Rafael Nadal
Well I have to start with Rafa as he is the clear favourite ever year at the French given his incredible winning record there as he has won the title more than any other player, surpassing Bjorn Borg's record of six titles two years ago, and having won eight titles at Roland Garros, which is more than any players has won one single grand slam title (surpassing Sampras and Federer at Wimbledon with seven each). However all has not been rosy for Nadal this year as he has been struggling with his confidence on court as he lost out in the final of the Australian open to Stan Wawrinka, having suffered a back injury, he wasn't able to compete at his best, which hurt him badly. And Rafa's clay court season hasn't been the strongest and in fact it has been arguably the worst he's had, as he has suffered three losses on the European clay season alone, with losses to fellow Spaniards, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro, and most recently to Djokovic in Rome. And even though Rafa won the title in Madrid it was in fact part due to his opponent, Kei Nishikori retiring from a back injury, who looked quite convincing at a set and a break up before his injury kicked in and Rafa turned the match on its head. However despite these losses, I still see Rafa as the favourite to win the French again as his dominance is so strong there and no matter how bad his clay court season might have been by his standards, once he steps on that Philippe Chartrier court, he feels at home. Whether or not he does remains to be seen, but I think its a fairly safe bet that he will reach the final once again and he might just claim his 9th title there. However that might depend on the next man in the list. Prediction: champion or finalist.
Novak Djokovic
Well next in line has to be the one man who has been battering on the doors at Roland Garros for the last couple of years and that is Novak Djokovic. Nole has so far had a pretty good season, after a slow beginning and suffering a shock loss to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka at the Australian open, he's turned things around very well and went on to win back to back Masters titles in Indian Wells and Miami, where he stunned an in form Federer in the former and an under par Rafa in the latter. Novak however has had a bit of an injury scare as well with his wrist, which forced him to withdraw from Madrid, but it turned out to be less serious than initially feared and Nole went on to win the title last week in Rome (as pictured here as Novak holds the trophy for the Italian open) beating Rafa in the process. And with another clay court title victory over his main rival in Rafa, Novak will go into the French Open as a firm favourite and as he came mighty close to beating the man from Mallorca last year, he might just take that one step further this year. And if Novak does then he will return to the World No.1 spot and also complete his career slam, which will further cement his reputation as one of the greats in the game, so something tells me that this could be Nole's year. Prediction: finalist or champion.
Stanislas Wawrinka
Well I've put Stan Wawrinka quite high up in this list for a good reason, as for one he is the World No.3, and so far this year he really has proven it, given that he has won his first grand slam in Melbourne and also last month he won his first 1000 Masters series title in Monte Carlo. And despite some lapses in form with losses at some tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami and even in Madrid and Rome this year, Stan still has proven when it comes to the big matches that he has got what it takes to go all the way. Not only that Stan's best overall surface is clay and he reached the quarter finals at the French last year, before getting crushed by Rafa. But Stan is not the same player he was a year ago, he is mentally stronger and has more belief in himself and has proven himself on the biggest stages and he claimed his biggest win against Rafa, so its a fair assumption that he can do it again here. However whether or not Stan can pull off another surprise grand slam success at the French Open remains to be seen and will depend on his draw and his form and can he replicate what he did in Australia. Will he? I'm not entirely sure he will, but I think he can go really deep and maybe reach the last four. Guess we'll find out. Prediction: semi finals.
David Ferrer
I put David Ferrer up as the next contender simply because most people might forget just how good this guy is on a clay court. Ferrer has often been classed as a clay court specialist, but that in itself is a bit of an insult as Andy Murray himself once said in a press conference "he's not a clay court specialist, he can play great on all surfaces" and that is a solid fact. And its no mistake that Ferrer reached the final of the French open last year as he truly proved what a remarkable player he was at Roland Garros last year as he managed to reach the final without even dropping a set, before failing to win a single one in the final against Rafa. But outside Djokovic and Federer's transcendent qualities on every surface, Ferrer is undoubtedly the second best clay court player in the world just now and has been for quite some time. And if Ferrer has a good draw then I think there is a fair chance he can work his way into the final again, although he might not make it this year, I can definitely see him reach the last eight at a minimum or the last four. Either way Ferrer won't win it however, as Rafa and Djokovic are both just that bit too good for him in Paris, but he will go deep. Prediction: semi finals.
