The 2019 clay court season is well underway and the results thus far are telling. On the red clay of Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Estoril the changing of the guard was none more evident.
Seasoned champions like Novak Djokovic and the King of Clay himself, Raffa Nadal had to bow to the speed, agility and pressure of Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Could this be an omen of what’s to come at Roland Garros in a few weeks’ time?
Even the great Roger Federer - though no clay court specialist - was in the firing line of the powerful Thiem groundstrokes, succumbing to the Austrian in the quarter finals in Madrid. With the casualties mounting at an alarming rate, will the
French Open 2019 unveil an entirely new champion?
Let’s take a look at who we think has the best chance of claiming this year’s clay court Grand Slam crown:
Dominic Thiem
The 25-year-old Austrian is in fighting form. This season he’s claimed the scalps of Federer and Raffa, men who are not only ranked above him on the ATP World rankings but are widely regarded as the greatest tennis players of all-time. Thiem also bagged his first ever ATP 1000 Masters tournament when he took the honours in Barcelona.
In the finals in Madrid the aggressive baseline player slugged it out with Novak Djokovic. For most of the match it was too close to call until the Serb was given a lucky break. If the Austrian can capitalize on his obvious ascendancy, then there’s no-one who can stand in his way.
Can
Dominic Thiem exploit his lethal kick serve, topspin and aggressive, penetrating ground strokes and win in Paris?
Novak Djokovic
According to the World Rankings
Novak Djokovic is a shoe-in to win in Paris. He won the Australian Open beating Raffa in straight sets. At times this season he has looked in imperious form. On the downside, clay is not the Serb’s preferred surface.
Of his 15 Grand Slam titles, only one was clinched in the red dust of Court Philippe Chatrier. The 31-year-old has only managed to bag one more event this year but that was on the clay in Madrid. Can the Joker become the Wild Card in the French Open pack?
Roger Federer
Federer has only played in six tournaments this year. He won in Dubai and Miami, reached the finals in Indian Wells and the quarters in Madrid. The only clay court event he’s contesting is the Italian Open in Rome… but it’s bit early to judge his current form.
Federer is the kind of player who relishes the big league. That means he’ll bring out the big guns at Roland Garros. Now that’s he’s had plenty of time to work on his A game, anything is possible from the Maestro.
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One thing’s for sure, if
Roger Federer does win his 21
st Grand Slam in Paris the whole world will rise to its feet - from Zambia to New York!
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal is a demon on clay. He’s got 57 clay court titles under his belt, 11 of which were clinched at Roland Garros. As the defending champion Nadal is the red-hot favourite to claim his 18
th grand slam.
Having said that, the Spaniard has had a foreshortened season due to recurring injury woes. He has also had an uncharacteristically poor run of form. Nadal is yet to record a win in any of the tournaments he’s played in this year and that includes three events on clay.
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