Friday, May 25, 2007
2007 French Open Preview
For the 2nd straight year, the top two seeds, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, are overwhelming favorites to meet in the finals. But unlike last year, Federer now has a victory over Nadal – last week in the Hamburg finals. These two will be such heavy favorites in all their matches leading up to the finals, and so much has already been written about them, that it is far more interesting to speculate on who else might make the quarters and semis, and what unseeded darkhorses could surprise some seeds in week 1.Candidates for the Semis – seeding in parenthesis
1) Nadal (2) – Already a two-time French champ and clay court legend, doesn’t turn 21 until early June.
2) Federer (1) – 10 majors, but no French titles…is this the year?
3) Novak Djokovic (6) – Just turned 20, now 6th in the world, won Estoril a month ago, very capable of beating anyone not named Federer or Nadal on clay.
4) Nikolay Davydenko (4) – The human backboard, lost a tight 3 hour thriller to Nadal in the semis at Rome earlier this month, a semifinalist here in 2005.
5) David Ferrer (12) – Yet another Spanish clay court specialist, a quarterfinalist here in 2005, beat Djokovic at Monte Carlo this Spring, lost to Federer at the other two clay Masters Series events (Rome, Hamburg) this year.
6) Fernando Gonzalez (5) – Made the finals in Rome this year, a quarterfinalist here in 2003, made the finals at the Australian Open this year. Big forehand makes up for average speed.
Candidates for the Quarterfinals
1) Tommy Robredo (9) – A two time quarterfinalist here (2003, 05), he’s been relatively quiet in 2007 so far. His speed and experience make him formidable here.
2) Richard Gasquet (11) – The former French Open juniors champ was a finalist at Estoril and quarterfinalist at Monte Carlo this Spring. As a Frenchman, he’ll have the crowd on his side.
3) Lleyton Hewitt (14) – Injured much of the year, the quick Aussie made the semis of Hamburg in 2007. He was a quarterfinalist in 2001 and 2004, lost to Nadal in the 4th round last year.
4) Guillermo Canas (19) – A quarterfinalist in 2002 and 2005, the Argentine has been on fire in 2007, boosting his ranking from # 142 to # 22. Made the finals in Barcelona (Nadal) and Miami (Djokovic) this Spring.
5) Tomas Berdych (10) – The tall (6’ 4”) Czech lost in the 4th round last year to Federer. Only 21, he’s playing in his 4th French Open after making the semis of Monte Carlo and quarterfinals in Rome this year.
Round of 16 Candidates….and Maybe Beyond?
Nicolas Almagro (32), Juan Carlos Ferrero (17), David Nalbandian (15), Carlos Moya (23), Mikhail Youzhny (13), Gilles Simon, Philipp Kohlschreiber (28), Paul-Henri Mathieu, Filipo Volandri(29), Juan Ignacio Chela (18), Marat Safin (22), Marcos Baghdatis (16), Julien Benneteau (30), Jurgen Melzer (27)
Unseeded Darhorses…Could Upset Some Seeds
Juan Monaco, Marc Gicquel, Potito Starace, Igor Andreev, Gael Monfils, Fernando Verdasco
Interesting 1st Round Matchups:
Sebastien Grosjean vs. Marcos Baghdatis
Arnaud Clement vs. Ivan Ljubicic
Fabrice Santoro vs. Juan Ignacio Chela
Olivier Rochus vs. Gael Monfils
Jurgen Melzer vs. Jose Acasuso
Radek Stepanek vs. Fernando Gonzalez
Florian Mayer vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu
Luis Horna vs. Nicolas Massu
Igor Andreev vs. Andy Roddick
Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Rafael Nadal
So there you have it, a quick guide to what we might see at the French Open in the next two weeks. Enjoy the tennis, and look for frequent updates on the tourney from Todd’s Tennis Takes.
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