Nadal will net Open, says veteran
• A bitter-sweet return to place of triumph and disgrace
Fifty years after accepting his second Coupe des Mousquetaires, Australian great Ken Rosewall will bestow the French Open trophy on the men’s singles champion in June and sees only one grateful player ready to claim it — Rafa Nadal.
“Unless anything unforeseen happens to Rafa — his reputation is scaring everybody — so I’m just going to go over there and give him the trophy and come home,” the eight-times Grand Slam champion said.
The 83-year-old has been impressed by Nadal’s rampaging clay-court season, which included an eighth Italian Open title at the weekend and the heist of the world No 1 ranking from Roger Federer.
Nadal will head to Paris in search of a record-extending 11th title and his 17th Grand Slam win overall, with Federer watching from the sidelines.
The 31-year-old Spaniard’s rivals, young guns and battlescarred veterans among them, would be playing for second if the champion could stay on two legs, said Rosewall.
“He looks like he’s enjoying his tennis. He’s had a few physical problems and it seems like he’s recovered from that,” added the left-hander. “Right now he’s playing as well as he’s ever played. He’s the one to win it.”
In the era of Federer, who turns 37 in August, tennis players have been ageing like fine wine. Fans have been spoilt, their cups running over with the long-time rivalry between the Swiss great and Nadal, even as “big four” contemporaries Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have fallen by the wayside.
Rosewall also came from an impressive vintage, and had to beat compatriot Rod Laver, the 11-times slam champion, to win the 1968 French Open, 15 years after his first at Roland Garros.
Toting a wooden racquet on a clay practice court at Melbourne Park on Tuesday, Rosewall was honoured by Tennis Australia in a low-key ceremony on the golden anniversary of the 1968 win, also the first Grand Slam of the professional era.
While eight players have won more slams than Rosewall, the man nicknamed “Muscles” — an ironic reference to his lack of them — collected his haul despite being ineligible to play the four Majors for 11 years after turning professional in 1957.
Upon returning to the slams aged 33, Rosewall won three more titles following his 1968 triumph to go with the four he claimed from 1953-56. He remains the oldest men’s Grand Slam champion after he won the 1972 Australian Open aged 37.
Federer won a recordextending 20th Grand Slam at Melbourne Park in January and a successful title defence there in 2019 would see him eclipse Rosewall’s record.
“Yes, the record could be [in danger],” he said with a tinge of regret. “There’s no doubt that Roger’s going to be in good form. Still, I’d be sorry to lose that title. But if I lose anything to Federer, I’d be quite happy.”
There will be questions about suspensions, favouritism and rivalries, and fashion, parties and candy lines.
There will be accusations of slights — real or imagined — greeted either with a giggle, an icy stare or a pitch-perfect, withering put-down.
It can mean only one thing: Maria Sharapova is about to play in a Grand Slam event. But not just any Grand Slam. This is the French Open, where she has won two of her five career Majors but where, 12 months ago, Roland Garros chiefs took to the moral high ground. From there, they told the Russian icon that she was not welcome, her recently concluded 15-month doping ban considered too raw to allow her the convenience of a wildcard into the clay court showpiece.
Injury then ruled her out of Wimbledon before she made a stunning Grand Slam return at the US Open under the lights of Arthur Ashe Court in August.
“Behind this little black dress and the Swarovski crystals, there is a girl with a lot of grit and she’s not going anywhere,” said Sharapova after seeing off second seed Simona Halep in her New York opener.
It could just as well have been a riposte to Roland Garros three months earlier. Back then the former world No 1 had seen her ranking slump to 173 as she started to rebuild a career that also doubles as a multimilliondollar brand empire.
Now, thanks to the characteristic cussedness that has served her well since her tennis odyssey began in Russia before being honed in Florida, the 31year-old Sharapova is back in the top 30 and guaranteed a seeded place when the 2018 French Open starts on Sunday.
Only the very brave would write off the title chances of a player who was champion in 2012 and 2014, runner-up in 2013 and semifinalist in 2011.
She is hitting form at the right time. Having endured a fourmatch losing streak for the first time since 2003, Sharapova arrives in the French capital on the back of a last-eight run in Madrid and semifinal spot in Rome, where she took the first set off world No 1 Halep before drowning in a sea of errors.
Reunited with former coach Thomas Hogstedt, her performance in Rome was her best run at such a level since the 2015 WTA Tour Finals.
“I like the way I’m competing and the way I feel out there. It’s an inner feeling. I like the attitude that I’m playing with,” she said, adding she was “going be so excited” to be heading to Paris after “a tough period” in her life.
“I’ve had an incredible number of memories there. Being in that environment, just even the practice and getting there on the first day, practising on centre court for the first time … I love it.
“There’s nothing that can replicate it. As long as I can continue to feel motivated by that moment, I’ll keep loving it and playing there.”
Fans and sponsors will be delighted to see Sharapova back on Court Philippe Chatrier, such is her pulling power. Even when she was off tour in 2016 and saw her 11-year streak as the world’s richest sportswoman end, she was still commercial gold.
According to Forbes magazine, Sharapova’s income during her suspension was slashed by about $8m. However, she still pulled in a tidy $21.9m, with only longtime rival Serena Williams able to boast a healthier bank balance.
Her appearance in Paris will still rankle with some rivals.
In 2017 former golden girl Eugenie Bouchard of Canada described Sharapova as “a cheater” who should have been banned for life.
But this week Bouchard, the former world No 5 and 2014 Wimbledon runner-up, is ranked 167 and playing in qualifiers at Roland Garros.