Europe’s fatigue and fortunes on Clay
The top ranked professionals playing on clay for Europe’s rich purse are not having a comfortable run. As to who and which Tennis will win, is a mystery.
It has become complicating to read the game on Clay. Nadal, a Spanish baseliner, is going to the net and winning. More than a single brand of Tennis, it is the versatility of the players that is rewarding. Clay is, physically and mentally, draining the players.
Men in Rome
Although Nadal won the Rome event, the margin between him and the others now, is suddenly very thin. Many took Sets off him in Rome and, in the rain interrupted Rome finals against Zevrev, there was enough room to say, rain saved Nadal.
In the final between Nadal and Zevrev, when the score was 3-1 in Zevrev’s favour in the 3rd Set, it began to drizzle. Up to that point the court was dry and gave the speed to Zevrev’s game to be effective. Nadal was a good deal tired. The game continued in a light drizzle and the court was losing speed. Only after awhile heavy rain stopped the match, with the court taking a soaking, before the covers came on.
On returning to court after a good 30 minutes, Zevrev did not have the advantages he had. The experience and confirmed front-runner Nadal made marvellous work to win the title, without losing even a game. He won the 3rd Set 6-3, playing effectively at net.
Novel tactical approach
The New-Gen players have the ability to play 50% positioning inside the baseline. About 40% from the baseline and use only 10% well behind the baseline. This tactical formula can halve the time available to opponents in a long rally of 8 shots, by over 50%. It was very effective. tactically. on Clay. Nadal lost more than 4 Sets in Rome.
French-Open, Grand-Slam prospects
Many Men with high rankings are nurs- ing their physical tiredness. After 4 weeks on Clay, fatigue levels in good players can be very high. The best will have to work out the early round matches very economically, in Paris, which has the reputation of being very slow among the Clay courts.
With the French-Open round the corner, last week, in Rome, Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro retired when leading 5-2 in the 2nd Set against Goffin. It could be to save himself for the big event. In the same manner, many big names played it safe to survive the Clay season, than do a run for Europe’s prize money on Clay.
The Men to watch in the French-Open for the title are Alexander Zevrev currently Ranked 3 in the world, Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic and, of course, Nadal. The players for the quarterfinal berth would be Del Potro, Djokovic, Kevin Anderson, David Goffin, Kei Nishikori, Philipp Kohlscreiber and Denis Shapovalov.
Women in Rome
Here too, none of the known names had it easy. Not only the margins between the good and the newcomers are diminishing, some even beat them to win titles. Elina Svitolina is one such player. In the Rome final, Svitolina made Halep look like a struggling schoolgirl. Even with the other Top 10 players, the winning margins are diminishing against newcomers. No.1 Simona Halep, may be exhausted, after beating the diva, Maria Sharapova, in 3 Sets But not tired enough to lose the 1st Set 6-0 to Svitolina.
From the quarters, the matches were very close and many well-known names were eliminated. The semifinals lineup had an unexpected name in Anett Kontavit of Estonia. She got there beating Wozniacki and Venus Williams. In the past 3 months, a good 6 newcomers have shaken the top Ten players in the Women’s event.
French-Open Prospects
The Women's semifinals prospects for the French-Open are Elina Svitolina, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova and outsiders Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, if they strike form.
For the quarterfinals berth, there will be many unfamiliar names. The known are Caroline Wozniacki, Caroline Garcia, Jelena Ostapenko, Garbine Muguruza, Sloane Stephens, and Karolina Pliskova. The unknown ones are Anett Kontavit of Estonia, Collins of USA, Osaka of Japan and all those who reached the quarters on the European Clay in the last 6 weeks. There will not be an easy match in Paris after the 2nd Round. Roland Garros is the venue for the French-Open. It is 1 of the 4 Grand-Slam events with a huge purse and Ranking points.
Ranking of Nations
In the Men’s professional ranking of players, the prominence of nations was always underplayed. ATP is changing this approach and have ranked nations, weighting it with the count of good players in the top 100 positions of the Rankings.
There are 39 countries represented in the top 100 of the ATP Ranking and France is No.1, with 10 players in the top 100 and 23 in the top 200. They are followed by USA, Spain and Germany. From Asia, Japan has 3, Kazakhstan, Korea, India and China have 1 each. This reflects a nation’s commitment to sustain the game of Tennis on their soil, better than Davis-Cup competition.