Five potential French Open 2012 champions – Tennis Special (Part Two)
Li Na
World number seven, Li Na, had a pathetic year until Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. Suddenly, things have changed for the Chinese superstar who was the proud Asian champion last year at Paris; lifting her maiden Grand Slam
title at the French Open closing ceremony.
Stakes are high for her this time round as well. She needs to defend two thousand points to sustain her ranking amongst the Top-10 players of the world. She might be a bit old to do that, especially after some old big guns coming
back in form but her recent stunning performance in Rome has raised the hope of all Asian tennis fanatics.
Li lost the final to the defending champion, Maria Sharapova, in the final set tie-breaker. So, technically there was absolutely nothing at all to spare between the two players. She needed this kind of a boost to lift her morale
and pump up to defend her title in Paris.
Rome was not the only convincing tour for the Chinese number one during the clay court season. She reached the quarter-final stage of the Mutua Madrid Open as well before falling out to the reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka.
Before that, she stretched the Pole superstar, Agnieszka Radwanska, to three sets in the quarter-final battle in Stuttgart as well.
So, all in all it has been a good clay court performance from the 30-year-old Chinese and that forced me to put her to the fourth spot amongst the five hot favourite players to win the French Open.
Victoria Azarenka
Reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka, wisely forced herself out of Rome to take some rest before the year’s second Grand Slam tournament, the Roland Garros French Open, starting in the final week of May. She saved her fine
by participating in the tournament and also escaped fatigued by withdrawing in the second round stating that she was suffering from a right shoulder injury. To me, it is just a cheeky little decision from the Belarusian who sneaked a time out from professional
tennis after a very hectic season. I like players who make clever decisions to keep themselves fit and fresh for every big tournament.
Azarenka entered the limelight by winning her maiden Grand Slam tournament in the Australian Open and rose to world number one. She was on an unbeaten streak of 26 matches before the French number one, Marion Bartoli, stunned her
in the quarter-final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. During her unbeaten run, she bagged four titles on the trot and registered the best ever season start after former world number one, Martina Hingis.
If she is seriously injured, her chances of winning the French Open are over because the competition is so tough this time around that a player can’t win it carrying an injury. However, her sublime display in the opening round
in Rome showed no signs of any injury at all and it was a strategic decision to get some rest. She is the second hot favourite player in my list to clinch the title at the moment.
(To be continued in part 3)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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