French Open 2021: Top 5 Players to Watch Out For
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Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas
After successful tournaments held amidst the pandemic, its time for Roland Garros. The French Open is set to go underway on 30th May, 2021. Rafael Nadal is the defending champion and is the favorite to win here in Paris. He has an impeccable win loss record of 100-2 in the French Open. Roger Federer is also set to play in the event having just played 3 matches on tour in 2021. The top seed and last year’s runner up, Novak Djokovic will be hoping to lift the title for the second time in his career and will also be looking to close gap with Federer and Nadal in the grand slam tally. Both Federer and Nadal have 20 grand slams each while Djokovic sits at 18. The 2015 champion, Stan Wawrinka has withdrawn from the tournament as he continues to recover from a left foot injury that required a procedure in March and former world number 1, Andy Murray has also withdrawn from the qualifying event.
There are certain players who are under the radar of the people. The fans are eager to know how these players would perform in the French Open, 2021. So, Let us look at the 5 players who could make a mark in Roland Garros, 2021.
1. Roger Federer
Roger Federer had made a comeback after 13 months when he played in ATP 250 event at Doha, Qatar. He managed to win the opening match against Dan Evans with the score line of 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 but ultimately lost to the eventual champion, Nikoloz Basilashvili in the next round with the score line of 6-3, 1-6, 5-7. Just after his exit at Doha, he conveyed it to the fans through social media platforms that he will not be competing in Dubai and rather go back to training once again for practice.
After 2 months of training, Federer again made a comeback on tour in the ATP 250 event at Geneva, Switzerland. He was participating in a clay court event after almost 2 years and his comeback was cut short by Pablo Andujar as he was beaten in 3 sets with the score line of 4-6, 6-4, 4-6.
The 20 time grand slam champion has himself said that he cannot even think to win the French Open and his main focus is Wimbledon. The veteran will be 40 years of age in August this year and the clay has never been his favorite surface. Considering all above factors, it will be interesting to see how he performs at Roland Garros, 2021.
2. Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev has been in good form recently as he was the last man standing in the Madrid Open. He had beaten the 8th seed, Matteo Berrettini in the finals in 3 sets with the score line of 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. After winning in Madrid, the world number 6 bowed out in the quarter finals to the eventual champion, Rafael Nadal. Interestingly, Zverev had won 3 consecutive matches against Nadal before losing to him with the score line of 3-6, 4-6. He would be looking to make a deep run in this year’s Roland Garros as he was only able to make till the round of 16 in the last year’s French Open.
Zverev has performed extremely well in the ATP events but unfortunately, he is not able to replicate the same success when he plays in a grand slam. Many people think that the world number 6 has a tendency to “choke” at pressure situations at the mega events.
The German had reached his maiden grand slam final in the US Open last year after going down to Dominic Thiem in a 5 set thriller with the score line of 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. The world number 6 had reached the quarter finals of the Australian Open this year and ultimately lost to the eventual champion, Novak Djokovic. The Serbian won the match in 4 sets with the score line of 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6. Zverev’s precise and powerful backhands are his main strength as sometimes the opponents are taken off guard. It will be interesting to see how he performs here in Paris.
3. Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas has been in good form recently as he was the last man standing in the Monte Carlo Masters. He had beaten the 6th seed, Andrey Rublev in the finals in straight sets with the score line of 6-3, 6-3. After winning in Monte Carlo, the world number 5 was the runner up in the ATP 500 event in Barcelona. He lost to Rafael Nadal in three sets with the score line of 4-6, 7-6, 5-7.
The 22 year old would be looking to make a deep run in this year’s French Open like the last year as he made it to the semi finals but ultimately lost to Novak Djokovic in a 5 set thriller with the score line of 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1. Tsitsipas had reached the semi finals of the Australian Open this year but was defeated by Daniil Medvedev. The Russian won the match in straight sets with the score line of 6-2, 6-4, 7-5. The next gen star had beaten Rafael Nadal in the quarter finals in 5 sets. He had made a tremendous comeback as he came from 2 sets down to win the match with the score line of 3-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The young gun has a tendency to perform well in the pressure situations and therefore has a chance to go deep in this year’s French Open. The single handed backhand from behind the baseline is Tsitsipas’s main strength.
4. Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem did not have a good run in the recent past on the ATP Circuit. He was out of form and after that he took a break from the tour after a disappointing show at ATP 500 event at Dubai. The world number 4 recently lost in the 2nd round to Cameron Norrie at the Lyon Open after receiving a Bye in the first round. Norrie had defeated Thiem in straight sets with the score line of 6-3, 6-2. Thiem also had a disappointing run at the Rome Masters as he lost to Lorenzo Sonego in the round of 16. He lost to Sonego in 3 sets with the score line of 4-6, 7-6, 6-7.
Thiem has the capability to challenge the top guns on the tour as he has a decent head to head record against the big 3. Nadal leads the head to head tally against Thiem by 9-6 while Djokovic leads the tally by 7-5. Interestingly, Thiem leads the head to head tally against Federer by 5-2. The 27 year old had finished runner up in the 2018 and 2019 at the French Open losing to Rafael Nadal on both occasions.
The Austrian had made it to the quarter finals at the Roland Garros last year as he was beaten by Diego Schwartzman in 5 sets. The Argentine won the match with the score line of 6-5, 5-7, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2. The world number 4 had won his maiden grand slam last year at the US Open by defeating Alexander Zverev in a 5 set thriller. The score line of the match was of 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. Thiem’s main strength is the ability to hit powerful ground strokes behind the baseline which suits in the slow courts such as clay court. It will be interesting to see how he performs at the Roland Garros considering his form in the recent past.
5. Daniil Medvedev
Another player to watch out for is the world number 2, Daniil Medvedev. The Russian has never won a match at the French Open and clay is not the surface he prefers. He will have a point to prove at this year’s Roland Garros as he is currently ranked number 2 in the world.
Medvedev had a disappointing clay court swing this year as he failed to make the quarter finals in both ATP 1000 events at Madrid and Rome. He lost to Cristian Garín at Madrid in the round of 16 with the score line of 4-6, 7-6, 1-6. The Russian failed to win a match at Rome as he lost to fellow countryman, Aslan Karatsev in the round of 32 with the score line of 2-6, 4-6.
Medvedev has the capability to challenge the top guns in the circuit as he was on an unbeaten run of 20 matches till the Australian Open, 2021 final. He was beaten by Djokovic in the final with the score line of 5-7, 2-6, 2-6. The Russian had also beaten the likes of Dominic Thiem, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the ATP World Tour Finals title which was which was held in November last year. The backhand shots Medvedev makes from the baseline is his main strength but he also has to keep a positive mindset while playing at the clay surface. It will be interesting to see how far he goes at the French Open this year.
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Sachit Srivastava
(133 Articles Published)