The second grand slam tournament of the year is upon us. That’s the 2019 French Open, which is about to kick off late this May, with the world’s best tennis players converging in Paris, each vying to lift La Coupe des Mousquetaires. Read on for a preview of the men’s singles side at the 2019 French Open.
It’s not a French Open preview without the mention of the Rafael Nadal’s name. The winningest player in French Open history is aiming to add more to his collection of titles at Roland Garros. He currently has 11 French Open titles, a mind boggling total, but Nadal seems far from done. Nadal has been struggling to gain consistency this year, as he has yet to win a tournament this 2019. Even on clay, where he’s supposed to dominate and destroy his opponents, Nadal has been failing to live up to expectations. He recently lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semis of the Madrid Open. Nadal seems like he’s starting to gain steam, though, after making the semifinals of the Italian Open. His opponent in that round? Tsitsipas, again.
Like Nadal, Djokovic has made the semifinals round of the Italian Open, the last preparatory tournament for the French Open. Unlike Nadal, Djokovic has already won titles this season. The Serbian made noise early this year with a win at the Australian Open, defeating Nadal in the finals. He also showed his readiness for the 2019 French Open by topping the field at the Madrid Open, where he beat the likes of Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, and Tsitsipas on his way to bagging the crown. Djokovic is 6-1 in ATP clay court matches this year and 19-4 overall. Djokovic is looking to add to his lone French Open title. He’s exited the tournament in the quarterfinals stage in each of the last two years.
It feels like it’s only a matter of time before Tsitsipas gets heralded as a tennis superstar. He’s poised to take over the title as the face of the sport once Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer either become washed up or decide to call it quits. There’s still a long way to go for Tsitsipas to be considered elite, but the 20-year-old Greek has already beaten all of the legends we just mentioned, showing how relatively far he’s gone for a player of his age. Tsitsipas has two titles on the year as of this writing. Tsitsipas has a record of 10-3 in clay court matches this year.
Wawrinka has been shaky heading into the 2019 French Open. After a lopsided loss to Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, Wawrinka got ambushed by David Goffin in the first round of the Italian Open. He still has a chance to get it together before his trip to Roland Garros. He’s entered his name into field of the upcoming Geneva Open. Wawrinka won the 2015 edition of the French Open.
Dimitrov made it inside the top 10 world rankings in 2014 and 2015. Since then, though, it’s been mostly disappointment for the 27-year-old Bulgarian. He hasn’t won a tournament since last year. He’s still a talented long shot worth of a value bet. He is 3-3 on clay court ATP matches in 2019 and has made the last round of 32 in each of the last two French Opens.