Andy Murray
OK next up is Andy Murray who is naturally pegged further down this list given that he isn't the most natural clay court player, yet he has strung together some decent results in Paris, the best being three years ago when he reached the final four and lost to Nadal in a tight straight set match. This year, Andy has not had a kind season so far and his return from his back surgery last year has seen him make slow progress in 2014, where he has failed so far to even reach the final of a tournament so far. However things are starting to look more encouraging for Andy as after a poor show on the clay in Madrid two weeks ago, he put in an excellent performance last week in Rome, where he reached the quarter finals and played a superb match against Rafa, which was their first clash in almost three years and already is a contender for one of the best matches of the year. So on that basis I'd dare say Andy has got the opportunity to do very well in Paris this year, especially after missing out playing last year, due to his back injury, he will want to make up some points and try and go as far as he can in the tournament. Has Andy got a real chance of winning the French??? Honestly, no. Andy has proven he's got the talent and skill to play well on clay, given enough practice and form, but it still remains the one surface that he has yet to even to reach a final on, and I don't think the French open is one final he will reach. But I think Andy still has a good chance to get into the second week and make a decent run at RG. Prediction: quarter finals.
Tomas Berdych
Next is the big Czeck fella, Tomas Berdych, who has been a very consistent player in the slams lately and he reached the final four in Melbourne earlier this year, where he lost a close match to Stan Wawrinka, so his record in the big events are quite impressive. Berdych however can be quite an erratic player and while he has a big powerful game, including a booming big serve and tremendous groundstrokes, he can lack the mental edge needed to win the big events. Nonetheless I think Berdych can, given a good draw, do pretty well at the French Open and he may well get into the second week and give a good account of himself. But can he win the title? No, don't think so, but he's a safe bet to reach the last eight. Prediction: quarter finals.
Roger Federer
Now you might wonder why Roger Federer is this far down the list, well the reason why is because he has been out of the game for a wee while given the birth of his twins, its left him off the tour and not match sharp, which was proven in his 2nd round loss to Jeremy Chardy last week in Rome. Federer however has shown much better form in 2014 so far with a semi final appearance at the Australian Open, where he fell to Rafa, but put in a convincing display to beat Andy Murray in the quarter finals. Roger also went on to win his first title in quite a while in Dubai, by beating Tomas Berdych in the final and he also reached the finals in Indian Wells and Monte Carlo. However I just think that Roger's lack of preparation and time spent away from the tour lately might just go against him, however you can never write off the Swiss maestro. So while I don't think Roger will win the title, I still think he can make the 2nd week, but its going to be a pinch to see him get any further than the last eight. I might be wrong but we'll see. Prediction: 4th round or quarter finals.
Kei Nishikori
So next up is Kei Nishikori, who has made a real breakthrough this year as he broke into the top 10 after reaching the final of Madrid, where he very nearly could have taken out Rafa in the final as he was a set and a break up before he was forced to retire with a back injury. So Kei has been looking very good this year especially on clay as he also won the Barcelona open as well so his performance on the red dirt bodes very well for Roland Garros. So does Kei stand a realistic chance of winning the title? Nope, but I do think he can go pretty far in the tournament and I'm fairly sure he will make the 2nd week and we could be looking at the Japenese No.1 reaching the last eight. Prediction: quarter finals.
Grigor Dimitrov
And last but far from last is the rising Bulgarian star, Grigor Dimitrov, who really has announced himself in the last year or so on the tour. Dimitrov has been nicknamed "Baby Fed" as there has been many comparisons between his game and Federer's (although Grigor insists that he wasn't actually that influenced by Roger's playing when he grew up) but Dimitrov really has shown that he has the makings of a great player. Dimitrov also scored his best result so far in the slams this year by reaching the quarter finals of the Australian Open where he played a tight match against Rafa before losing out in four sets, which shows his increasing mental toughness and grit. Dimitrov has also scored big wins in his career so far as well, such as beating Djokovic, Murray and also Berdych and he will have the opportunities to build on that as the year goes on. As for Grigor's chances at the French??? Well let's face it, he's not going to win the title, but I do think he has a fair chance of going pretty far into the event and I wouldn't be surprised if we see him in the 2nd week. Prediction: quarter finals.
Right so that's it for my look at the men's contenders for the French Open title and I will be back soon with the ladies
Till then bye the now!
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