French Open Tennis Preivew 2008
This years French Open will once again begin on a Sunday. May 25th is the start date and the schedule should see some top early matches on the two show courts of Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen courts.
The French Open is always exciting to watch due to the fact that it allows many of the clay court specialists to excel and can often provide a challenge for many of the top ten players who struggle on the dirt. Andy Roddick is an example of a player who seems to struggle in Europe on the clay although he has proven himself on the clay courts by winning the U.S Clay court championships on a number of occasions. Unfortunately as shown recently Andy Roddick is having back trouble so that will appear to reduce his chances of producing some good results in this year's French open.
The question that most are asking is will Federer be able to win the French Open or will he follow the same path as a former great in Sampras who was unable to win the French Open. The title of being the greatest of all time surely can only be given to a player who has excelled in all four majors. Like most, I believe that Federer probably has his best chance of winning the French Open over the next two to three years before the next generation of players lead by Djokovic come through.
Rafael Nadal is still the man to beat on the men's side and undoubtedly looks forward to the clay court season to exert his dominance over the other players and gain those valuable points that will help him reach the number one position. Roger Federer has shown that he can beat Nadal on clay as displayed last year when he put an end to Nadal's 82-match unbeaten run on clay in Hamburg. Nadal has been the undisputed challenger to Federer in recent years but now Nadal has Djokovic behind him looking to take over the number one position.
Federer is on track to beat Sampras's record of 14 grand slam titles but like Sampras he will always feel a little disappointed if he never wins the French Open. Federer has recruited the help of one of the most well known and successful clay court coaches in Jose Higueras. Higueras who reached the semi finals of the French Open during his career and has also coached Michael Chang, Carlos Moyer, Sergi Bruguera and Jim Courier in helping them win this clay court title. With Higueras by his side; Federer recently won the Estoril clay court tournament in Portugal which surely gave the Swiss champ a confidence boost before he heads to Roland Garros. The question will be can Federer beat Nadal who has had the best of him in the last three years at the French.
On the women's side all eyes will be on Maria Sharapova to see if she can come through on her least favourite surface. Her movement on the dirt has often been an issue with her constant struggle to have the required agility on the clay. If she can master the "slide" and court position recovery then her power will likely be too much for most fellow players. After her winning performance in this years' Australian Open she now is striving to add the French Open trophy to her U.S, Australian and Wimbledon grand slam trophies.
Ofcourse the greatest threat to Sharapova was the clay court queen in Justine Henin who dominated the women's tour last year. Henin won 63 out of 67 matches last year with one of those loses being in the Wimbledon Championships. The shock retirement of Henin (news from may 14th) has opened up the womens draw. Sharapova also faces strong competition from the always exciting Serena Williams although we never quite know which Serena will show up. Williams, like Sharapova has had success on clay this year so we will wait and see as Williams fitness will be what we are looking at with regards to her chances of winning seven matches on the clay. Ana Ivanovic is the new glamour girl on the tour and is definitely a chance although she may just be overpowered by Sharapova and Williams. Her exceptional fitness and footwork on the clay will give her an advantage over her opponents.
Other key points of this years French Open include:
The legends tournament will bring out some former greats such as Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisivic.
The overall prize money at the tournament will be 15,575,960 euros which represent an increase of 2%. Prize money will be distributed evenly between the men and women with the winners of the singles titles each taking home one million euros.
Due to the gambling issues that have plagued the tennis tour over the past year it has been stated that drug tests will be given automatically to players from round 16 onwards.
Philippe Chatrier court has undergone some major work with one of its stands being entirely rebuilt. The main show court now has well over 14,000. It is also important to note that they have renamed all four stands after the famous Musketeers of French tennis. This includes Jean Borotra , Jacques Brugnon, René Lacoste and Henri Cochet.
Finally, the punters have once again placed their money on a Nadal victory followed by Federer, Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and David Ferrer.
On the women's side I believe the champion will come from the following group of players including Williams, Sharapova, Ivanovic and Jankovic as an outside shot. My favourite was Henin but I am sure we will soon learn as to why Henin has retired from women's tennis.
As stated earlier the beauty of the French Open is the opportunity for many so called unknown players to excel and make a name for themselves.
For all our GSC coaches and players I would strongly encourage you to visit Roland Garros and experience the atmosphere first hand. If you are fortunate enough to be there at some other time of the year see if you can pull a few strings and have a hit on one of the courts. Along with the clay courts in Rome and Stuttgart I would have to say that playing on the courts at Roland Garros will give you the ultimate experience of playing on the best clay courts in the world.
We look forward to the French Open and once again the late nights for some who are watching it from Australia and New Zealand.
By David Horne
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