It’s the King of Clay against a 23-year-old uber fit Norwegian. Nadal has been the one to emerge from the Novak-Alcaraz-Rafa brutal section and Casper Ruud came through the “this is anyone’s guess” bottom half of the draw. This is the first Slam final for Ruud, it will be Nadal’s 30th. There’s a 13-year age gap, over the course of 5 sets could it make a difference? Continue reading French Open Mens Final Preview 2022
Ash Barty is retired, Novak is back and the Russians are still banned at Wimbledon. Storylines at the Slams are forever changing; making Melbourne seem light years ago, yet the French Open is days away. Continue reading French Open Preview 2022
Here we have a player who is in the GOAT conversation against a player looking for their first Grand Slam title. It’s Novak Djokovic v Stefanos Tsitsipas for all the glory at Roland Garros A Sunday final on the red dirt of Paris without Rafa Nadal is talk of heresy, but here we are after Novak played one of the best matches of his career in defeating the 13 time French Open Champion. Continue reading French Open Mens Final Preview 2021
The 33rd ranked Barbora Krejcikova has spent much of her Grand Slam tennis life stuck in qualifying, barely making the main draw. The 32nd ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has had a career of upset wins mixed in with early round losses. Now, they are in the French Open final and one will emerge a Grand Slam Champion. Continue reading French Open Womens Final Preview 2021
The second Grand Slam of the year begins next week, when qualifying matches will get underway at Roland Garros, with main draw starting May 30th. Summer in Paris is the pinnacle of the dirty, dusty clay court season. The French covid cases have dipped from 35,000 per day a month ago to 14,000, which will allow more fans into the stands. Continue reading French Open Preview 2021
This is the marquee final the tennis world wanted to see. It’s Rafa vs Novak, two heavyweights of the game who are chasing history. They’ve played so many big matches throughout the years including eight Grand Slam finals. That record stands at 4-4. Nadal skipped the US Open due to virus concerns, Novak was famously defaulted from it, now they both have a chance to close in on Federer’s 20 Slams. Novak is on 17; Rafa is at 19, whoever wins tonight are one step closer to tennis immortality. Continue reading French Open Mens Final Preview 2020
This match will be in terms of combined age the youngest Grand Slam final in twelve years. Iga Swiatek is a 19-year-old Polish player who has never made it further than a quarter final in any tour level event. These two weeks she’s been on the run of a lifetime, coming in unseeded she has ripped through the draw without losing a set. Continue reading French Open Women’s Final Preview 2020
Lets get down to the nitty gritty. I love that phrase. Rafa Nadal has never lost a French Open Final and this will be his 12thfinal in Paris. That’s a crazy number. His only two losses at Roland Garros were to an out of this world performance from Robin Soderling in 2009 and a locked in Novak Djokovic in 2015. Continue reading French Open Mens Final Preview 2019
It’s the dream matchup we didn’t dare possible before this French Open started, we didn’t think we’d see it again on the dirt of Paris. Tomorrow nights’ semi final between two champions who have pushed each other since they first met in Miami in 2004 will play for the 39thtime. Rafa leads the head to head 23-15, although Federer has won the last five but Rafa leads their French Open matches 5-0. This will be tasty. Continue reading Federer vs Nadal 39
The big 3 cruise
Federer, Novak and Rafa have all looked good in their opening rounds; only Rafa has dropped a set, last night to David Goffin, the Belgian roadrunner. Federer was tested in the 3rdround by Casper Ruud, who took him to a tiebreak in the 3rdset but came through in straight sets, hitting 11 aces and 52 winners, the Swiss plays Leonardo Mayer next who he leads 3-0 in the head to heads. Continue reading French Open Thoughts Week 1