While a student in Paris, Roland Garros was a regular player at his tennis club in Porte d’Auteuil in the Bois de Boulogne area of Paris. He later became an aviator, performing some pioneering flights. At the onset of World War I, he joined the French Armed forces as a fighter pilot shooting down four German aircraft before he was himself killed in action. During the war he had invented a system where the pilot could shoot his machine gun through the propellers of the aircraft, thus increasing its effectiveness and accuracy. That was the reason for his fame.
Little would Roland Garros have realized that his name would become a household word in the tennis world almost a century after his death.
As it happened, the French Four Musketeers had won the Davis Cup in 1928 and the French Federation was looking for a site for a tennis stadium in which to host the next year’s challenge round. Garros’ club agreed to provide the land provided the stadium was named after their erstwhile war hero member.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Djokovic chance
Novak Djokovic has a chance to make history next week as the French Open 2012 commences. Should he win his seven matches, he would be the third man after Don Budge and Rod Laver, to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. The last time this was done was in 1969 when Rod laver won his second Grand Slam. Of course, Laver’s was a calendar year Slam, something only he and Budge have done in men’s tennis.
But Djokovic’s achievement, should he attain it, would be only marginally less spectacular.
In order to win this year’s French Open, Novak has a mountain to climb in the name of Rafael Nadal. Nadal has been almost invincible on clay courts for the past seven years, winning the French six times amid a host of other clay court titles. He has had a rousing start to this year’s clay campaign, wining at Monte Carlo and Rome with a little blip on the blue clay of Madrid. In both finals, Nadal defeated Djokovic, his tormentor of 2011 when Novak inflicted seven straight losses on his rival and then at the Australian Open earlier this year in an epic marathon.
Nadal is the man to beat at Roland Garros this year and there are hardly any players with the game to do so. Djokovic does, but he will have to show much more fortitude than he has done on clay recently against Nadal.
Nadal, the most relentless ever
Last year, Novak had been countering Nadal’s crosscourt forehand with an on the rise two handed backhand that nullified Nadal’s strongest shot. This year Nadal has added more variety to his game and that match up no longer goes Djokovic’s way as much as it used to. Nadal is one of the most relentless competitors ever and should he stay healthy, should win his seventh French Open.
It remains to be seen in whose half Roger Federer ends up on, because Roger could be the spoiler for the top two. Roger has won here in the year Soderling upset Nadal and is a regular semifinalist. Against the top two, his inability to keep up his aggressive game for more than a set has been exposed. In the end, almost inevitably, Nadal and Novak reel him in. It would require a Herculean effort on Federer’s part to win this year, although one would never put it past the Swiss maestro.
Andy Murray at number four, is struggling with a back niggle and could find it difficult to justify his seeding. His results on the clay have been far from convincing, in fact there is now a question mark over his ability to win any major event. Others in with a chance to make it to the quarters stage would be the usual suspects, Del Potro, David Ferrer, John Isner, Jo Wilfried Tsonga and the outsider Milos Raonic. Raonic possesses the most powerful serve in the game and his strength is the pace on his second serve, something even the gigantic Isner cannot match. Raonic is strong off the ground as well and should he win a couple of rounds, could build up some momentum. Jo Wilfried Tsonga, with his powerful go-for-broke game could be a threat, but like Federer, it isn’t often that he can maintain his aggression on clay against the very best for five sets.
For Aisam, a bridge too far?
Aisam ul Haq Qureshi is entered in the doubles with Jean Julien Roger. They have had some encouraging results of late, having beaten the Bryan brothers, but winning a major at this stage might be a bridge too far.
Victoria Azarenka will be the women’s favourite, having won the Australian in convincing fashion, but she has had a couple of losses, to Sharapova and Serena Williams. Sharapova is looking like a serious contender and if Serena hits form and fitness, she could wipe the floor with everyone else.
This summer promises to be a feast of tennis. The French Open will end in the first week of June. Wimbledon will start in the last week of June and the Olympics will be played at Wimbledon in end July. Look for Nadal to prevail at the French and for Federer and Djokovic to share the other two titles on grass. Tennis fans have a veritable feast in store for them.
