Who is the Favorite to win the 2010 French Open
Before last year if you answered with anyone other than Rafael Nadal, tennis fans would have thought you were nuts. The Spaniard was going to Roland Garros stadium last May looking for his fifth straight French Open title but then Nadal ran into injuries and another champion named. Federer was finally able to break Nadal’s hold on the title, setting up quite the rematch for this year.
The French Open will be played from May 24th through June 7th in Paris. It is billed as the most challenging of all the Grand Slam tournaments because it is the only major tournament that is played on clay. The surface is made of crushed red brick and is much slower than hard courts or grass. The clay tends to grab the ball as it hits the surface, producing a big bounce. This type of surface favors the baseline players and takes away any advantage that the players with the big serves have on the hard court.
Because of his quickness and ability to play defensive tennis, Nadal has been extremely dominant on the clay. Last year was the first time that you saw him falter at the French Open and that was primarily because his knee was bothering him and slowing him down. Assuming he is healthy this year, you must once again consider him to be the favorite to capture the championship. For the 6th year in a row, Nadal captured one of the clay tournaments leading up to the French Open in Monte Carlo in April. He is now the only person in the history of the ATP to win the same tournament six consecutive times. Nadal also won in convincing fashion by absolutely crushing his fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the final.
The number one player in the world did not play in Monte Carlo. Roger Federer made his first appearance on clay this year in Rome and was promptly bounced in the second round by a player ranked 40th. After losing the match to Ernests Gulbis, Federer admitted he has a ton of work to do to get his game into better shape for the French Open. While he stumbled in Rome, Federer already has a Grand Slam title to his credit this season winning the Australian Open in January. Federer has won more Grand Slam titles than any professional in tennis history and would like nothing more than to add to his total with back to back victories at Roland Garros.
In addition to Federer and Nadal, you also have to consider Britain’s Andy Murray, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick of the U.S. as contenders for the title. Murray is probably the best player on the tennis tour to never win a major tournament and he is looking to break through this season. At one point last year, Murray had a streak of five straight victories over Roger Federer but he was badly beaten by Federer in the finals of the Australian Open earlier this year.
Most experts would say that Andy Roddick’s game is not very well suited to the clay but it is hard to do a story on the favorites for the French Open without mentioning the American. Roddick beat Nadal in the finals of the Key Biscayne tournament earlier this year and according to the experts is playing his best tennis in years. The other player who can’t be overlooked is Novak Djokovic. He has been ranked third in the world for four straight years behind Federer and Nadal leaving many to wonder when he is going to break through.
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