FRENCH OPEN DAY 1 PREVIEW - WTA

As promised in our previous post, Master Ace and I will be providing day to day coverage of this year's French Open, right from our living rooms (where else?).  For those of us who follow us on Twitter and read our words we will be helping you out in Suicide Pool by giving you choices of who we think will win each day's match.  Have no idea which match to watch?  Tired of the same old faces on ESPN, ESPN2 and Tennis Channel.  We will provide suggestions on matches that you need to watch if only to discover someone new and interesting for whom to cheer. 

Remember, Serena, Maria, Ana, Jelena etc will not be around forever.  If you don't get on the bandwagon now, when will you.  So without further ado, here is the OOP for tomorrow's matches.  

Court Phillipe Chartrier 

Radwanska v Zhang (Radwanska)

Williams (S) v Lim (Williams)

Court Suzanne Lenglen

Bencic v Williams (V) (Bencic)

Piter v Kerber (Kerber)

Court 1 

Hantuchova v Jaksic (Jaksic)

Hesse v Meusberger (Meusberger)

Court 2 

Feuerstein v Govortsova (Feuerstein)

Kirilenko v Larsson (Larsson)

Court 3 

Kanepi v Niculescu (Kanepi)

Tomljanovic v Schiavone (Schiavone)

Court 6 

Schmiedlova v Zheng (Zheng)

Beygelzimer v Suarez-Navarro (Navarro)

Court 7 

Beck v Pironkova (Beck)

Cetkovska v Lepchenko (Lepchenko)

Court 17 

Min v Muguruza (Muguruza)

Shvedova v Davis (Davis) 

Spin's Match to Watch

I know everyone will be picking the match between Belinda Bencic and Venus Williams.  It will be a celebration of youth v experience.  Bencic, one of this blog's favourite players to watch has been doing incredibly well especially during the clay season.  She made the semis of Charleston and comported herself quite well in Madrid in a losing effort against Serena Williams.  Venus, after putting on a wonderful display reminiscent of her 1999 run to her lone Rome title against Annika Beck in Rome, lost in the next round to Carla Suarez-Navarro, a result that really did not surprise anyone.  I am a bit amazed that there are rumours that the Sisters will be playing doubles at this year's French Open, but I will have to see it to believe it. 

The Spin's match to watch will be qualifier Grace Min going up against Spain's own Garbine Muguruza.  Muguruza started the year off exceptionally well, winning her first title in Hobart and going on to push Venus Williams in a losing effort in Auckland.  Since then her results have tailed off.  Grace Min is the lone American to make it through the qualifying rounds at this year's French Open.  She is a counter puncher and it will be interesting to see her game plan against Muguruza who hits a big ball.  Both women are extremely competitive so there will be lots of in your face points as the match goes on.  This one will be a thriller and it will be a really good time to take a look at the woman who could face Serena Williams in the second round of this year's French Open. 

Ace's Match to Watch

Petra Cetkovska vs Varvara Lepchenko

When healthy, Cetkovska can be a solid player and can cause major upsets in a tournament. She snapped Na Li's unbeaten streak in Doha. Lepchenko is a very solid player on clay where she defeated Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani during Fed Cup play in 2013. She has not had the results so far in 2014. In their last meeting, Cetkovska won a three setter in Charleston and I think Cetkovska gets the win setting her up with a chance to make a run to the second week.

FRENCH OPEN - WTA STYLE

by Karen 

The draw, the draw, the draw.  That is all everyone is talking about.  Me, I am going to talk about the nightmare that woke me up on Draw Day.  I dreamt that I was at the French Open.  On the court was Venus Williams going up against Nadia Petrova. Words were exchanged.  Someone said to Venus that she should stand up for herself.  I said why should she when she has me.  I then went after Petrova ready to do battle against her for picking on Venus.  I woke up.  Then I saw the draw and I realised that there was a reason why I was so panicked in my dream.  Venus drew up and coming rising star Belinda Bencic in the first round.  If she manages to get through that match, and her next one, she faces her sister Serena Williams in the third round.  How do you say shit in French? 

