With arguably one of the best starts that one could have hoped for, to the 2017 season, the tennis fans all around the world are eagerly awaiting the start of the clay court season leading into the french open. The Australian open produced some of the remarkable upsets, and some wonderful surprises by turning back time and giving us all two dream finals.
After racking up some good numbers in Melbourne, all eyes will now be on the king of clay Rafael Nadal, as the clay season kick starts. He has won nine times at the french open, stamping his authority in the dirt, like none ever has, but a lot has changed since the last time he won here. Boris Becker the former coach of Novak Djokovic has said that, given the quality of tennis that Rafa and Roger produced during the two weeks in Melbourne, Rafa will be the favorite this year at the french open. Roger has also made it clear that if he is to win another slam on this year’s tour it will probably be at Wimbledon or the US open.
A lot of young guns have broken through and have shown that they are ready to take on the history makers. After the addition of Carlos Moya to his squad, he has truly made some small tweaks and little improvements to his game, that might actually help him to be a force to be reckoned with.Players such as Alexander Zverev, Gael Monfils, and Stan Wawrinka, apart from the duo of Andy Murray, and Novak Djovokic, are names that might strike out in the clay court season. Probably it will all depend on the preparation level and match practice and the number of titles they accumulate before the french open starts.
Rafa has withdrawn from the tournament at Rotterdam, suggesting he will rest for a few weeks before starting his clay court season, after a tiring Australian open. Stats suggest that the king of clay will still be the man to beat at the French open. But, probably it’s too early to let the rabbit out of the hat yet. Maybe we should just hold on to our thoughts for a few more weeks before the clay court season actually kicks off, and hope that the brilliant start to the men’s tennis this season just continues to flourish, with more intensity, drama, and passion that we were so used to seit’sg during the times when the pair of Roger and Rafa dominated the rankings as well as the tournaments.