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2010-05-07 01:09:37
From now until the start of the French Open, Ricky will be counting down the Top 25 biggest threats on the red clay of Roland Garros in groups of one, two, or three players. Part 1 features contenders 23-25.
25. Andy Roddick – Pros: Roddick has been a new player under coach Larry Stefanki these last two years and that might actually apply to clay, as well. The 27-year-old American reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 Madrid Masters before taking a set off Madrid and French Open champion Roger Federer. Roddick then made it to the Roland Garros fourth round for the first time in his career. Furthermore, he is playing even better in 2010, having finished runner-up in Indian Wells before winning the Miami title.
Cons: Roddick advanced to round four last year in part because of an extremely favorable draw. Once he ran into a dangerous opponent (Gael Monfils) he promptly got wiped off the Paris clay courts. The world No. 8 has not played since Miami, instead vacationing in Hawaii with wife Brooklyn Decker (can you blame him?). Like he did in 2009, Roddick better advance relatively far in Madrid so that he has some matches under his belt heading into the French Open.
Bottom line: Roddick is playing well and will probably be seeded eighth in Paris. Barring a terrible draw, he should able to get past two unseeded foes on the way to round three. If he can avoid a clay-court player at that point, another fourth-round showing is not out of the question.
24. Lleyton Hewitt – Pros: When he underwent hip surgery following the Australian Open, Hewitt set his eyes on the French Open. Having returned in Houston at the very beginning of the clay-court swing, the 29-year-old Aussie will be well-prepared by the time he makes his way to Paris. He even picked up a nice win over Mikhail Youzhny in the first round of the Rome Masters. While past history is meaningless if Hewitt is not 100 percent, he has not lost prior to the third round of the French Open since his tournament debut way back in 1999.
Cons: As can be expected, Hewitt has endured some disappointing losses in his return to tennis. The world No. 29 lost to Juan Ignacio Chela in Houston, Eduardo Scwhank in Barcelona, and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (all in straight sets). He has also fared relatively well in Paris because he does not get overpowered as much by big hitters, but at the same time he has never been a serious title contender (never pas the quarterfinals).
Bottom line: Hewitt—and his hip—is only getting better as he gets further removed from surgery and he should be in fine shape after another two weeks of preparation. He will also be seeded at the French, so he should definitely be able to keep the third-round streak alive.
23. David Nalbandian – Pros: Nalbandian missed almost all of 2009 due to hip surgery, but he is back inaction—sort of—this year. The Argentine, a former world No. 3, is 9-3 this season and has advanced at least two rounds in each of his past two tournaments. He extended Rafael Nadal to three sets at the Sony Ericsson Open before reaching the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he ousted both Mikhail Youzhny and Tommy Robredo.While Nadalbandian is at his best on indoor hard courts, he is the essence of an all-court player and he is a two-time French Open semifinalist (2004 and 2006).
Cons: At this point in his career, it looks like Nadalbandian will never be completely over the injury bug. He missed both Barcelona and Rome with a hamstring issue, but he says he will be back next week for the Madrid Masters. Even if that’s the case, Nalbandian will be short on matches (dating all the way back to last season) heading into the French Open. Furthermore, he obviously will not be seeded in Paris so he will be completely at the mercy of the draw.
Bottom line: Nalbandian could be gone in the first round if he has to go up against one of the best players in the world right away. If, however, he can seize some early momentum in addition to being 100 percent physically, he Nalbandian still has the talent to make a run to the second week.
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i have never been able to understand why hewitt does not have success on clay..
i mean his style suits clay..
he is a counterpuncher who loves to engage in long rallies, fight for every point and get the points..
such players are usually successful on clay..
but hewitt has never done well on clay..
beats me!!
clayking , 5/7/10 9:01 AM
clayking: could be that he doesn't move his best on the clay and doesn't use that much topspin as the spaniards and the south americans who are grown up on the surface. Yes, he's a running counterpuncher, but so are Gilles Simon and Andy Murray and they struggle on clay as well.
I would be surprised if he reaches the third round.
As for Nalbandian, anything could happen. He could take out a top ten player in the first round just to loose against someone below 60.
Maglor , 5/7/10 9:52 AM
how fast are the conditions in paris in comparison to rome????
vrael , 5/9/10 9:15 AM
@vrael, rome has undergone changes this year so i am not sure but here is what the scenario was last year
MC was the slowest , followed by paris (marked by a particularly high bounce), followed by rome and then madrid. SAme order follows this year too, Rg is not much quick , suits rafa a lot becoz his forehand gets a lot of bite from that surface.
vamosrafa , 5/9/10 4:12 PM
@vamosrafa
i think the speed at RG depends on how dry the weather is. For example, last yr it was playing quite quick when it was sunny. For example, when Soderling beat nadal, the conditions were quick as it was dry. But when he played Federer it was an overcast day, and the surface was slower. Also, look at Nadals match with Ferrer at Rome. At the beginning,Ferrer made things competetive as the speed of the court was a bit fast, but once the rain poured and slowed down the court, Ferrer had no chance.
PS:I think that they sped up RG by a bit last yr, not sure tho.
tj600 , 5/9/10 4:21 PM
thanks vamosrafa......i felt the courts were a bit faster at rg last year......lets SEE how they are this year...VAMOS!!!!!!!!
vrael , 5/9/10 4:27 PM
yes tj, weather is obviously a factor. i was actually talking abt the nature of clay, i read this rank in an article last year. and yes damp clay and clay conditions take its speed away while the ball shoots off a bit more in sunny weather. BUT, here is something really amazing, hamburg was the SLOWEST clay in the world ,SURELY and 2008 hamburg rafa was to face roger in the final after beating novak. Conditions on the semi-final day were damn slow as they played after a rain fall . In the presser they asked rafa whether the added sloweness played to his adv
rafa said that such slow conditions DONOT favor him , he prefers medium conditions. The reason he gave was that sunny weather allows hish forehand to take off like a jet and if the clay is really slow his forehand loses its venom, so even rafa is not a fan of TOO MUCH SLOW conditions.
vamosrafa , 5/9/10 8:24 PM
@vamosrafa
ur right. but whenever a big hitter beats him or comes close-its usually sunny.
tj600 , 5/10/10 1:29 AM
@tj, u are right too....but overall looking in to rafa's career, speaking abt all surfaces he has always struggled in night matches (hard courts in particular) ! , but i knw we were talking abt a diff thing, weather conditions at RG....
vamosrafa , 5/10/10 1:50 AM
@vamosrafa
i know this is off topic,but is monfils playing madrid,coz i heard hes in nadals quarter. if thats the case, hes the only decent clay-courter in that section.
tj600 , 5/10/10 2:08 AM
sorry,i meant only decent clay courter in nadals quarter.
tj600 , 5/10/10 2:10 AM
yes tj monfils is playing, his match is today.
vamosrafa , 5/10/10 1:55 PM
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roddick hasnt played on clay this year....he might struggle in the early rounds.
vrael , 5/7/10 6:38 AM