The French Open tournament has taken 128 players and eliminated 126 of them. Six rounds have been played, and only one match is left on each side, so the menu is minimal for our tennis picks. A total of 13 days of play have come and gone at the French Open, and for the women, day 14 brings the championship match during a tournament which has been marred not only by injuries, but by historic rains and floods – not just at Roland Garros, but throughout Paris, and France, and much of Europe. This is why crowds have been sparse for a lot of the women’s matches, and it’s why players have had to play in very odd environments. Quarterfinals and fourth-round matches were played before 2,000 or 3,000 people, which would be a good crowd for an International level event on the tour, but not a Grand Slam. It’s been a difficult French Open for players and fans, and the stresses of this tournament could turn in one more unexpected direction on Saturday.
Along with our tennis picks for Saturday’s affair, below is our preview for Sunday’s men’s final.
Serena Williams vs. Garbine Muguruza
This is a matchup in which Serena is in big trouble, not because she’s playing average tennis, but because she’s very possibly injured. French television commentator Marion Bartoli, the 2013 Wimbledon ladies’ singles champion, said on the French broadcast that Serena was carrying an adductor injury. For those who don’t know, the adductor is most commonly a muscle located in the thigh, near the hip. Adductors also exist in other places. Adductors facilitate whole-body movement by connecting more internal parts of the body with the limbs. The adductor in the thigh, near the hip, enables a player to drive off his or her legs. This is how players are able to stop and start very quickly. It’s how they generate momentum on their shots and lean into their groundstrokes. On clay, the adductors enable players to slide into and then through their shots, being able to slide, hit, and finish in one continuous, sweeping motion.
Does Serena have this injury? It’s likely that she does, though French newspapers didn’t report what Bartoli did on Friday.
Serena was playing extremely well in this tournament, having cruised through her fourth-round match against Elina Svitolina. Then, in the quarterfinals, she barely beat Yulia Putintseva. If it seemed that Serena’s performance against Svitolina was unusually shaky, meaning that it was just the product of a bad day at the office, the semifinals against Kiki Bertens suggested otherwise. Serena was just as uncomfortable as she was the other day against Putintseva. She still wasn’t moving fluidly. She was not playing the kind of confident defense she does when she’s on her game. She got through a close match only because Bertens was playing with a clearly injured calf. Bertens would not run to track down a number of Serena’s drop shots, and she appeared to strain that calf even more during the semifinal.
Very simply, Muguruza is healthy. Serena, in her present condition, is not likely to withstand the clean hitting of a player who has been in form this tournament. Only if the match is rained out on Saturday and postponed to Sunday would Serena have a better chance. If it’s played on Saturday, Muguruza has to be the favorite. Serena is a legend, but she’s probably hurt. Muguruza is in the driver’s seat. Take her with your tennis picks.
Pick: Muguruza in straight sets
Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic
A lot of people had Djokovic and Williams in their tennis picks to reach the final (and win), and those two favorites have taken the first step. The question is can they go one step further. For Djokovic, that has long been the question: can he capture the French Open? As far as everything else career-wise, this is the one thing that has eluded him.
This year, he gets to face Murray, who has had his ups and downs at the French Open, but the downs came early and he survived. It’s been all ups for him recently, including his four-set win over defending champion Stan Wawrkinka in the semifinal.
At this point, this is Djokovic’s tournament to lose. A lot of people will have him with their tennis picks on the weekend and a loss here would be shocking – even more so than last year’s loss in the final. The key here is that Djokovic is really dialed in. Yes, this is his weakest surface but he’s only lost one set the entire tournament. That’s impressive. He also dominates Murray, winning 23 of 33 career matches. On outdoor clay, he’s 3-1 against Murray. He’s simply the better choice for your tennis picks. Look for him to win and become the second player since Rod Laver (in 1969) to hold all four Grand Slams. Take Djokovic with your tennis picks.
Pick: Djokovic
