The first week of the French Open was full of quite a few surprises, especially on the women’s side. For the first time in the open era (1960-present), all three top seeds were eliminated before the round of 16. The most surprising was the number one seed Serena Williams who has won four of the last seven grand slams. She was an overwhelming favorite who came out flat against 20-year old Garbine Muguruza. This lost will motivate Williams, who hates to lose, and expect her to come and play lights out at Wimbledon.
Na Li, the second seed and the Australian Open Champion, lost first round on the same day as the men’s champion, Stanislas Warwrinka. They also both had very disappointing efforts losing their final sets 6-1 and 6-0 respectively. At the French Open, more upsets are likely to occur because clay is a tricky surface and players have to rely on point construction instead of pure power. Which is why the third seed, Agneiska Radwanska, exiting so early was surprising, but she hasn’t had a good year. Murray is in a tough battle with Philip Kohlschreiber and trying to avoid a huge upset in a match that was suspended due to darkness. However, all these upsets make for a very exciting week with some new faces.
On the women’s side, Maria Sharapova is now the heavy favorite to win the title especially after Serena Williams was shockingly eliminated in the second round. The red clay gives her enough time to run down balls and set up for her powerful shots. Other contenders would be Sam Stosur, Svetlana Kutnetsova, and Sara Errani who have all had great success at the French Open. Some dark horses would be American Sloane Stephens and Romanian Simona Halep. Stephens plays her best tennis at the grand slam tournaments and if she can get past Halep, who has climbed the rankings at lightening speed, she can do some damage.
On the men’s side, eight-time champion Nadal will be tough to beat this year. If anyone can do it, it will be Novak Djokovic who is still trying to complete the career grand slam. Other contenders include Roger Federer and David Ferrer who are both solid at the French Open. Milos Raonic of Canada and Gael Monfils of France are dark horses for this tournament. Both have tremendous talent to break through and pull of an upset. The way that the first week has gone, don’t be surprised if there are a few more upsets in store in the second week.
