Congratulations! We all made it! The world didn't end yesterday! Phew, I was really worried about that. Anyway, in my quest for a silver lining, I've found this: the world not being over means Joe Brackets will continue.
With that being said, it's time to preview this year's second Grand Slam: the French Open. Since the French Open officials decided they wanted to be different, they decided a couple years ago that the tournament was going to start on a Sunday instead of a Monday (like every other tennis tournament in the world). That means Day 1 of the tournament is already over as I write this, but since I think the Sunday start is incredibly stupid, I choose not to acknowledge it.
As I suspected, the complete ineptitude of American tennis has finally come full circle. With both Williams sisters missing the tournament, not a single American woman is seeded in Paris. On the men's side, there are only two seeded Americans: No. 10 Mardy Fish and No. 24 Sam Querrey. Andy Roddick would've been the No. 11 seed, but he withdrew because of an injury last week. To make matters worse, John Isner, who just missed being seeded, drew Rafael Nadal in the first round. It's not like any of that actually matters, though. This is the French Open. Americans never win here. That wasn't going to change this year.
This year's French Open is about three men. Not surprisingly, they're Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. Nadal is the No. 1 player in the world and he's lost a grand total of ONCE at Roland Garros in his career. But this year, amazingly, he's not the overwhelming favorite. In fact, he might not even be the favorite at all. In my opinion, that role has to go to Novak Djokovic. Djokovic, the winner of the Australian Open, is undefeated this year. If he wins the French Open, he'll break John McEnroe's record for longest winning streak to start a season in ATP history. Clearly the best player in the world right now, he beat Nadal in the finals of clay-court warm-up tournaments in Rome and Madrid (after having never beaten him on clay before).
Nadal and Djokovic certainly seem on a collision course for the finals, but don't count out the 2009 French Open champ. Roger hasn't won a Grand Slam since his record-setting 14th at 2009 Wimbledon, and he hasn't even reached a Grand Slam final since last year's Australian Open. His free-fall began here last year, when he was knocked out in the quarters. Now, Roger enters the 2011 French Open with a weird-looking number next to his name (a 3). Even still, I think most people join me in thinking that Roger isn't done and will eventually get his head screwed on straight again. Maybe that happens here. Don't count Roger out. He's probably the only guy not named Rafa or Novak with a chance of winning this thing.
The women's tournament is an entirely different story, though. It seems like pretty much anyone who picks up a racket (unless they're American) has a chance. The situation was somewhat similar last year after Justine Henin abruptly retired weeks before the tournament started, and Francesca Schiavone came out of nowhere to unexpectely win her first Grand Slam title, beating the equally unlikely Samantha Stosur in the final. Both of them are proving not to be one-Slam wonders, using the French Open to propel them into the Top 10, and they have to both be considered contenders this year, but I don't see either getting back to the finals.
Second-ranked Kim Clijsters has won the last two Grand Slam tournaments (the 2010 U.S. Open and 2011 Australian Open) and has been a finalist here twice, but she'll have to overcome an ankle injury that kept her out for a while and she only came back from a week or two ago. Because of that, I don't see her being able to win seven clay-court matches in two weeks. We've been waiting for No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki's coming out party. She's a big match player and should've been in the finals in Australia, where she served for the match twice in the second set before losing in three to China's Li Na. Did she learn anything from that collapse?
Svetlana Kuznetsova has won two Grand Slam titles, including one here in 2009, so she has to be considered a threat. The same has to be said about Ana Ivanovic, who won the 2008 French Open en route to a No. 1 ranking before a complete free-fall. Her career seems to be back on track (she seeded 20th), so she might be a player as well. (Side note, any Grand Slam tournament that features a deep run from Ana Ivanovic is a good thing.) Then there's Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka. They're ranked third (Zvonareva) and fourth (Azarenka), and they both have the talent to win a Grand Slam. Maybe that happens here.
Then there's Maria Sharapova. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Maria has a really good shot of winning the French Open. She's won the other three, but has never played well here, and clay is clearly her weakest surface. Then she won the warm-up tournament in Rome, establishing herself as a definite contender to win the title. When healthy, Maria's one of the five best players in the world. She appears to be healthy. But Sharapova also has a tendency to lose early in Grand Slams when she's expected to do well. She'll either do that or make a deep run. (Like Ivanovic, a deep run by Maria Sharapova in a Grand Slam is never a bad thing.)
Time for my predicitions. I don't see anybody derailing that Nadal-Djokovic men's final, and I love Djokovic's momentum right now. If he hadn't just beaten Rafa twice, this pick would probably go the other way, but I'm taking Novak Djokovic to win his third Grand Slam title. Like I said, the women's tournament is wide open. I have no clue who's going to win, but I'll give it a shot anyway. I like Wozniacki to finally breakthrough and win a Grand Slam title, beating Azarenka in the finals.
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