The second Grand Slam of the year is underway and the upsets are likely to flow at Roland Garros after a tennis year that has thrown up so many shock results.<\/p>\n
Iga Swiatek\u2019s uncertain form as she prepares to defend her French Open title has been one of the big talking points of the clay court season so far, while uncertainty hovers over Novak Djokovic and world No 1 Jannik Sinner for different reasons.<\/p>\n
Here are some tips for the next two weeks in Paris, with the draw shaping what we can expect on the red dirt.<\/p>\n
DJOKOVIC\u2019S BIG CHANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n Novak Djokovic may have needed a favourable draw to give himself a chance to get into top gear at Roland Garros and that is what he has been given.<\/p>\n Tim Henman makes a bold Emma Raducanu claim as he suggests her critics got it wrong<\/a><\/p>\n Novak Djokovic\u2019s 100 career titles: A complete breakdown of Serb\u2019s historic haul<\/a><\/p>\n Even though he toasted his 38th birthday a few days ago, the 24-time Grand Slam-winning legend continues to believe he can flick the switch and play his best tennis in the tournaments that still motivate him and his path in Paris certainly appears to give him the best chance to do that.<\/p>\n Mackenzie MacDonald should be a comfortable opening win and Daniil Medvedev may be a tough test in round four, but Djokovic could be firing on all cylinders if he gets through that match and reaches the quarter-finals in Paris again.<\/p>\n Djokovic\u2019s success in winning his 100th career title in Geneva on Saturday ticked off one box in his list of remaining targets. Now he wants a 25th Grand Slam.<\/p>\n Verdict: Can this version of Djokovic beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner on clay? It seems unlikely, but you write off this icon at your peril.<\/p>\n THE IGA QUESTION<\/strong><\/p>\n Is Iga Swiatek\u2019s demise on a tennis court terminal?<\/p>\n The sight of the queen of clay losing 6-1, 6-1 to Coco Gauff at the Madrid Open and following it up with an equally comprehensive defeat against Danielle Collins at the Italian Open left so many questions about where the four-time Roland Garros champion is with her game and her mindset heading to Paris.<\/p>\n She may well roll through her opponents in the opening rounds, but recent history tells us that any sign of pressure or an opponent threatening her dominance can quickly lead to her downfall.<\/p>\n Verdict: Swiatek would need to shake off the biggest slump in form in her career to defend her title in Paris. It will be a step too far for her, but she can bounce back in future years.<\/p>\n SINNER\u2019S BIGGEST TEST<\/strong><\/p>\n Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s dismantling of Jannik Sinner in the second set of their Rome Masters final gave us a hint that the world No.1 can be beaten when his opponent and their tactics are applied to perfection.<\/p>\n Sinner\u2019s sideways movements second to none, but Alcaraz exposed a potential weakness moving back and forward in straight lines as he deployed his drop shot so effectively in Rome.<\/p>\n Trading with Sinner from the baseline is a recipe for disaster, as his weight of shot is too much for everyone to handle, but Alcaraz highlighted how you can get him off balance and chip into his confidence.<\/p>\n Verdict: Sinner should get to the final, but he will be second favourite if Alcaraz is facing him again.<\/p>\n ZVEREV\u2019S PROBLEM<\/strong><\/p>\n Alexander Zverev has had a pretty disastrous clay court season.<\/p>\n He won an event in Germany last month, but her was up against moderate opposition for most of that week and admitted after the event that he didn\u2019t play at his highest level.<\/p>\n His early defeats in Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome and Munich highlighted an alarming collapse in confidence that leaves the world No 3 exposed heading to Paris.<\/p>\n Zverev was a finalist at Roland Garros last year and has a huge number of points to defend, but he is not the same player 12 months on.<\/p>\n Verdict: Zverev will do well to reach the latter stages, especially with his nemesis Francisco Cerundolo in his section of the draw.<\/p>\n RADUCANU\u2019S REVIVAL<\/strong><\/p>\n If the clay court season has been a nightmare for Zverev, it has been a lot more positive for Britain\u2019s Emma Raducanu.<\/p>\n The 2021 US Open champion has openly admitted she does not feel comfortable on the red dirt, but she has thrown herself into the challenge in recent weeks and has served up some positive results.<\/p>\n The back problem she suffered in her defeat against Danielle Collins in Strasbourg is a concern, but a fully fit Raducanu could be a threat in Paris.<\/p>\n A potential second round match against Iga Swiatek beckons and while their previous meetings have been one-sided in favour of the Polish star, the balance of power could shift as Raducanu\u2019s improved form contrasts from a slide in fortunes for the four-time French Open champion.<\/p>\n Verdict: Any wins in Paris will represent progress for Raducanu, with the upcoming grass court season her bigger focus now.<\/p>\n READ NEXT: Emma Raducanu fighting her biggest phobia amid worrying French Open injury update<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Emma Raducanu and Novak Djokovic get golden French Open chance as Iga Swiatek and Alex Zverev face rankings meltdown<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The second Grand Slam of the year is underway and the upsets are likely to flow at Roland Garros after a tennis year that has thrown up so many shock results. Iga Swiatek\u2019s uncertain form as she prepares to defend her French Open title has been one of the big talking points of the clay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}More Tennis News<\/h3>\n