“Now start the ground tour, let’s see how you do there,” he told her Sinner a Medvedev in the last big hard-court match of this course, the final of Miami. Until now, the Russian has been one of the players of the year, with five finals in a row on these fast surfaces and four titles, but now comes the stage that costs him the most, clay, although he warns that he can also “play well there”. . “The difference I notice is that on hard courts I can win playing badly and on clay I need to play well. But I have beaten Djokovic or Tsitsipas on that surface and at Roland Garros I have done eighths and quarters, it’s not bad,” Medvedev said after the conquest of the second Masters 1,000 of the season.It may be a warning.
Last year, Nadal won Paris lamely and with hardly any filming
The stretch of the year of red clay in Europe starts with uncertainties, starting with that of the king Nadal. Everything indicated that Rafa was going to reappear in Monte Carlo, after the psoas injury that she suffered in the Open the Australia, but this week he confessed that he is not ready yet. It does not have a return date, although it is registered in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, or Count of Godó (April 17-23), who has won up to twelve times. It will not be the ideal preparation for the Balearic Islands with a view to Roland Garros, but you always have to count on him on the ground, as he has conquered Paris by sweeping the previous tournaments for many years and he also did it last year with hardly any filming, having only participated in Madrid, the most different of the ground tournaments, and in Rome, from where he left lame and devastated, to, just a few weeks later, lift his fourteenth Cup of the Musketeers despite having only five games behind him. He is now ranked 14th, which will make him face the best sooner, not necessarily in the semifinals or finals. But, as his coach often says, Carlos Moya: “It’s land, Rafa…”
Alcaraz and Paris between eyebrows
alcaraz He also skips the first big stop on the slow surface after two months of touring America in which an unapproachable player has been seen for many moments. Carlos defends the triumphs in Barcelona and Madrid, although he can add in Roma, where he was not in 2022. With the confidence that characterizes him, he has assured that he has Roland Garros between his eyebrows. He has already played matches on clay this year (victory in Buenos Aires and finalist in Rio), although the most important rackets were not there. By not going to Monte Carlo, it is very difficult for him to be in Paris as number one, since he will almost certainly continue to be from Djokovic.
Novak’s desire
The Serbian is going to be in Monaco and he welcomes the land after the forced break of Indian Wells and Miami, where he could not play because he was not vaccinated against covid and could not enter the United States. Last year he also did not participate in those two Masters 1,000 and the dirt tour cost him, but it is not the same because before he had the event in Australia, from where he was expelled after letting him enter the country. This time he not only went, he also won and reached 22 Grand Slams. Roland Garros will be the first tournament in which Rafa and Novak can break a tie, if one wins. The Serbian is excited and has only lost one game this season.
Waiting for Tsitsipas
Other proper names that are expected on land are Tsitsipas, a specialist on this surface and a finalist at Roland Garros in 2021, and Ruud, a finalist in the last edition. Both carry a strange and irregular 2023. And let’s see if Sinner continues to raise his level or if players like him have a lot to say Rublev, Félix Auger-Aliassime o Rune, young man of the same generation as Alcaraz. Even Zverevwho in 2022 reached the semifinals in Paris with great tennis, and there he was injured and is still looking for his best level.
