Focus
10 Takes From This Year’s French Open
10 topics worth further discussion following the 2018 tournament.
Rafael Nadal (Zimbio.com)
From Rafael Nadal’s 11th Roland Garros title to Simona Halep’s first, here are ten storylines from the French Open that deserves more discussion.
Nadal’s supremacy
1) “Undecima” for Rafael Nadal, unfathomable. 86-2 at Roland Garros, with a 22-0 record in semifinals and finals. His ability to win the pressure matches and pressure points on this surface is unprecedented in this sport, and some would suggest in any sport. As Dominic Thiem’s own coach, Gunter Bresnik, told Christopher Clarey of The New York Times even before Sunday’s final, “He is, for me, the best competitor I ever saw in any sport.” His last two matches were perfect examples. Nadal saved all six break points he faced against Juan Martin Del Potro on Friday, then broke to win the first set and ran away with the match. Similarly on Sunday, he broke Dominic Thiem at love to win the first set, and broke Thiem’s will in the process. Rafa’s enduring success in big moments on clay should be marveled at.
Halep’s triumph at last
2) Simona Halep didn’t achieve success as the majors as quickly as Nadal, but her story is more relatable and inspiring. She lost in the final at the French Open last year despite being up a set and break against an unproven player. How does she respond? She reaches the quarters at Wimbledon just one month later on her weakest surface. She loses that quarter-final in a tight three-setter, when a win would have made her the new number one in the world. How does she respond? She makes the semis and finals just one month later in Toronto and Cincinnati, respectively. She loses an emotional first round against Maria Sharapova at the US Open. How does she respond? She earns the number one ranking just one month later with a run to the final in Beijing. She loses her third major final in Melbourne after saving match points in two earlier rounds. How does she respond? She wins the very next major, despite being down a set and a break in the final. Simona’s ability to continually pick herself back up so soon after each crushing loss should also be marveled at.
Djokovic’s run
3) Some are hailing Novak Djokovic’s run to the quarters as another step forward in his comeback. But I disagree: if anything, this fortnight was a step backward for him. Losing a major quarterfinal to a man who had never before won a match at any Grand Slam event will stun for some time to come, and will rattle his confidence on such occasions going forward. Most disturbing for Djokovic during this tournament was his attitude. Novak’s frustration level during many of his matches was startling, especially considering it often came out at times where he was ahead. Rafael Nadal has talked about the need to enjoy the suffering when on court. Djokovic appears far removed from enjoying competition on the tennis court, and far removed from the player who two years ago held all four major titles.
Serena’s return
4) Serena Williams not being seeded at Roland Garros was quite absurd. Does anyone believe she was not one of the 32 most likely players in the draw to win the tournament? I get that she came in with few matches and few wins, but she’s still a 23-time major champion. Even so, she advanced to the fourth round, with two victories over top 20 seeds. She may have gone much farther had she not gotten injured. And as many have pointed out, I’m sure the seeded players themselves would also agree Serena should be seeded, so they’re guaranteed to not face her before the third round. Just ask Ashleigh Barty. It’s time the majors exercise some discretion, and some common sense, when it comes to seedings. Serena will not be ranked high enough for an automatic seeding at Wimbledon. Your move, All-England Club.
The best-of-five debate
5) Lots of heated debate these past two weeks on twitter as to whether the men should continue to play best-of-five at the majors. I would suggest a compromise (a foreign concept nowadays, I know). Both the men and women play best-of-five at ALL tournaments (majors and non-majors), but sets are played to five with a tiebreak at 4-4 of every set (including the final set). Ad scoring remains, as no-ad eliminates too many pivotal and dynamic points from the match. This would address many issues without losing what makes the sport great. You would still get the drama of five-set tennis, but you speed up play and make each point within a set more meaningful. Match times would be close to the current best-of three-format, with approximately the same number of games required to play out a match (in both the minimum and maximum possibilities). It seems archaic that men and women have different scoring systems and play for different lengths – does any other sport do that? Women should be fully treated as equals beyond equal pay (which they deserve regardless of the scoring systems used), and be given the same amount of court and TV time.