Right, the WTA as it has been doing every Slam since 2010 is serving up intrigue and drama from day one.  The men's side of this tournament wishes they had the storylines and the matches to look forward to as much as the ladies do. 

People who are better at reading the draws have made their selection.  I am going to be lazy and post the best of the best. 

Matt Zemek over at Attacking the Net has a wonderful write up of the women's draw.  Steve Tignor as he does so well over at tennis.com has also broken down the draw.  Jon Wertheim at Sports Illustrated has his usual seed report and Courtney Nguyen, the authority on women's tennis in the mainstream media over at Beyond the Baseline has her winners and losers of the draw. 

The Spin is not going to be doing a draw breakdown for this year's French Open.  The team will be taking a closer look at matches for each day's play and will watch each match in its entirety (or try to) and then deliver cutting, post edge analysis (yes I said that with a smile on my face).  We will continue to provide our Match to Watch daily previews and of course who can forget Spin's Picks which will be here on the day preceeding each day's play for those of you who participate in Suicide Pool.  Link to TAT's Suicide Pool is here. 

I love that the French Open starts on a Sunday.  It gives me a chance to just sit at home and watch tennis all day long.  

Both Master Ace and I will provide daily match summaries and we will be back later today with our Picks for what to watch and who to watch.  We will also be going out on a limb and doing our Upset Alerts.  

ODDS AND ENDS

Genie Bouchard is into her second final of her career.  She goes up against Karolina Pliskova over in Nurenberg.  

Over in Strasbourg, the final will feature first time finalist Monica Puig who upended Madison Keys going up against the Spanish qualifier, Silver Soler-Espinosa who saved a match point against Christina McHale in her semifinal. 

I am thinking that Puig will be lifting her first trophy but I would not be surprised if Espinosa takes this one.  She has been playing the better tennis through this week and has had to gut out a number of wins.  If she wins, she will be the second qualifier to take a trophy this year on the WTA Tour as Pironkova won her first title in Sydney after going through qualifying.  

WTA FRENCH OPEN PREVIEW - THE REAL DARK HORSES

by Karen

As a top player in a Grand Slam there are a few players who you don't want to see on your side of the draw early.  These are the players with weapons in abundance but for one reason or another have never been able to keep the ball in the court for a 2 week period.  Some, like Stosur and Kuznetsova have been here before and were able to keep it together over a 2 week period and actually lift the trophy.  Can they do it again? 

Then there are the ones from whom much is expected.  They can pull an upset but can they back it up?  We speak of players like Jelena Jankovic, Sara Errani and Carla Suarez-Navarro.  Then there are the zoners.  The ones who take it to a  top player just before they find their grooves and we have all kinds of chaos in the draws.  In this we have to put people like Camila Giorgi, Eugenie Bouchard and Sloane Stephens.  

Then we have the quiet ones.  The ones who not much is said about them but they can be dangerous.  Aga Radwanska, Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic.  Apart from Petkovic, neither Radwanska or Kerber have made any noise during this season and especially on clay.  Can they find some form during the French Open and become part of the conversation. 

Finally, there are the ones who play to the crowd.  They have the weapons and they are rounding into form.  They are mostly home grown talent who will get the crowd behind them.  I speak of Alize Cornet and Caroline Garcia.  Both women have posted excellent results this year, and both have won titles this year.  Garcia is for me the player from this group who will make the most noise.  Watching her play Fed Cup against the United States in the US and the way she handled her nerve during those matches made many sit up and take notice.  In addition, her match against Serena Willliams at the Sony Open this year showed us just how truly talented this young French woman is. 

Alize Cornet, who is defending her Strasbourg title this year seems to have tapered off a bit from her run of play earlier in the season.  She will without a doubt use the crowd at Roland Garros to her advantage if she faces a top player early in the draw. 

Only time and the draw will tell. 

