Roland Garros in sight, with Djokovic on the rise, a devastating Alcaraz and Nadal in trouble: will there be any surprises?

The men’s tennis circuit will arrive this week in Geneva and Lyon, where two ATP 250 category tournaments will be played. However, everyone is focused on paris, where Roland Garros, the most important slow court event of the year, will begin on Sunday 22nd. What will happen? Will Novak Djokovic defend the title, after his dedication to Rome? Will Carlos Alcaraz be able to sustain his massive rise in a historic victory? How will Rafael Nadal physically come? Will there be any surprises?

The great victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Rome final left again nole as the clearest candidate to lift the Musketeers Cup. But shouting the champion will not be easy.

Thinking of Djokovic as a favorite for Paris may have been strange a month ago. But the Serbian seems to have put the turbulent start a year behind him, where by refusing to be vaccinated against the coronavirus he was unable to play at the Australian Open, where he is defending the title, or the Indian Wells and Miami Masters. And another illness affected him at the start of the European dust tour, for which he did not give details.

Djokovic, who has 20 Grand Slams in his showcases, went from minor to major last month and at the Foro Italico played high level tennis and clarified that he had regained the rhythm of the games and his head was as strong as ever. On Sunday, with the trophy in his hands, he warned: “I had a perfect week. There’s no other way than here to get to Roland Garros.”

Perhaps the only doubt the “great” Parisian faces – who has already won twice – is his physical condition. He himself had already recognized this mysterious disease affects your metabolism and after falling in the Belgrade final against Andrew Rublev He admitted he ran out of energy in the third set.

In Rome he doesn’t seem to suffer too much on the court, but matches in Paris are often more demanding, especially as the rounds progress. Will he be 100 percent fit to take two weeks to play five sets on clay?

Carlos Alcaraz will be the latest threat for Djokovic in Paris. Murcian is the player of the moment and, especially on touring the slow courts, tired of winning, lifting trophies and breaking records. After covering Rio de Janeiro and Miami (his first Masters 1000), he had a stumble in Monte Carlo (defeat in the first round in sebastian korda), but rise very quickly.

He cried champion in Barcelona and in Madrid, where he defeated Nadal in the quarters, Djokovic in the semis (he became the 11th player to beat those two rivals in the same tournament and the first to make it to the dust) and Alexander Zverev in the final. And he left Rome to rest and arrive at Roland Garros in top form.

Through these achievements, he has climbed 26 positions in the rankings since the start of 2022: he was sixth and he looked ready to continue his rise, which will take you to the top, something no one would dare ask. His tennis, his maturity to face battles, his mentality and his physique put him among the great favorites for the French Grand Slam.

Will Carlitos be ready to win one of the oldest, most prestigious and important tournaments on the circuit? Some would say he was very young: he was only 19 years old. But Nadal was 19 when he won the first of his 13 titles in Paris, in 2005. And the similarities between the careers of both Spaniards are undeniable, though Nadal himself Rafe asked them to stop the comparisons and let their countrymen build their own path.

Nadal, this year’s champion in Australia and the Melbourne and Acapulco ATPs, and a finalist at Indian Wells, is another strong favorite to lift the trophy in Paris. You probably won’t come in your best shape, then the worried image which he left in the round of 16 match in Rome, which he lost in three sets against Denis Shapovalov.

But how can he not count for a tournament played on “his surface” and where he will find his 14th crown (record) to also strengthen his position as top grand slam champion?

Against the Canadian, he was seen suffering greatly from chronic injury to his left foot, which no cure. “It’s a permanent pain, sometimes more and sometimes less, but today was crazy. I don’t know how I’ll be in a few days, but I hope I can go to Paris,” he said sadly, after being fired. from the contest, sowing doubt about his presence in the French capital. “The worst thing is I’m feeling back to a good level of play. But it’s hard when I can’t move,” he closed.

according to the newspaper Aceafter resting for a few days and consulting with his medical team, Rafe -who also had to stop a few weeks after Indian Wells due to a rib stress fracture- will travel to France this Wednesday to continue his preparations for the tournament. If he can “manage” the disease, he’s one of the great attractions in the Bois de Boulogne and it’s not too surprising if he lifts the trophy, which will be the 22nd “big” of his record.

Will there be surprises?

Behind Djokovic, Alcaraz and Nadal there are other players who could cause a surprise in Paris.

Tsitsipas, new number four in the world (Nadal moved), conquered Monte Carlo this year (defeated Davidovich), was a semifinalist in Madrid and reached the final in Rome. But in the decisive match he showed a lot of skepticism, especially in the first set he lost 6-0 to Djokovic.

And although he has the level of tennis to fight for big titles, the Greek seems to lack – mentally or confidently, perhaps – to strike in important battles, especially against hierarchical rivals.

Something similar happened to Zverev, another talented player entrenched in the elite, who would be worth including among the candidates but who still unable to show his best level at crucial moments.

So far on the dust tour, he has failed in the semis in Monte Carlo (with Tsitsipas), in the final in Madrid (with Alcaraz) and in the semis in Rome (also with Greek). He lives in turbulent months, with some controversial attitudes in court (such as his expulsion from Acapulco) and the winding ATP investigations into allegations of violence against an ex-girlfriend, which seem to disallow to him to concentrate.

Unknown for Paris is Daniil Medvedev, world number two, this year’s finalist in Australia and current US Open champion. The Russian has not played since March, after losing in the Miami quarterfinals due to an operation to correct a hernia, but he will return to court this week in Geneva. We’ll have to wait to see what level he is after the forced break, especially since brick dust isn’t his best surface.

From the platoon in the rear, no name positioned itself as a candidate. But in sports anything can happen. Then we have to look at players like Rublev, number seven in the world and Djokovic’s winner in the Belgrade final; the norwegian Casper Ruud, eighth and winner in Buenos Aires in February; and even Stan Wawrinka, a former Grand Slam champion returning after a year -long struggle with a left foot injury.

However, it’s not dangerous to think that this year’s Roland Garros trophy will be doubted by a select few, with Djokovic in the lead and two Spaniards, Alcaraz and Nadal, as their main threats.

In women, there is almost no doubt

If we’re talking about the women’s contest, there’s no need to wander around to find out who the great favorite is – it’s worth even saying just one – to be crowned in Paris: Iga Swiatek. The Polish woman, number one in the world, covered the WTA 1000 in Rome on Sunday with a solid victory against the Tunisian. Ons Jabeur Y won his fifth consecutive title.

Swiatek’s last defeat was in February, when he fell in the second round to Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 16 in Dubai. Since, he won everything he played: the WTA 1000 in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami, the WTA 500 in Stuttgart and now Rome. Accumulate 28 consecutive winsincluding two he played for his country’s team in the Billie Jean King Cup in mid -April.

The French “big” winner in 2020, his dominance in the season was so solid that he reached more than 2,000 points ahead of the Czech Barbora Krejcikovaher escort in the ranking.

Among the first seeded at Roland Garros, there are players who, historically or currently, have the credentials to give up against the Pole. Both Jabeur, winner in Madrid and at the best moment of his career, or the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (7th), who lost in the final in Stuttgart and in the semis in Rome with Iga. Or the former Grand Slam champions Garbiñe Muguruza, Emma Raducanu (in doubt after retiring to debut at Foro Italico due to back pain) or Ostapenko.

But the truth is, facing Paris, Swiatek seems to have no opponent.