Roland Garros, the Argentines’ favorite Grand Slam, but they haven’t been protagonists for some time

Roland Garros It is the Grand Slam preferred by Argentines, who feel at home on the orange pitches of Paris, very similar to those that abound in Creole clubs. Playing this tournament is one of the first goals that tennis players set themselves. sky blue when they start their professional career, perhaps even earlier, during their early years. Some even allow themselves to imagine that they are raising the coveted Musketeers cup. But that love for the “great” French is no longer reciprocated, because the brick dust of Bois de Boulogne He has been, for several years, unfriendly to the players of our country.

Apart from some great isolated performances, the blue-and-white rackets usually say goodbye to the Parisian tournament very early. This is demonstrated by the statistics, which show that in the last 17 years only one edition has had at least two Argentines in the quarter-finals: five seasons ago, with Juan Martin del Potro AND diego schwartzmann. With seven confirmed for the main design from which he will start this Sunday -and many of them in very good moments-, will that record be improved in 2023?

The best Roland Garros in history – if we talk about our tennis – was that of 2004, when four national teams were among the eight best. Juan Ignacio Chela he fell to Briton Tim Henman in the quarterfinals. David Nalbandian reached the semifinals, where she lost with Gaston Gaudio. And the Cat beat at the end a Guillermo Coriato become the second Argentine champion in Paris after William Ville (1977). The following year, the one that marked the beginning of the reign of Rafael Nadalthe Spaniard defeated in the final Porta Marianawhich, in turn, had come down to Guillermo Canas In the rooms.

From 2006 to today, only in 2018 have two Argentines managed to win at least four matches in the tournament. That year Schwartzman, then 12th in the standings, won against the French Calvin Hemery (130th), the Czech Adam Pavlasek (185th), the Croatian Borna Coric (40th) and the South African Kevin Anderson (7th) and reached the quarterfinals. He said goodbye at that moment in front of Nadal, number one in the world.

Del Potro, who sits in sixth place, has gone one step further. He beat the locals Nicolas Mahut (116th) and Julien Benneteau (62nd), the Spaniard Albert Ramos (36th), the American John Isner (10th) and the Croatian Martin Cilic (4th) and was eliminated in semifinal from Raf.

The two of them, together with Nalbandian, are the three Argentines who have managed to break through in the semifinals in the last 17 editions. Delpo He did it twice, since before that 2018 he had reached the instance before the decisive one in 2009, when he lost against the Swiss Roger Federerwho later won his only title in the tournament.

He “King David” He was in the best four in 2006, when he was number three in the world and ended up retiring with abdominal pain against Federer, who advanced to the final.

Meanwhile, the small She was a semifinalist in the 2020 special edition, which was played in late September and early October, postponed due to the pandemic, and which also had an Argentine in the women’s draw on that occasion. Nadia Podoroska. The man from Buenos Aires, who arrived confident after beating Nadal in Rome and handing over the title of that tournament to Novak Djokovic– surprised Dominic Thiem (3rd) in the quarterfinals and in the semifinals he was overtaken by the Spaniard (2nd).

Taken individually, those performances were great news for national tennis. However, the full picture shows that domestic racketeers have had no luck in Paris. There are many who come to main design -except in 2010 and 2020, when there were five, in the rest of the seasons since 2016 at least seven have entered the draw-, but few who manage to advance beyond the second round.

In 2008, for example, 15 started, six hailed their debut (Monk, choria, calleri, White hair, Berlock AND Roitmann), eight in the second instance (Del Potro, nalbandian, Junqueira, Done, who gonzález, beer, Vasallo Arguello AND decoud) he is alone Edward Schwank made it to third E in 2016, none of the nine pit crews won two games: they were eliminated in the first Schwartzmann, delbonis, Mayer AND zeballos; and in the second, Monk, Mass, Bagnis (before Christmas), Berlock AND trungelite.

This reality is repeated in quality. In each edition, the albiceleste rackets are at the top of the table, but not many win a place in the main competition. Last year, two out of 11 made it through qualifying; and two others ended up in the main draw as lucky losers. Thus, there were also 11 in the main draw and the only one who passed the second instance was Peque, who reached the round of 16.

In this 2023, Francis Cerundolo, 28th in the world, will start at the head of the seven Argentines who – at least until now – will play in Paris. The others will be Sebastian Baez (44th) e Thomas Etcheverry (46th), also representatives of the Next generation blue and white; Pedro Cachin (63rd), Schwartzmann (93rd), Frederick Coria (94°) e Guido Pelle (421st, with protected classification). Will they be able to break the negative trend of recent years and once again place two or more representatives of the albiceleste in the top eight?

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The women’s tournament at Roland Garros proved to be tougher than the men’s for Argentine tennis. If you look at the last 17 editions, there have only been three with a national team in the round of 16.

Gisela Dulko She reached that instance in 2006 for the first time, beating American Shenay Perry in the quarterfinals. And then she lost to German Anna Lena Grönefeld, seeded 13th.

La Tigrense, who achieved the best results of her career as a dubber (she won the Australian Open 2011THE WTA 201 Finals0 and was number one in the world) – she repeated that performance in 2011, when she withdrew with a left leg injury against France’s Marion Bartoli, seeded 11.

It was nine years before another Argentine finished eighth in Paris. Era Nadia Podoroska in the dreamed-of 2020 edition. Rosario started in qualifying and reached the semifinals beating the Ukrainian in the quarterfinals Elina Svitolina, third favourite. And was eliminated in that round by the Pole Iga Swiatekclassification leader and later champion.

The French Grand Slam has no Argentines in its list of champions. The best historical performances were those of Gabriel Sabatinisemi-finalist five times, in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991 and 1992.

Of course, this difference in statistics between Argentine men and women is also a consequence of different realities. While men’s tennis usually has many players touring the circuit and competing in major tournaments; women’s rackets at the top level are far fewer.

In this Roland Garros, without going further, Podoroska – today 101st in the standings – will be the only national representative in the main draw. Lourdes Charles149 and Paola Ormechea184th, could not pass the qualy.