From 1981 to 2004, Roland Garros had sixteen champions. From 2005 to 2023, four. A drastic decrease in surnames that has a person responsible: Rafael Nadal. It is the Spaniard who occupies the entire spectrum of these two decades with… barely three spaces without imposing his bite in the years in which physical problems separated him: 2009 (lost to Soderling in the round of 16 suffering from tonsillitis), 2016 (no appeared in the third round against Granollers), 2023 (low), or when someone worked a miracle, as in 2015 (quarterfinals) and 2021 (semifinals) he did Novak Djokovic.
Already last year, the absence of the Balearic Islands opened the doors to young people, but the Serbian had control of tennis and no one disputed it, three of the four Grand Slams were for him, 24 ‘grand’ ones. However, in 2024, Roland Garros is an unknown. Twelve days before it starts, no one appears as a favorite. There are many candidates, but even more the doubts of those who dominated the pools until recently.
Nadal’s hopeful return still lacks the reality to think about great feats, although it is about Nadal and only with his presence again at the Philippe Chatrier, with all the steps he has taken to build a unique career, can he excite to friends and strangers, and reduce the desire of many others. «Right now I don’t have a decision made. If I have to say what I feel, I say that I am closer to going to Roland Garros to give it my all,” were the Spaniard’s last words on this subject, after falling in the second round of the Rome Masters 1,000 this Saturday against Hubert Hurkacz.
With still physical discomfort as he later confessed, on the court he did not perform at the level against the Pole. And the Spaniard slipped into Madrid that he cannot go to his Paris in any way, which has been a magnificent idyll, with 115 games, fourteen titles and only three defeats: «After everything I have experienced there, not wanting to feel according to “What a way on a track that is so important to me.” And that means having the “possibility of really competing, not like in Madrid or Barcelona.” No, he won’t just say hello. He has demonstrated it on every occasion and his rivals know it.
Those who are not at their best either. “Things have to improve a lot for me to have a chance of winning,” Djokovic conceded after losing in the third round in Rome to Tabilo (6-2, 6-3). The number 1 defends a crown that would have been a major surprise not to have achieved: without Nadal and with Alcaraz’s cramps in the semifinals, he could not bear the pressure of being the clear favorite. But in 2024 he adds numbers that are inappropriate for his career. Without titles to date, which has happened only once in twenty years of profession, he lost in the semifinals in Australia, in the second round in Indian Wells, in the semifinals in Monte Carlo and in the third round in Rome, absent in Miami and Madrid , and without the sensations being much better than those of the Balearic Islands.
Situation that could jeopardize his ATP watchtower, as he defends 2,000 champion points and Jannik Sinner is lurking, who only added 45 points in 2023. In fact, the Italian will be virtual number 1 as soon as the tournament begins and the Serbian is obliged to reach the semifinals, at least, to remain on the throne.
But they are, due to numbers, history and ability, those who know how to put on the suit of champions when important dates arrive, and few more important than this.
With the legends in their autumn, Djokovic almost 37 years old, Nadal almost 38, the relief of the young people would be expected, a clear horizon after an atrocious hegemony, and with all the power and ambition that the recently launched decade of the twenties grants. But even they do not arrive firmly this spring.
Missing in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, stumbling due to that pronator muscle that prevents him from executing his forehand, his forehand, with the confidence to take another step in Paris after last year’s semifinals, Carlos Alcaraz has barely played four matches on clay. He lost in the round of 16 against Andrey Rublev in Madrid, stopped by his house to celebrate his 21st birthday and returned to training, first physical conditioning, and only since yesterday, racket at the ready. There have been several days without rallies again, as happened when he decided not to play in Barcelona, to prioritize rest and recovery and not complicate the injury further. He wants to arrive in top shape, but there are no guarantees today.
Nor has the fittest tennis player at the beginning of the year maintained his physical level on this tour. Jannik Sinner, 28 wins out of 30 games, he won in Australia and in Rotterdam and in Miami, but on clay he fell short of the final in Monte Carlo (Tsitsipas, champion) and did not play in the quarterfinal round in Madrid against Felix Auger-Aliassime to protect the hip, with discomfort due to the accumulation of matches. The Italian did not even jump to the Foro Italico, in front of his audience. «If it is not 100% cured, I will have to stop longer. I will try to be 100% as soon as possible, hopefully to try to play in Paris, Wimbledon and the rest of the tournaments. We will take our time, there will be no rush,” admitted the one from San Candido.
This past Madrid tournament saw an unusual plague of injuries that led to the withdrawal of the aforementioned Sinner, Jakub Mensik, Jiri Lehecka and Daniil Medvedevwho suffered a puncture in his round of 16 match, although the Russian seems recovered on this Roman soil.
The number four in the world already falls into that category of aspiring tennis players because of everything they carry on their backs and, above all, everything they see clear in front. They are aware that Nadal, despite arriving with all the doubts in the world, becomes another tennis player when he steps on the Philippe Chatrier. He already did it in 2022, sore and dejected after falling in the second round in Rome with a foot that was tormenting him, and ended up taking the fourteenth title in Paris three weeks later. Nadal in Paris is something else. They also know Djokovic and the way he struggles in the face of adversity and shows the most robotic version of him when he smells trophies. But they want the chance from him. Also Stefanos Tsitsipas, champion in Monte Carlo, Andrey Rublev, champion in Madrid, and why not a new option for Casper Ruud, finalist in 2021 and 2023.
2024-05-14 02:19:23
#win #Roland #Garros
