Surprises might be in store at the 2014 French Open

The coveted trophy is up for grabs. A tournament that puts one’s fitness and survival to test is expected to light up the entire nation with the flame of anger, the annihilation of disappointment and the rage to succeed. A tournament where pride comes before a nasty downfall.

The King of Clay Rafael Nadal is all set to defend his title. With Stanislas Wawrinka subduing Nadal’s killer blows in Australia, the outline of this tournament could be drawn into a different dimension. Every match in this edition could prove to be a “kiss of death” encounter.

Following up a Grand Slam semi-final loss to Nadal this January, Roger Federer stares at more questions than answers. Federer has won this edition only once out of his collection of 17 Major titles. Aged 32, he still has the right technique to pose himself as a legitimate contender. The touch is still sublime and the movement is still swift in Roger’s play. The man appears to be short of confidence, however, and appears to lack the belief that he had when he was in his superlative period.

With Nadal, Murray, Djokovic at their peak and players like Wawrinka, Ferrer and Berdych potentially being dark horses, Federer might not be favoured to win his 18th Slam on this surface. Meanwhile, Rafa has been quite fragile over the past seasons and has missed ample chances by falling prey to chronic knee injuries.

On the other hand, Djokovic looks a more settled contender. He could be the man to end Rafa’s reign on clay. The head to head statistics do not favour the Serb and he will have to vanquish the demons of his past to prove a point here. The tournament is expected to spring us with surprises and a “battle for survival” will be fought before the “battle for supremacy”.