ODDS AND ENDS

I watched Sloane Stephens' match this morning against Julia Georges.  Sloane who was the top seed via wildcard lost 6-3, 6-2.  She did not get a break point on George's serve for the whole match and the closest she got was to deuce. She made some really bad errors at key points in the match.  Rumour has it that her coach Annacone will be joining her to prepare for the French Open. Let us hope that he can get her back on track as she seems to have lost her way entirely.  Maybe her mother needs to have her move out and become responsible for paying her rent and paying the people around her.  Only then will Sloane have to start taking responsibility for her performance.  

I am anxiously awaiting the draw for the second Grand Slam of the year.  I am sure that everyone is waiting with their draw sheets to see what the round of 16s and quarters will look like this year.  I will say that there will be a lot of deaths by suicide pool this year. 

WTA FRENCH OPEN PREVIEWS - PART DEUX - THE DARK HORSES

by Karen

I was taken to task yesterday after publishing my list of WTA Contenders for the second Grand Slam of the season.  The fact that I had Ana Ivanovic as a serious contender and not Li Na made people question my sanity.  I think we need to face facts.  We are now mid way through the season and neither Li Na, Aga Radwanska, Angelique Kerber, Jelena Jankovic, or any of the other women who reside in the top 10 have shown that they are serious contenders for the French Open title.  Frankly, not even the 4 women who I had previously featured are shoo ins for the title.  This is the first  French Open in a long time where anyone can claim victory on the final Saturday. 

Today, I am going to look at those ladies who stand an outside chance of lifting the Suzanne Lenglen trophy.  

Li Na

Li Na has been here before.  She is currently ranked a career high No. 2.  She has won the French Open.  She is the current Australian Open champion, but, and this is where it gets interesting.  Li is yet to beat a player in the top 10 this year.  She has suffered some surprising losses this year.  She lost the Sony Open from a winning position and that seems to be Li's career in a nutshell.  While she has made improvements in her game, her decision making during matches leaves a lot to be desired.  On her best days Li can go toe to toe with anyone in the top 10.  On her worst days she can lose to anyone outside the top 100.  Can she keep it together for 2 weeks.  She has done it twice in her career.  There is no reason she can't do it again. 

Lucie Safarova

Lucie Safarova was one point away from changing the dynamics of this 2014 season.  Had she made that backhand down the line at match point, we may have had a new Grand Slam champ crowned in Australia, as it is, a Hawkeye challenged ruled the ball out and the rest as they say is history.  Lucie would go on to lose the match and as a forebearer of things to come has lost some heart breakers this year.  She won't win the French Open but she could cause a huge upset in the draw. 

Petra Kvitova

What do you do with a player with all the talent in the world, who can hit anyone off the court but who just can't seem to stay healthy?  You place her as a dark horse in a Grand Slam.  Now that she has she shed the baggage that is Stepanek, has really worked on her fitness, one can only hope that Kvitova can stay healthy for the better part of 2 weeks to make some noise in the draw.  I doubt it, but that is why she is a dark horse. 

Dominika Cibulkova

Next up, the ones you never see coming 

Her results have tailed off since her maiden run at this year's Australian Open.  She was outhit in her losing effort to Camila Giorgi in Rome.  She is however a former semifinalist, famous for handing Sharapova one of her worst defeats at a Grand Slam.  Can Domi keep it together and stay healthy for 2 weeks.  Doubtful, but she will without a doubt cause some amount of chaos in the draw. 

WTA FRENCH OPEN PREVIEWS - CONTENDERS

by Karen

The Road to Roland Garros is now over.  The winners have been chosen by virtue of their performances over the last few weeks.  Over the next few days the Spin will attempt to categorise those ladies who we believe will raise the Suzanne Lenglen Cup.

When Serena Williams lost in her opening round match at Charleston to the relatively unknown Jana Cepelova the usual cries went up.  It did not help that Serena stated that she needed a break as her body and mind was tired.  Going into the European clay swing, Maria Sharapova stepped up her game and won her first title.  Li Na, who had herself taken a break after the Sony Open returned in Madrid.  Alarms were again raised when Serena withdrew from Madrid citing a left leg injury and her participation in Rome became of concern to everyone, including Serena.

