I'm probably not going to watch that much of the French Open this year. It's got nothing to do with Roger and Maria not being there, although that's weird enough. No, it's because the TV coverage of the French Open will be virtually nonexistent. The reason why? ESPN won't be covering the tournament this year.
ESPN is the exclusive broadcaster of Wimbledon and the US Open, but isn't for the French Open, where NBC is the longtime rights-holder, and Tennis Channel is the primary cable carrier. As a result, ESPN was third in line, meaning they got whatever matches and time slots the other two didn't want. And ESPN didn't like that, so they decided to give up their French Open contract. Which would be fine if NBC's coverage wasn't limited to weekends and/or people actually got Tennis Channel.
It's hard to believe that in 2016, TV coverage of a Grand Slam tennis tournament will be so limited. Hopefully it's just a one-year thing (why not use NBCSN for the matches no longer on ESPN?). So, instead of watching on TV, I'll have to rely on online streams (hopefully they're in English!) and live scores in order to have any sort of a clue about what's going on during the first week in Paris.
The only time I've ever been to Europe, I was in Germany during the French Open, so that year I probably saw more of the tournament than I ever have before (or since). Except it was all in German (obviously)! And watching the French Open in the middle of the afternoon instead of early in the morning was strange, too. At least I was able to watch it, though.
Regardless of my ability to watch the tournament, this year's second Grand Slam will go on as scheduled (I think it's a week earlier this year, too). And Novak Djokovic will once again try to get the only thing that he's missing (he'll get his chance at that Olympic gold in August). Last year, he beat Rafael Nadal in that brilliant quarterfinal, only to play his worst match of the year against Stan Wawrinka in the final.
For all the talk about Serena Williams going for the Grand Slam last year, it was Djokovic that ended up one bad match against Wawrinka away from doing it himself. And let's not forget, he's won Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open since then. So, if he does finally lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires for the first time this year, he'll have done something neither of his two rivals has ever done, and something no men's player has done period since Rod Laver in 1969--have all four titles at once. What do you like better, the "Nole Slam" or the "Djoker Slam?"
With no Federer in the field, the fifth-ranked Nadal moved up to the No. 4 seed, which means his matchup with Djokovic will come a round later in the semifinals. And I find it hard to believe the winner of that match won't be the champion. Although, I also said that last year and we all know what happened. Last year's final only added fuel to Djokovic's fire, though, so I don't think we're in store for a repeat of 2015. If he beats Clay Boy, he'll finish the deal this time.
As for who he'd meet in the final, I wouldn't be surprised to see a rematch against Wawrinka. Andy Murray is the designated runner-up when Djokovic wins Grand Slam tournaments, but clay is his worst surface, as evidence by the fact he's never been to the final here. He has been to the semis three times, though, including the last two years, so a breakthrough isn't totally out of the question. Murray would have to be at the top of his game and get a little lucky, though. I'm not saying that can't happen. I just don't think it's likely.
Before I move on to the women, a note about someone who's absence will definitely be felt. For all of his records, Roger Federer's streak of 65 consecutive Grand Slam appearances might be his most remarkable. He went 16 years without missing a Grand Slam, and you know this isn't the only time he's been injured during that span. I just hope Roger's back in time for Wimbledon, which is his best chance at adding to his record haul of Grand Slam titles (that Djokovic might surpass within the next couple years).
Speaking of setting records for Grand Slam wins, Serena Williams can't match Margaret Court at Roland Garros. In fact, this will be her third attempt at tying Steffi Graf for second all-time. After that stunning loss in the US Open semifinals, she was simply outplayed by Angelique Kerber in the Australian Open final. And, as fate would have it, guess who Serena's matched up with in the semifinals?
For the first time in a while, we go into a Grand Slam without Serena being the prohibitive favorite. In fact, she's got a pretty tough draw, with fellow former champions Francesca Schiavone and Ana Ivanovic back-to-back in the third and fourth rounds. And, if we've learned anything throughout the course of Serena Williams' career, it's that she's especially vulnerable in the earlier rounds. And this is just to get to a potential matchup with Vika Azarenka in the quarters, then a semi against Kerber.
On the bottom half, last year's Wimbledon finalist and Nadal's new mixed doubles partner Garbine Muguruza (who beat Serena in the second round at the French two years ago) appears to be on a crash course with either Lucie Safarova, the finalist here last year, or 2014 finalist Simona Halep (who, interestingly, has lost in either the first or second round in each of her other five French Open appearances). You've also got world No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska, who's had a very good year, and Sabine Lisicki, the former Wimbledon finalist (when she beat Serena), who's somehow unseeded here.
What I do know is that, like the Blackhawks-Kings Stanley Cup rotation, the Maria Sharapova-Serena Williams French Open rotation is probably over. Maria, of course, is waiting to find out how long she'll be suspended for her positive drug test, while Serena, despite winning in Madrid two weeks ago, appears vulnerable.
Knowing Serena Williams, it would be stupid to count her out completely, but I'm not just automatically putting her in the final, either. I've got Serena reaching the semis, where she loses to Kerber, just like she did in Melbourne. Then Halep defeats Kerber for her first Grand Slam title. As for that Djokovic-Wawrinka rematch I'm predicting, give me Novak and the "Djoker Slam."
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