French Open Tennis will Sizzle

Posted by T. A. Niles May 24, 2007

The time is just about nigh for the red dust to fly in Roland Garros (RG)! You have to know that Rafa's just about rested up from his ordeal in Hamburg and Sharapova is sharpening her game in Istanbul, hoping for a deep run at the second Grand Slam event of the year. Of course almost everyone in the tennis world can’t wait to see if Federer’s win on clay in Hamburg gives him a boost of confidence to help him implement his new-found strategy and win his first French Open, the only Grand Slam missing from his collection. Personally I think he knows that he beat a tired Rafael Nadal and if I were Roger, I’d wear my armor if I faced Rafa at Roland Garros, because he’s bound to come out with guns blazin’ after a 3rd set bagel, about which he could do absolutely nada.

But those waiting for that marquee match-up better not hold their breaths, because we have a rejuvenated Lleyton Hewitt and a resurrected Carlos Moya coming in with the best stuff they’ve sent across a net in a long time. And 23-year-old Juan Monaco is acting like he plans to make some noise at the RG stadium. He took Federer to 3 sets in Hamburg, battled Blake to a 3rd set breaker in Houston last month and just beat Nikolay Davydenko (world no.4) today in Austria (uhm, did somebody say Davydenko wanted to rest up for RG? Wasn’t me). Up-and-comers like Nicolas Almagro and of course Novak Djokovic, who should be well rested after his semis showing in Hamburg, should definitely stir up some parlais en Francais (pardon my uh French) next week!

Gael Monfils had a nice win over Andy Roddick today in Austria, but chances are slim that he’ll get past Hewitt in the semis there, and even slimmer, as in seriously anorexic, that he’ll do much in Paris. Look for Hewitt to face Juan Monaco, who should take down Luis Horna (who?) in the semis. Yeah I know nobody knows Horna, but he can ball, as he showed in sending 3rd-seed Ivan Ljubicic packing in the second round. Psst, don’t tell anybody, but I’m betting Ljubicic wanted a rest before the French and didn’t bring his “A” game to Austria. Yep, look for Monaco to roll Horna like he did earlier this year in Buenos Aires before going down in a good battle with Hewitt for the title in Austria.

That should bring Hewitt into the French with mucho confidence, but after reaching the quarters, maybe even the semis at RG, all the playing he’s done lately should catch up to him and he’ll be back down under for some R&R before making a run at Wimby. Yeah, despite all the hotshots I’m looking for another Nadal-Federer final. As much as I wish it weren't so, look for Rafa to out-grit Roger in a tough 5-setter for the title. Wish I could sell tickets to that one!

On the WTA side of things this week, we have a few of the heavy hitters in Strasbourg, France, tuning up for RG. Jelena Jankovic, the hottest woman on tour (playing tennis you letch), except when she runs into Justine Henin, should collide head on with Amalie Mauresmo in the final. Both have reached the semis and are good bets to move on. I don’t expect either to get past the quarters of the French though. Mauresmo will only get there if patriotism carries her there, and Jankovic should get there, but will have about as much fight as Rafa did against Roger in Hamburg. She’s played a tourney every week since April 3. That’s seven in a row, reaching the quarters and beyond in six, and winning two. No way she can maintain the physical, mental and emotional fortitude to pull out a Slam, especially a git-down-and-dirty Slam like the French.

Some of the French Open contenders chose to play Istanbul, Turkey. Venus Williams was there for a short while. She has been trying to make a comeback, but having less success with that than baby sis, Serena Williams who isn't playing this week. Venus went out to relatively unknown, and no.59-ranked Aravane Rezai in straight sets. Given the shape of her game these days, Venus probably won't do much next week.

Maria Sharapova also chose Istanbul for the venue of her comeback from injury, and is likely to get her first win in some time there. But she’s likely to face big-hitting Elena Dementieva who takes on Alona Bondarenko in the semis. Dementieva is dangerous enough to derail Sharapova’s comeback off an almost two-month hiatus due to her ailing shoulder. Regardless of who wins in Istanbul, neither will be around by the quarters of the French.

I think Serena will be ready to shake up the tennis world yet again by taking the title at Roland Garros. Of course, she has to get by a rested Henin, and a hungry and fresh Sharapova, who is building confidence in Istanbul as we speak. She will have to contend with Svetlana Kuznetsova who has been playing well, but I don’t think her game is suited to win the French. I thought Patty Schnyder was going to present a mild threat, because she has been playing really well and beat Serena in Rome. But she pulled out of Istanbul with strained quads. It surely won’t be as “easy” as the Australian (as if winning any Slam is easy) for Serena, but at the end of the most exciting French Open in years, she’ll be saying, like Muhammad Ali, “I shocked da world!”

Whoever emerges victorious from the red cloud at the end of two sweat-drenched, clothes-stained, and muscle-strained weeks, we will certainly have had all the theater that tennis in Paris can deliver. This show, the French Open, is not yet rated, but it should gross (or should that be Garros) a ton!