The French Open is the second major Grand Slam of the year. For Tennis faithful’s, it is also called Roland-Garros. It is the premier clay court tennis championship event in the world and the only Grand Slam event held on clay.
The 2018 championship kicks off today in Paris. The winner of the singles Male event receives 2000 points as well as prize money of €2,200,000 in addition to being handed La Coupe des Mousquetaires.
We are focusing on some of the top male contenders for the Roland Garros title.
RAFAEL NADAL
Best Result at French Open – Champion (2005-2008, 2010-2014 & 2017)
The 2017 French Open champion is favorite for this year’s championship. Since he debuted at this circuit in 2005, he has won 10 titles at Roland-Garros. The King of Clay will be bidding to win his 11th crown in Paris. In the run up to the French Open, he has won the Monte-Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open and Italian Open. He is the man to beat in Paris.
Rafa kicks off his 2018 French Open campaign with his first round match against Simone Bolelli.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV
Best Result at French Open – Third Round
Alexander Zverev heads to the 2018 French Open in good form after a hugely successful month on European clay court. His Grand Slam record has been dodgy and that’s the stage the 21-year-old need to perform. Can he be referred to as the new King of Clay? It’s too early but he is one to watch out for on current form. Will he get his Grand Slam breakthrough at Roland Garros?
Zverev will face Berankis in the first round of the 2018 French Open.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC
Best Result at French Open – Champion (2016)
Djokovic is still pretty high on the list of French Open favourites with the book makers. The Serbian famously became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four major titles simultaneously when he captured his one and only French Open in 2016, but he hasn’t been to a Grand Slam final since and has recently struggled with an elbow problem. Nole is gradually returning to his best with his display in Rome. Can he can sustain the Rome form at Roland Garros?
Nole’s first round opponent is Rogerio Dutra Silva
KEI NISHIKORI
Best Result at French Open – Quarter-final
The 28-year-old Japanese announced his readiness for the French Open with back-to-back victories against Marin Cilic and Alexander Zverev on the Masters 1000 final. He participated in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid open but didn’t last long in this competitions. In Rome, he played some good tennis beating Feliciano Lopez, Grigor Dimitrov and Philipp Kohlschreiber in the previous rounds, but joined forces with Djokovic in the last eight to produce an absolute masterclass.
Kei will face home boy Maxime Janvier in his first match in this year’s French Open.
STAN WAWRINKA
Best Result at French Open – Champion (2015)
Stan hasn’t played much tennis since his knee surgery last year. He made a comeback in Australia in January but didn’t go beyond the second round. Wawrinka has the ability to produce excellent performances on the big stage when fully fit and firing. The French Open may come too soon for him to return to his best.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is Stan’s first hurdle at Roland Garros.
MARIN CILIC
Best Result at French Open – Quarter-final
Since his impressive performance at the Australia Open in January, Cilic has hit a bad patch exiting at the early rounds in both Indian Wells and Miami, along with the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro. Cilic is capable of producing the big moment in the big tournament and the 29-year-old will still be feeling pretty confident of making some sort of impact in Paris.
In the first round, Marin Cilic squares off against James Duckworth.
DOMINIC THIEM
Best Result at French Open – Semi-final
Thiem had a solid season on clay last year finishing runner-up to Nadal in Barcelona and Madrid. He made it to his second straight French Open semi-final too. Thiem has had the odd good performance in this clay-court season, most notably his win over Nadal in Madrid, but he has generally been below par and with Novak Djokovic returning to form, and Alexander Zverev in the form of his life, Thiem’s chances of going one better than the semis looks quite difficult.
Dominic will face Ilya Ivashka in the first round of 2018 French Open competition.
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