5 Men to Look Out For in French Open: Djokovic, Nadal and More
The Quint takes a look at the top five men players to look out for in the French Open.
.jpg?rect=0%2C0%2C1536%2C864)
advertisement
The French Open suffered a huge blow on Thursday when Roger Federer pulled out due to injury. Federer, who failed to recover from a back and knee injury, wrote on his Facebook page that he would be taking an unnecessary risk if he took part in the competition.
However, the top players in men’s tennis wouldn’t want to get distracted by Federer’s withdrawal and will have their eyes on the prize.
The world number one, Novak Djokovic – who has won eleven grand slams – hasn’t won a a single French Open title yet.
Djokovic will certainly want to complete the career slam as soon as possible, but will the likes of Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Kei Nishikori, allow him to do so?
The Quint takes a look at the top five men players to look out for in the French Open.
1. Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic has the game to excel on a clay court but he keeps crashing into players who somehow raise their game to another level against him in the French Open.
When he was going through a golden run in 2011, Roger Federer beat him in the semi-final at Roland Garros. In 2012 and 2014, Rafael Nadal was too good for Djokovic. The nine-time French Open champion beat the current world number one in four sets in both the finals.
Finally, when Djokovic managed to get past Nadal in the quarter-final in 2015, he came up against Stanislas Wawrinka in the final, who played the game of his life and clinched the title.
Who is going to stop Djokovic this time?
2. Andy Murray
Andy Murray seems to be the one to challenge Djokovic this year. Britain’s number one has improved his clay court game. He beat Djokovic in the final of the Rome Masters on Sunday, which will certainly give the world number two a lot of confidence.
Murray also reached the final in Madrid, only to lose to Djokovic in three sets.
3. Rafael Nadal
When we think about the French Open, the first name that comes to our minds is Rafael Nadal. The world number five, who has won the competition nine times, has made Paris his second home.
Even though his recent grand slam record hasn’t been up to the mark, Nadal will always be a contender for the French Open title.
In the lead up to the tournament, Nadal won in Barcelona, reached the semi-finals of the Madrid Open, and lost to Djokovic in the quarter-final of the Rome Masters.
4. Stanislas Wawrinka
Stan ‘The Man’ Wawrinka played some breathtaking tennis to clinch the French Open title last year. After losing the first set to Djokovic in the final, Wawrinka upped his game several notches to stun the world number one in four sets.
Although, the Swiss number two was knocked out in the first round of the Madrid Open and in the second round of the Rome Masters this season.
But the defending champion certainly knows how to raise his game on big occasions.
5. Kei Nishikori
Kei Nishikori has been giving the top players a run for their money for a couple of years, but hasn’t been able to notch wins consistently.
The 26-year-old stunned Novak Djokovic in the semi-final of the US Open in 2014 but lost the final to Marin Cilic.
The Japanese player gave tough competition to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-final of the French Open last year.
After being two sets down, Nishikori came back to make it two all, before losing 3-2.
The world number six also didn’t let go without a fight against Djokovic in the semi-final of the Rome Masters.
He won the first set 6-2 and then lost 4-6, 6-7. Nishikori could be the dark horse of the tournament.