24 hours to the French Open

Another year, another grand slam, the French Open this time, which is the only thing more popular than the French kiss, and wine. Will the script be any different at the Roland Garros this time? The omens seem to be otherwise. But for a major setback, it should be the usual Federer vs Nadal, men’s finale. Roger won the last year’s title, but Rafael was knocked out early then and even the champ would agree that the victory didn’t taste as good as it should have. Is the audience tired of these two gladiators going gung-ho over each other? No, absolutely not. For each of them raises his game to a higher pedestal when facing the other.

True, there’s always a Djokovic, a Murray, a Soderling and a Roddick in the anvil but the difference between the top two seeds and the rest is not just to do with numbers. It’s the ability to keep improving and raising the bar. I, however would like to see Tsonga in full song, for he’s a player who can match Federer stroke for stroke and Nadal’s stamina. If Tsonga can get his act together, he’d be my dark horse for the men’s title. Also wish our very own, Somdev Devvarman has a good showing, and makes some progress.

For the women’s draw, when both the Williams sisters play, they make life difficult for the rest. There’s always the plethora of Russian players to spoil their party though. Add to this the return of Justin Henin, albeit from a retirement of a couple of years. She’s been in 4 finals at the Garros and won them all and is thus my dark horse for the women’s draw. She will have to defeat Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, to progress to the semis.

Kim Clijsters, another player capable of creating havoc on her day, is out of the tournament with an injury, and that’s a real disappointment for the fans. She had proved her critics wrong by winning the last U.S. Open. The country’s own, or should we now say our neighbor’s own, Sania Mirza, is ranked 91, and has never made it past the 2^nd round at the Garros. Hope for a better showing post marriage ;).