By Roger Childs
Victory goes to the most tenacious. –Aviator Roland Garros
Full house to say farewell to the legend
Fans packed Court Philip Chatrier in Paris on Tuesday to watch the first round match between the King of Clay and 14 times Roland Garros winner, Rafael Nadal, and fourth seed and recent winner of the Italian Open, Sacha Zverev. The knowledgeable crowd knew that this could be the Spanish legend’s last game on the hallowed centre court in Paris.
The Spanish maestro has established a record for victories in the French grand slam which will probably last for the rest of the century. Sadly over the last two years he has been plagued by injuries and Rafa at the age of 37, accepts that his days at the top are numbered. In the match against Zverev, he showed glimpses of his class with some wonderful retrieving and passing shots, and beautiful placements down the line. It was an entertaining match, but the younger German was too fit and strong winning 6-3 7-6 6-3 Needless to say the popular Spanish maestro received a standing ovation at the end of the match.
Prospects for the men’s and women’s singles titles
The last 7 Masters tournaments – which have the highest ranking points outside of the grand slams – have been won by Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannick Sinner, Stephanos Tsitsipas, Casper Rudd, Nikolai Rublev and Zverev. Note that Novak Djokovic doesn’t feature in that list, but he is the world number one and defending champion, and is keen to pick up his 25th major. Any of the above eight players could win at Roland Garros this year. Furthermore there are others like Dane Holger Rune and Pole Hubert Hurkacz who might upset the top seeds. With two rounds having been played all of these quality players are through to the third round.
The winner of women’s title is likely to be either top seed Iga Swiatek from Poland or Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka the second seed. The latter is tall and strong, whereas the Pole, who is the defending champion is smaller but more skilful. Upsets often occur at Roland Garros and Swiatek looked likely to be bundled out in the second round by four times grand slam winner Naomi Osaka. The Japanese was leading 5-1 in the deciding set but fell apart allowing the Pole to take the initiative just sneak through. Third seed Coco Gauff would love to win her first major, but is not quite in the class of the top two.
The way ahead
As the rounds play through the competition gets tougher and the top players cannot afford to have an off day. So far the quality of the play has been excellent and this will definitely continue. The large crowds have enjoyed the atmosphere and the brilliance of the top players. There has been some windy and wet weather, but so far the program is on schedule.