While the top ladies were raising eyebrows, there were a lot of women who were beginning to show signs of life.  Carla Suarez-Navarro became a first title titlist in Portugal.

Today though the Spin will look at those women who we think will raise the Coupe de Suzanne Lenglen 3 weeks from today.

2014 Clay Wins - 7

Titles - 1

First up is reigning World No. 1 and defending champion, Serena Williams.  Serena provided a master class during her final today against Sara Errani.  While some will say that Errani was injured, I doubt if there was anything that Errani could have done even if she were at 100%.  After all the head to head was 6-0 for a reason and let us not forget the humiliating defeat that Errani suffered at the hands of Williams last year in the semifinals of the French Open, when she beat Errani 0 and 1 in 46 minutes.

While Serena has not been at her dominant self during this year's clay court, she has come up with the wins when it matters most.  Rome has always been a harbinger of things to come and both times that Serena has won Roland Garros she has won Rome.

2014 clay wins - 13

Titles - 2

Next up is Maria Sharapova, currently sitting at No. 7 in the rankings and last year's beaten finalist. Sharapova's clay court credentials are some of the best.  For someone who has previously expressed a relative fear of the surface she has grown into the surface and is now only second to Serena and Medina Garrigues in terms of clay titles.  She is the current 3 time champion at Stuttgart, a tournament that seems to kick start her season each year.  She followed up that victory by winning her first title in Madrid but got beaten by Ana Ivanovic in straight sets.  A former champion at Roland Garros, Sharapova went through 2013 without a Grand Slam to her name and the French Open is her best chance to get another Slam title under her belt.

Unless you were a diehard fan of women's tennis or a regular reader of this blog, you knew little or nothing about Simona Halep.  I confess that I knew nothing about her as well and had to do a little bit of digging when her name kept coming up on one of my favourite blogs, Women who Serve.  The reason why I was interested is not now important, what was important was the narrative that was being written about this young woman.  It was alleged that she had a great game, was fiery and all her love for tennis was all consuming. She hit all the right notes with me and so I was intrigued and wanted to know more.  That was 3 or 4 years ago and I have never stopped liking her.  

Halep has made subtle improvements in her game.  She is one of the few players of Generation Next who does not use on court coaching.  That for me shows her mentality.  She is not very demonstrative on court but she can be feisty when she needs to be. She is a true athlete.  A former French Open junior champion, her goals are set on winning her first Grand Slam title and her Slam of choice is the French Open.  I think she is a serious contender in the event that Serena and Maria falter before the second week.  

Her clay court season has been hampered by an  Achilles and stomach injury but I think she will be fit and ready for the French Open come 25 May. 

Our final contender for the Roland Garros trophy is none other than our 2008 champion and a player who many, including the Spin had written off.  When a player has taken her career into her own hands and fought tooth and nail to get her career back on track, we should all lift our hat to her and give her the props that she deserves.  Ana Ivanovic is that young woman. From living and dying by Wildcards, to exiting tournaments to players that some of us have never heard of, to changing coaches as often as you can say Ana has a new coach,  Ana Ivanovic now seems to have found purpose in her life and in her career.

She has reached the semis, quarters or semis of every single clay tournament that she has played this year and she has pushed the top 2 contenders for Roland Garros to third sets.  She had the match on her racquet in Stuttgart but Sharapova as she does competed much better.  Same thing in Rome, her opponent in the semifinals, Serena Williams just competed that much better and on both occasions Ivanovic seemed to run out of gas.   Here's hoping with the day of rest at the French Open she can manage her time there to at least the second week.

