defending champion Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have incredibly landed in the same half of the draw for this year’s Roland Garros in Paris for the first time in the history of the tournament.
We are going to preview the second tennis Grand slam of 2021 which is the French open.
The 2021 French open is scheduled to be played from 30th May 2021 to 13th June 2021 in Paris,France.All the regular events like singles,doubles,mix-doubles,wheel chair and junior tournaments are all approved.
It is worth noting that the tournament dates were pushed by a week because of the Covid-19 pandemic which leaves just one week gap between the French open and Wimbledon this year.
In the past years,players usually need a two week break to get adjusted to the grass court after a grueling clay court season,so it’s going to be interesting to see how players are going to change their schedules for both tournaments this year.
Based on the current form and clay court records,here are the top 5 players to watch out for this year’s Roland Garros.
NUMBER FIVE
#5
One player to watch out for is Russian, Aslan Karetsev.
The Russian started the year with the ranking of 114 in the world and quickly climbed to to 27 following his impressive debut at the Australian open.
Katetsev is the first man in open era to reach the semi-final in his grand slam debut.After winning the 2020 Dubai open,he has defeated world number 1 Novak Djokovic on clay at the Serbian open for the biggest win in his career so far.He is definitely one of the players to watch out for a few upsets.
NUMBER FOUR
#4
Dominic Thiem is the next player on our watchlist.The two time Roland Garrors finalist and reigning U.S open champion knows how to handle pressure when it comes big games.He has been the second best player only to Rafael Nadal as far as the clay court is concerned in the last two years and he will be hoping for a bad day at the office for for Rafael Nadal to finally cross the line at the French open.
He was injured for a couple of months leading to the tournament but he is back!!
NUMBER THREE
#3
Stefanos Tsitsipas is as confident as ever,fresh off winning his first masters 1000 title at the Monte Carlo Masters.The Greek maintained his great form in Barcelona where he held the championship point against Rafa before ultimately falling short.
He is the youngest player ranked in the top 10 by the Association of Tennis professionals and has a career high ranking number 5 in the world,making him the highest-ranked Greek player and he will love to challenge the big guns and compete for the ultimate at the French open this year for his first Grand slam.
NUMBER TWO
#2
At number two,we have the modern day great Novak Djokovic who can will get any short-honoring debt,accuracy and positioning time after time,again again for as long as it takes.
He has always done well at the French open,winning it in 2016 and finishing as a runner up in four different occasions.He is the favorite to challenge Rafa and Roger for the Grand slam record but he has to do really well to get pass Rafa to add another French open to his name.
Before we go to our number one pick,just a quick note that Roger Federer is scheduled to play this year’s French open as he continues his return from injury.Federer is making his comeback after two knee operations and has played a Grand slam since January 2020.
The 20 time Grand slam winner is hoping to bounce back stronger.
However,there are no high expectations from Roger Federer’s fans this year but he wouldn’t normally enter any tournament unless he think he will do well.
Let’s wait and see whether the 39 year old will have a glorious comeback.
NUMBER ONE
#1
That brings us to the number one player on our watchlist and there are no prizes for guessing.
The French open is synonymous with Rafael Nadal as he won it staggering 13 times in 16 attempts in his career so far.
He is not known as the king of clay for nothing as he has 91.6 percent success rate on the surface.
After 493 matches played on the red dirk,he has won an astonishing 452 matches,winning 61 titles in the process.It is hard to stop the Spaniard when he is playing on clay and this year is no different.
He is the favorite once again to lift the trophy but he could see some stiff competition this time round.
Rafael Nadal goes into the competition as the defending champion having won it in 2020 after beating Novak Djokovic 6-0,6-2,7-5 in the final.
Who is the winning the 2021 French open?
By: Yahaya Abdul-Wahab(Abdul)
