The French Open took an unexpected day off on Monday, due to rain washing out the entirety of play. What happened before then, and what were the biggest stories to flow from the first half of Roland Garros in 2016? Some answers were clear, others not as obvious or as pleasant.
The WTA Top 10 Is Still Very Unstable
There is a clear trend of top women’s seeds not lasting very long at the Grand Slam tournaments. Simona Halep lost early in Australia. Petra Kvitova often loses in the first week of a Slam. Lucie Safarova hasn’t been able to display the form she put forth last year. Her loss in the first week of Roland Garros means she’ll shed a lot of rankings points after making the final in 2015. Angelique Kerber won in Australia, but she was sent packing early by Kiki Bertens. It remains very hard for so many top players to be consistently good at any of the big four tennis tournaments of the year. Serena Williams is the exception that proves the rule. The WTA remains a very unstable place.
Injuries Are Worse Than Ever
The year in tennis has been a really difficult one in terms of injuries. Roger Federer missed multiple months. Victoria Azarenka picked up an injury during the clay-court season, before the French Open. At Roland Garros, it’s just gotten worse. Federer wasn’t healthy enough to play. Azarenka suffered a knee injury early in her first match and retired in the third set. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had to retire after suffering an injury in the first set of his match. Milos Raonic carried a sore hip through a fourth-round loss to Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Under normal circumstances, Raonic never would have lost that match. Then came the big one: Rafael Nadal, the nine-time champion at this tournament and the man who was slated to meet Novak Djokovic in the semifinals if both men won their first five matches of the tournament, withdrew after the second round due to intense pain in his wrist. He might not even be ready for Wimbledon. Injuries have taken a lot out of this tournament – no one is happy except the players who get walkovers into the next rounds.
Serena And Djokovic Are Even Bigger Favorites
The losses of Kerber and Azarenka have cleared out the top half of the WTA draw for Serena, who will not face a particularly powerful player in the next few rounds, someone who can really hit her off the court or put her in especially difficult situations on the court.
Djokovic, with Nadal and Tsonga out of his path, should be able to smoothly make his way to the final. He will probably have to face a tough opponent, but one he will be clearly favored against. Everyone in the bottom half of the ATP draw will beat each other up. Djokovic should be in peak condition for the final.
Andy Murray Needs To Prove Himself
Andy Murray didn’t lose in the first week of the French Open, but it sure feels like he’s already lost in terms of the general perception. We all know that the French Open – and clay surfaces in general – are not his forte and he has shown that to be the case in 2016. Murray had to play five-set matches twice during the first week. In his opening round match, he faced qualifier Radek Stepanek, who is a veteran on the Tour but is nothing more than a qualifier in this event. Still, Murray needed to dig out of an 0-2 hole to win the final three sets and survive. The same proved to be the case in the second round when Murray barely squeaked by a wild card in Mathias Bourgue. Murray was down two sets to one before storming back to win the final two. He did win his last two matches against Ivo Karlovic and John Isner in straight sets, so that’s encouraging. However, things are about to get tougher for him. Murray survived, but now he has to raise his game in a big way if he wants to win his first Roland Garros title.