The 25-second rule
6) I’m more curious than ever to see how the introduction of the service clock in the main draw of this year’s US Open will play out. Too many players have abused the rule regarding time allowed between points for too long. The men seem to be the worst offenders here. Nadal regularly goes beyond the 25 seconds allotted from the time the score is announced to the time the serve is struck. And the number of times Djokovic and Cilic bounce the ball before serving has become comical. While I’m all for speeding up the sport, I don’t see these players making any drastic changes to their pre-serve rituals, especially Nadal. Are officials ready to penalize them beyond warnings, and beyond the loss of a first serve, for such infractions? And will a visible clock on court just create more controversy? If umpires are liberal as to when they call the score, such as not immediately calling it after a prolonged point, that doesn’t remove discretion from this issue. And if fans are still making noise when the clock gets to zero, will the server be penalized? I still have more questions than answers, but let’s either consistently and transparently enforce the rule, or get rid of the rule altogether.
Where is hawk-eye?
7) In the year 2018, there’s still too many instances where umpires and players stare down at marks on the court and argue over whether a ball was in or out. If hawk-eye is not exact enough to be utilized on the clay, can’t the technology be further advanced with the proper investment? And even if hawkeye is not perfectly precise on clay, perhaps it should still be utilized. At least it would be a definitive ruling. And even if players argue the mark on the court doesn’t agree with hawkeye, it’s harder to fight with a computer than a human. It’s been reported that the use of hawkeye on clay is an agenda item at the upcoming ATP Player Council meeting prior to Wimbledon, so let’s see what comes out of that.
Umpire should have the ultimate say
8) Why are players allowed so much say as to when a match is stopped due to rain or darkness? This call should be made by the chair umpire and tournament officials, and decisively so. Rafael Nadal should not be able to pack his bag and effectively decide himself that it’s raining too hard to play. Caroline Wozniacki should not be able to stop play for several minutes while arguing it’s too dark to continue. Officials need to take the power back here. If a player doesn’t want to continue, start the service clock and penalize them if they’re not at the service line in time. Players won’t like it, but they’ll oblige accordingly.
The empty seats
9) Something should be done about the amount of empty seats on the lower levels of the show courts in Paris at the start of play. This happens not only on days with 11:00am starts, but even days with 2:00pm starts. I understand how important lunch time is to the French, but if they’re not going to arrive on time, move the VIP seats a bit higher so the empty seats will be less visible on TV. Or alternatively, start play at a later time on the show courts, and only schedule two or three matches per day. The players scheduled first on are robbed of a good atmosphere for their matches. Wimbledon doesn’t have this problem. The US Open is adjusting their show court starting times this year for this very reason. The French should follow their lead.
The troublesome tarp’s
10) Last year at Roland Garros, David Goffin slipped on the rolled-up tarp at the back of the court while chasing down a ball. The injury Goffin suffered to his ankle caused him to miss six weeks of his season, including Wimbledon. A year later, the tarps still sit at the back of the court. Why? This is an incident that could easily happen again, and could easily be prevented if the tarp is moved off the court and instead stored nearby. And for that matter, why do we still have the signs that stand at the feet of the line judges? How many times have we seen players trip on them during the clay court season? In Monte Carlo this year, Thanasi Kokkinakis was on crutches after tripping over one of these signs. The answer as to why they haven’t been removed is, of course, money: advertising space is sold on them. But why continue to unnecessarily put the players at risk of injury? Stick a few extra crocodiles on the walls behind the courts and prioritize the players’ health.
Olympic tennis gets underway on Saturday in Paris, on the grounds of Roland Garros.
While not traditionally thought of as an Olympic sport, the tennis event at the last several Summer Olympic Games has provided some of the sport’s most memorable and emotional moments. Representing their country at the Olympics is one of the biggest achievements in the lives of many tennis players, and the 2024 event being staged at Roland Garros is unquestionably a very special one.
This will be the last tournament in the careers of a pair of three-time Major champions: Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber. And this will be the last Olympics, and likely the last time playing at Roland Garros, for 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal. Rafa’s status for singles is in doubt, but he is committed to playing men’s doubles alongside four-time Major champ Carlos Alcaraz.
Nadal and Alcaraz will play their opening round doubles match on Saturday evening, while Kerber faces fellow multi-time Major champ Naomi Osaka in a blockbuster first round contest to close out the night session. The day session sees both of the top seeds in the singles draws, Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek, play their opening round matches.
The draws for men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles will all be played across the next nine days in Paris.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Saturday’s play begins at 12:00pm local time.
