Which Players to Look Out for on the Road to Roland Garros
by Ludovic Becuwe | by Abdel Zairi
Which Players to Look Out for on the Road to Roland Garros
The European clay court tennis season is nearly with us. April 10 sees the Monte Carlo Masters take place with Stefanos Tsitsipas (always a threat) defending the title he won last year. That's followed by two more Masters events in Madrid and Rome on the road to Roland Garros. The French Open begins on May 22 with the men's final due to be held on June 5. Just who are the players to follow in the coming months? It might not be the usual suspects with Rafa Nadal and Daniil Medvedev out at present with injuries. Will rising stars such as Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud and Jannik Sinner be successful?
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How Successful will Novak Djokovic Be?
It's April and Novak Djokovic has only played three matches this year on the ATP Tour. His off-the-court problems have meant he's only played in Dubai, where he won two matches before being beaten in the quarter finals by Jiri Vesely. He's entered for the main clay court tournaments and has a great record on the surface, so will he be a major threat in the coming weeks?
Djokovic has only won the title at Roland Garros twice but been beaten in four finals. With two titles in Monte Carlo, three in Madrid and five in Rome, he is always going to be a player to be feared on clay. It might take him a while to get back into the swing of things but he has to be on the shortlist to win at Roland Garros this year. A victory there would equal the record of 21 Grand Slam men's singles titles currently held by Rafa Nadal.
The Spaniard is out injured at present after that rib injury suffered in Indian Wells. He is likely to miss the early stages of the European clay court season but is expected to be back for the French Open. Daniil Medvedev is also injured but it's possible he could be back for the Grand Slam. Both these absences make the upcoming clay court tennis season even more open.
Zverev Will Be a Threat
Alexander Zverev hasn't had the best of years with one final reached in Montpellier. On clay though, the German will always be a threat. He's won six titles on this surface and will be defending the Madrid Masters this year. He beat Rafa Nadal on clay last year, so that's how good he can be. He also made it to the French Open semi-finals, losing in five sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Zverev has won the Madrid Masters twice and the Rome Masters once. If regaining his best form, then more titles could well be on the way for the current world number three.
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Alcaraz Racing Up the Rankings
With Rafa on the sidelines at present, a new Spanish threat has emerged on the tour. Carlos Alcaraz is only 18 years old (he's 19 on May 23) but recently won the Miami Masters. Only Nadal has earned more ranking points than Alcaraz this year and the teenager is up to 11th in the world rankings.
Can he play on clay though? Well, he is Spanish after all and the answer is yes, he can. Alcaraz has won two ATP titles on clay, including one in Rio in February of this year. With five clay court titles on the ITF circuit, he's a player no one will want to draw during the European clay court season. He's only played the French Open once and got to the third round last year.beating 28th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Others to Consider
This could be a very open European clay court season. It's going to be a fascinating one for sure with many questions to be answered. One concern Dominic Thiem (seen above). He's down at 50th in the rankings but hasn't played a tournament since Mallorca last June due to a wrist injury. The former world number three is due back on court soon. Thiem has lost two French Open finals and won ten ATP tournaments on clay. Can he make a successful comeback?
Casper Ruud has reached the semi-finals of all three of the Masters events played on the road to Roland Garros. Matteo Berrettini is another player to look out for. The Italian has made it to the final in Madrid and the last eight at Roland Garros.
Andrey Rublev has been a bit inconsistent this year. Perhaps a return to playing on clay will help him. He lost in the 2021 Monte Carlo Masters, won two titles in Hamburg and reached a quarter final at Roland Garros, where he was the junior champion eight years ago.
