Next Sunday (05/22/2022) the French Open will start, the qualification for the second Grand Slam-Tournament of the year is already underway. Who are the favorites for the women, who leads the field for the men? A favorite check from sportschau.de.
Men’s favorites
Novak Djokovic (world ranking: 1st place): After the violent turbulence about his vaccination status at the Australian Open in January, which ultimately led to his exclusion from the tournament, the industry star has found his way back to success. Just in time for the top event, the Serb presented himself in excellent form at the Masters tournament in Rome and won the final against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Djokovic will do everything in Paris to win back the sympathy he lost among tennis fans at the beginning of the year and his impressive win last year (against Rafael Nadal). Roland Garros to repeat.
Rafael Nadal (world ranking: 5th place): 13 victories at the most important clay court event in the world – Rafael Nadal is the tennis king of Paris, no one has won there more often. The Mallorcan got off to a perfect start to the season with his record Grand Slam tournament victory in Australia, but most recently in Rome he was struggling with severe foot pain again.
Nadal goes into his favorite tournament this year without a title on clay. If the foot holds, he’s still a very hot contender for the title. On Wednesday Nadal was at least able to train.
Carlos Alcaraz (world ranking: 6th place): The shooting star of the scene – you have to have him on the bill in Paris too. Just turned 19 two weeks ago, the youngster from El Palmar in Andalusia is one of the absolute clay court specialists.
Most recently, he won the Masters tournament in Madrid on clay. He had beaten Nadal, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in the final in a row, climbing to sixth place in the world rankings, his best placing to date. Alcaraz sat out in Rome – his appearance in Paris is eagerly awaited.
Favorite field for women
Iga Świątek (world ranking: 1st place): For the women, the world number one Iga Świątek from Poland is the big favourite. She recently won 28 games in a row – who should stop her? “She has dominated women’s tennis for the past few months since Ashley Barty’s retirement and has shown she is the boss right now.”said Paris Tournament Director Amelie Mauresmo, referring to the current event.
Most recently, Świątek won the hard court tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami as well as the events in Rome and Stuttgart on clay. If she brings her spontaneity and naturalness as well as her great impact variability to the Parisian ashes, there is no way around the 2020 French Open winner.
Barbora Krejčíková (world ranking: 2nd place): Similar to Nadal in the men’s field, it is not entirely clear whether Barbora Krejčíková can start in Paris one hundred percent fit. The 26-year-old Czech was recently suffering from an arm injury and was unable to start at the tournaments in Miami and Indian Wells.
Last year she surprisingly won the French Open after beating Anastassija Pavlyuchenkowa in the final – her greatest success in singles. And a healthy Krejčíková is certainly one of the players who are most likely to beat Iga Świątek.
Ons Jabeur (world ranking: 6th place): The Tunisian is currently in brilliant form. A week ago she won the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid – her biggest career title so far. Then she also made it to the final in Rome, also a tournament of the highest class, and was only beaten by top athlete Iga Świątek.
This shows that the 27-year-old Jabeur can also be expected in Roland Garros, especially since she still has an open account at the tournament in Paris. In 2020 and 2021 it ended in the round of 16. Now she wants to show that she can do much better.
Source: mike