The clay court season is set to move through the gears over the next few weeks, with this phase of the tennis season set to reach a crescendo at the French Open in Paris.
There will be plenty of twists and turns and lots of ranking points up for grabs between now and that second Grand Slam of the year at Roland Garros.
Here are your Tennis365 predictions on five of the biggest names who will be striving to make their mark on the red dirt.
Carlos Alcaraz
Status: World No 1 and French Open champion
Alcaraz has admitted he will lose his world No 1 ranking to his big rival Jannik Sinner imminently and the change at the top could come as early as next Monday.
Sinner will be back on top of the rankings if he wins the Monte Carlo Masters and if he doesn’t take the No 1 spot next week, he will almost certainly be at the top of the pile when he gets to Roland Garros.
Alcaraz is a potent threat on clay courts and will believe he has the edge over Sinner on this surface, but the young Spaniard has admitted he is feeling the pressure as one of the big scalps for all his rivals.
His brilliance will take him close to another Grand Slam title in Paris, but Sinner will fancy his chances of knocking him off his perch.
Verdict: Alcaraz will win clay court titles, but he may not take the one he really wants at Roland Garros?
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Iga Swiatek
Status: Looking to bounce back with new coach Francisco Roig
The Queen of Clay is a four-time French Open winner, but she is heading into this phase of the season with clouds of uncertainty hanging over her.
Swiatek parted company with coach Wim Fissette after the Miami Open and has teamed up with Francisco Roig.
That has opened the door for Swiatek to spend some time on court with the 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in recent days, as Roig called in the legend he once worked for to give his new charge some tips.
Swiatek has lost her way and her aura has been shattered over the last year, but she will be a threat on clay once again.
Verdict: Swiatek to roar back to form under coach Roig.
Jannik Sinner
Status: Eyeing up a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open
Sinner has achieved so much over the last couple of years, but there is one glaring void on his trophy-laden record.
The French Open title was a point away from his grasp on two occasions in his remarkable final against Alcaraz last year, but it eluded him in the final analysis and that will fire his desire to get the job done at Roland Garros this time.
Before that, Sinner will want to win the ATP 1000 title in front of his home fans in Rome and ensure that he has a comfortable buffer at the top of the ATP Rankings at the end of the clay court season.
Verdict: Sinner to be the big winner in this clay court season, including at Roland Garros.
Alex Eala
Status: Looking to make her mark on clay
The Filipina star continues to create a stir in the women’s game, but she needs to prove she has what it takes to shine on clay courts.
Eala has a couple of wins on her record at the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid, but she has yet to win a match in the main draw at the French Open and has only won one match in a Grand Slam event.
She lost in the second round of the tournament in Linz at the start of her clay court campaign and may struggle to get past the game’s big hitters on a surface that will not give her too much assistance.
Verdict: Eala may perform better on grass courts this summer, but she has a big chance to get back into the top 32 of the WTA Rankings during this clay court season.
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The post Carlos Alcaraz, Alex Eala, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek – our big clay court predictions appeared first on Tennis365.
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