ELENA SERGEEVNA BALTACHA - AUGUST 1983-MAY 2014

MUTUA MADRID OPEN

by Karen and Master Ace

Is it unfair to the winners of the clay court tournaments that have already crowned winners to say that the Mutua Madrid Open will separate the Contenders for the French Open title from the Pretenders?  Maybe but with the return of 2 time defending champion and World No. 1 Serena Williams to competition, it kind of feels like the clay season has just begun. Madrid also sees the return of Australian Open champion, Li Na, as well as Australian Open runner Dominika Cibulkova who is just starting her clay campaign, having pulled out of Stuttgart with an injury. 

A lot of the players who fell in the early rounds of Stuttgart  as a result of Fed Cup play should have gotten sufficient rest in time to start their clay season. 

The excitement of the women's draw and the potential match ups have really got tennis fans talking.  Master Ace has broken down the draws and indicated his picks for who will make the quarters onwards and his picks for first round matches to watch.  We can only hope that there will be wall to wall coverage of WTA matches. 

Even though we are in the 3rd week of the European clay season, like you say it does feel as if clay season is just beginning with the the defending champion of this event and the reigning Australian Open champion returning to action.

The first quarter   is headed by Serena Williams, who will be going for a three peat. Carla Suarez Navarro, who made the finals at Oeiras, Flavia Pennetta and Petra Kvitova loom in this quarter of the draw. First round match to watch : Flavia Pennetta vs Lucie Safarova (h2h 1-3)

Second quarter - This is headed by Simona Halep, who has a tendency to do well in events that are above the Premier level in 2014. Very solid quarter with Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic First round match to watch : Ana Ivanovic vs Madison Keys (first meeting) 

Third quarter - This is headed by Agnieszka Radwanska. Most people would have Radwanska going far this week but some people may not know that clay is not her best surface despite her game being all-around. Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is in the finals at Oeiras, has been playing well on clay so far and was the only player to play a 3 setter with S Williams at 2013 French Open. First round match to watch : Andrea Petkovic vs Sara Errani (h2h 1-0)

Fourth quarter - This is headed by Na Li. The biggest name looming in this quarter is Maria Sharapova who is on a 41 match winning streak on clay against all players except Serena Williams. Last person to defeat Sharapova on clay besides S Williams is Li, who won their quarterfinal battle at 2011 French Open.

Predictions:

Q1 : S Williams vs Safarova

Q2 : Halep vs Ivanovic

Q3 : Errani vs Kuznetsova

Q4 : Sharapova vs Li

S1 : S Williams vs Halep

S2 : Kuznetsova vs Sharapova

F : S Williams vs Sharapova

W : S Williams

Odds and Ends 

The qualifying draw in Madrid is stacked.  Alisa Kleybanova is already out.  Julia Georges needed 3 sets to overcome Vania King in order advance to the second round of qualifying. Camila Giorgi, Belinda Bencic and Jana Cepelova are also playing qualifying and it will be interesting to see which of the top players will draw one of these or any other qualifiers when main draw play starts.  Play starts tomorrow (Saturday 3 May).  TV coverage starts on Monday 5 May. 

It has been announced that former No. 1 Dinara Safina will be at the trophy presentation ceremony in Madrid.  Word is that she will be officially announcing her retirement from the WTA Tour.  Safina has not played since an early round exit at the 2012 Australian Open.  

Dinara Safina showed what hard work and dedication can do to a player's game.  She also showed that notwithstanding hard work and dedication, if the mental aspect of the game is not there, players will fail.  Safina had 3 chances to win a Grand Slam during her reign. Twice at the French Open and once at the Australian Open.  On all 3 occassions she mentally collapsed against her opponents.  Many will remember Safina as a long line of WTA players who held the No. 1 ranking without ever winning a Grand Slam.  Unlike Wozniacki and Jankovic however, Safina had many chances to cement her legacy but she fell at each turn.  However, I will remember her for this and this

Next week Acey and I will take a look a look at the women who we consider to be contenders for the French Open title.  We will also be taking a look at those players who could pose potential problems for the top women heading into the French Open. 

A tennis friend of mine brought this great article by David Epstein to my attention and I am currently doing some research in order to put what the presenter has said about genetics and technology and see if there is any correlation between genetics, technology and the sport of tennis.  Stay tuned.