French Open draw affords Bouchard chance to go deep
PARIS — If Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard can break out of her current slump, she has a good chance to make a deep run at the French Open.
The sixth seed has a favourable draw at Roland Garros, starting with a first-round match against France’s Kristina Mladenovic.
The two have met only once on the WTA circuit, with Bouchard defeating Mladenovic 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the 2013 Coupe Banque National in Quebec City.
Bouchard wouldn’t face a seeded opponent until the third round, where she could meet No. 32 Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.
It would be the second meeting between the two in as many tournaments. Bouchard beat Diyas 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of last week’s Italian Open. That victory ended a troubling six-match losing streak for the native of Westmount, Que.
Should Bouchard reach the quarter-final, she could face a daunting opponent in Petra Kvitova. The No. 4 Czech has won all three career matches against Bouchard, including a 6-3, 6-0 rout in last year’s Wimbledon final.
Bouchard advanced to the semifinals at Roland Garros last year.
In the men’s draw, Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil plays his first-round match against Portugal’s Joao Sousa. Men’s No. 6 Milos Raonic is missing the tournament as he recovers from foot surgery.
Here are five storylines to watch as the tournament begins:
Shooting for Steffi
American Serena Williams will be trying for her 20th Grand Slam championship after winning the Australian Open earlier this year. “I would love,” Williams said then, “to get to 22.” If she does, it would equal Steffi Graf ’s Open era record for major singles titles. Margaret Smith Court holds the all-time record of 24.
Sharapova and Co.
Who other than the No. 1-ranked Williams has a shot at the title? A good place to start would be No. 2 Maria Sharapova.
Other possible contenders: No. 3 Simona Halep, who pushed Sharapova to three sets in last year’s title match, and No. 8 Carla Suarez Navarro, terrific on clay and 17-4 in three-set matches this year.
Nadal’s slump
A year ago, Rafael Nadal lost clay-court quarter-finals at Monte Carlo (to David Ferrer) and at Barcelona (to Nicolas Almagro) and plenty of folks figured he had lost his way on his favourite surface. Then he showed up in Paris and complained about a bad back. And then, just like in nine of the past 10 years, he won the French Open. So maybe he’ll turn things around in time at Roland Garros again.
Djokovic’s streak
No. 1 Djokovic has won 22 consecutive matches heading into the only major tournament he hasn’t won. If he finally breaks through in Paris, Djokovic would become the eighth man with a career Grand Slam.
Young blood
There’s a new generation on the way in the men’s game and the four teenagers ranked in the ATP top 100 are the most in eight years. Keep an eye on Croatia’s 18-year-old Borna Coric and Australia’s 19-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis. Also of note: Another Australian, 20-year-old Nick Kyrgios, who beat Nadal at Wimbledon last year and Federer at the Madrid Open this month, and Frances Tiafoe, a 17-year-old from Maryland who earned a U.S. Tennis Association wild-card berth.