Curses, marathons, draws and the Grand One

Coupe Suzanne Lenglen and Coupe de Mousquetaires

We are entering this French Open with a lot happening. Here are a few things that you might want to keep a solemn sight on.

1. The Tough Quarter

As has been already analysed here, Federer undoubtedly faces a challenging draw. There was a time in the past when every one of Roger’s early round opponents was considered a bit of a silly hindrance, a mere formality, rather than a player with serious upset-causing potential. Also, those formalities of the past have been around for a while now – long enough to have made appearances in the top 10 over the past few years and therefore be accorded more than normal respect. In fact, Federer’s early round opponents now might be some of his past rivals. David Nalbandian, Andy Roddick and Feliciano Lopez – all of whom are, to say the least, dangerous. And the toughest of them all, a potential Quarter-Final battle with either Tomas Berdych or Juan Martin Del Potro. If you remember 2009,Del Potro started the year with a ridiculously one-sided loss to Roger. Then he took Federer to five in this very tournament, and when they faced off in the US Open final, he finally knocked down the Swiss. For good measure he also defeated him in the World Tour Finals at the O2. I believe that Federer-Del Potro, if it does come to pass, will be one of the matches of the tournament. And if Roger does win that, he earns the chance to take on Novak Djokovic. Talk about a tough draw.

2. Some numbers and statistics

The rankings – Nothing will happen here, at least in the top three.

With over 1700 points separating the top two, the only thing that can stretch longer than that will be a final between these two. They played for 6 hours on a hard court, and for 2 hours (to complete just 2 sets) on clay last week. If these two do get to the final, I would strongly recommend that you stock up on some snack bars, energy drinks or a few litres of coffee or both.

3. The Curse of the Grand Slam Winner

Have you kept an eye on the performances of the last women’s Major champion in the next Major of the year? If not, you need to get alarmed. In the past one year, no Slam champion has gone past a couple of matches in her very next Slam. The title of ‘reigning Slam champion’ is an incredibly dangerous one, it seems. It might even be cursed. It all began with Kim Clijsters. She won in Melbourne last year. She then went out in the 2nd round in Paris, where Li Na won. Li Na lost in London in the 2nd round where Petra Kvitova triumphed. Kvitova crashed out of New York in the 1st Round. Sam Stosur won there and in her home Slam, completed the cycle by going out in straight sets in the 1st Round.

Keep your eye on Vika Azarenka while she lasts.

4. The “Grand” Slam

Novak Djokovic will enter this French Open as the holder of the titles at all the other three Majors. The last time a player had a chance to win the “Grand Slam” was when Rafael Nadal entered the 2011 Australian Open. Roger Federer actually came within TWO points of this glory. He won in Paris and London in 2009 and in Melbourne in 2010. He was 30-30 in the fourth set against Del Potro and was up 5-4.

Will Novak be able to do it, though, is a very tough question to answer. Firstly, Rafael Nadal has re-established his clay-court superiority. If the win against Novak in Monte Carlo wasn’t of much significance then the win in Rome certainly was. Novak was in good form there but Rafa was better. That win, more than the Monte Carlo one, might released Nadal from his mental shackles.

Novak can certainly do it. If he does do it…well, let’s wait for that moment.