Alcaraz and Nadal practicing this week (twitter.com/ITFTennis
Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni [ARG] (6) vs. Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal [ESP] – 7:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Eight years ago, Nadal won the gold medal in men’s singles at the Rio Olympics, alongside Marc Lopez. And eight years before that, he claimed the gold medal in men’s singles at the Beijing Olympics, notably defeating Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Now he goes for a third gold medal, teaming with the reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon men’s singles champion.
But this is a physically compromised, 38-year-old version of Rafa, who has only played six events within the last 18 months. And while he reached the final just last week in Bastad, that run apparently took a toll on his body. There are reports he may be pulling out of the singles draw in Paris, as a four-hour quarterfinal match last week against Mariano Navone certainly drained the King of Clay.
This will be the first time these two Spanish all-time greats team up, and both have rarely played doubles in their careers. By contrast, Gonzalez and Molteni are both top 20 doubles players. And while they didn’t team together during the grass court season, they’ve won seven titles together within the last 18 months.
However, facing these two Roland Garros champions on Court Philippe-Chatrier will be a daunting task. And Nadal should be less hampered on the doubles court than the singles court. I expect Rafa and Carlitos to embrace the energy of the Saturday night crowd in Paris, and advance to the next round.
Naomi Osaka [JPN] vs. Angelique Kerber [GER] – Last on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Both of these players returned from maternity at the start of the year, though neither has yet rediscovered their top form. 26-year-old Osaka has shown glimpses of it, specifically two months ago at this same venue, when she was just a point away from upsetting Iga Swiatek. 36-year-old Kerber is just 7-14 since returning, and arrives in Paris on a five-match losing streak. Angie announced earlier this week that she will retire from the sport following these Olympic Games.
These two sure-fire Hall of Famers played six times between 2017 and 2022, with Kerber taking four of those six encounters. However, most of those occurred while Angie was at her best, and before Naomi had reached her top level. They’ve never before played on clay, which is certainly neither’s favorite surface.
In the last tournament of her career, Kerber will be extra motivated to achieve a good result. And she’s done so before at the Olympics, as she was the silver medalist back in 2016. At the last Olympics in Tokyo, Osaka seemed distracted and overwhelmed playing in her home country’s Games. But this season, she’s been extremely focused on her tennis, and has dedicated herself to better acclimating to playing on clay. Based on her performance in Paris two months ago, I like Naomi’s chances of prevailing on Saturday, and thus ending Angie’s singles career.
Swiatek practicing this week (twitter.com/ITFTennis)
Other Notable Matches on Saturday:
Iga Swiatek [POL] (1) vs. Irina-Camelia Begu [ROU] – Swiatek is 21-1 this year on clay, and is on a 19-match win streak on this surface. Three years ago at Wimbledon, she thumped Begu by a score of 6-1, 6-0.
Jack Draper [GBR] vs. Kei Nishikori [JPN] – Nishikori was a bronze medalist at the Rio Olympics, but injuries have only allowed him to play four ATP events across the last three seasons. Draper currently sits at a career-high ranking of No.26, thanks to 21 match wins in 2024.
Novak Djokovic [SRB[ (1) vs. Matthew Ebden [AUS] – An Olympic gold medal is the one glaring blemish on the Djokovic CV, and at 37 years of age, this will most certainly be his last good chance to win the gold for Serbia, which might mean more to Novak than any of his other career accomplishments. Ebden replaces Andy Murray in the singles draw, and the Australian hasn’t played a singles match in over two years, as the ITF bizarrely uses doubles players already on site as singles alternates.
Hady Habib [LBN] vs. Carlos Alcaraz [ESP] (2) – Alcaraz will play both singles and doubles on Saturday, and he’s now 33-6 on the year in singles, coming off his fourth Major title at Wimbledon. Habib is a 25-year-old representing Lebanon who has never been ranked inside the world’s top 250.
Rinky Hijikata [AUS] vs. Daniil Medvedev [AIN] (4) – Three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, Medvedev lost in the quarterfinals to eventual bronze medalist Pablo Carreno Busta. Hijikata peaked at No.70 in singles last season, but is just 10-16 in 2024.
Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula [USA] (1) vs. Ellen Perez and Daria Saville [AUS] – Gauff will be the flag bearer for the United States during Friday’s opening ceremony, after missing the Tokyo Games due to COVID. Her and Pegula are regular partners, while Perez and Saville are not, though Perez is a top 10 doubles player.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
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