As we get set for the first-round of action at the 2017 French Open, experts from around the web have chimed in on who they believe will hoist the championship trophy mid-June.
If you’ve been following tennis for the past few years, then you may be aware that the clay courts of Roland Garros have been dominated by Rafael Nadal. This year, though, is Nadal still the heavy favorite to win it all? Let’s hear it from our selection of pundits below.
2017 French Open Men’s Singles Expert Predictions
*view all 2017 French Open men’s singles lines here
Bleacher Report
Although James Dudko of Bleacher Report didn’t make an outright prediction for the French Open men’s singles draw, he devoted virtually all his attention to none other than running favorite and clay-court specialist, Rafael Nadal (-140).
Dudko mentioned that even though Nadal had his 17-game win streak snapped against up-and-comer Dominic Thiem at the quarterfinal round of the Italian Open, the 30-year-old Spaniard is still being backed by his fellow ATP Tour peers, namely Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro. Del Potro claimed that he himself had a hard time keeping up Nadal’s closest contender and reigning French Open Champion, Novak Djokovic, but believes Rafa’s back in fine form once more to reclaim top honors at Roland Garros.
Furthermore, Dudko also emphasized that Djokovic’s up-and-down 2017 season continued its downward trend on the cusp of the French Open, having just lost in the final round of the Italian Open to 20-year-old German Alexander Zverev.
Tennis Now
Over at Tennis Now – a YouTube channel dedicated to everything professional tennis courtesy of Tennis Express – gave five good reasons as for why Rafael Nadal will indeed win this year’s French Open.
One particular intangible that their video touched upon is the addition of fellow countryman and former tennis great, Carlos Moya, as his new coach. Under Moya’s tutelage, Nadal vastly improved his service game, having more aces this year already compared to all of last season.
The clip also highlighted the relatively weaker competition that Nadal will go up against at Roland Garros, with Djokovic still in search of his dominant form, top-ranked Andy Murray having a mere 4-3 record on clay this 2017, and with Roger Federer set to miss the tournament in preparation for Wimbledon instead.
Tennis Dawn
No surprises here, as blog site Tennis Dawn also sided with Rafael Nadal as this year’s French Open champ. The site further emphasized that Nadal’s superior play on clay is nearly unparalleled, with the resurgent Roger Federer seemingly as the only real threat in the field.
But as of this writing and as we mentioned earlier, Federer skipped out on all clay-court tournaments leading up to the French Open and announced his decision to veer away from the Parisian tournament altogether to extend his playing career at a high level. The clay turf is arguably the toughest surface to play on, so the Swiss sensation’s decision to go on brief hiatus is a rather sound one at that indeed.
In turn, the site went on to reinforce the fact that Nadal is a nine-time champion at Roland Garros, and they wouldn’t be surprised if the Mallorcan will further extend his record to 10 victories when all is said and done.
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