Roland Garros is open for business!
The French Open began on Sunday and the dominos are already falling. On the women’s side, #1 Angelique Kerber went out in the first round along with six other seeded players. There was attrition on the men’s side, too.
But the big disappointment came before the first can of Babolats went pffffffft. Two weeks ago Roger Federer announced that he would skip the French—for the second year in a row—so that he could focus on grass and hard courts.
This decision is no fun.
It’s too much to hope that the Swiss could have made another run at the French Open this week and next. The clay has always been hard for him—it’s the only slam he’s won but once.
And in retrospect, even that championship now looks like a gift from the tennis gods. Federer had lost to Nadal in three consecutive French finals, getting beaten more decisively each time. But then, in 2009, the journeyman Robin Soderling took out Nadal in the fourth round, clearing a path for Federer to complete the career slam.
Those were the days.
I don’t begrudge Federer trying to husband his physical resources. He’s at the stage of his career where winning even one more major would require grit and guile and no small amount of good fortune. If he’s going to have a shot at another slam, skipping the clay-court season probably helps his chances.
But for Federer fans, it robs us of a chance to see him perform on the beautiful red dirt.
Please understand: Federer’s relative lack of success at the French has nothing to do with his ability to play on clay. Yes, the surface takes away some of his serving advantage. But it magnifies the superiority of his footwork. All things being equal, I would still pick Federer, in his prime, to win a given match on clay against anyone else in the world.
But all else wasn’t equal. Federer ran up against the greatest clay court player of all time, a guy who’s only lost at Roland Garros twice in his life.
If Rafa Nadal had taken up soccer instead of tennis, we’d be talking about Federer as the best clay-court player of his generation and one of the best, all-time. Instead, people think about Federer and clay and assume that the surface is just no good for him.
One of my formative tennis memories is the 1983 French Open where Yannick Noah became the first Frenchman in 37 years to win at Roland Garros. There are few things as exciting in tennis as watching someone win their home major.
Noah blitzed through that tournament, dropping only a single set over the course of two weeks. And it was no fluke: In the finals he blew out Mats Wilander, one of the best players of his era.
Sadly, Noah was also the last frog to win the French. In recent years France has had three near-great players capable of winning a major: Richard Gasquet, Jo-Willy Tsonga, and Gael Monfils. All three of them are off-the-charts in terms of physical ability; and all three of them have suspect heads. But still—if you’re French, you’ll take those odds. Heck, I’d be thrilled to have a trio of American players that good right now.
But even better, the French also have a shot in the women’s draw, too. Kristina Mladenovic is the 13 seed and she’s all up-side this week. There’s no Serena Williams in Paris this year and Mladenovic shouldn’t see a dangerous opponent until the fourth round. If she can make it that far and then ride the wave, who knows.
France has a wonderful tradition in tennis and they’ve given us beautiful players over the years. They’re overdue for a champion; imagine how great it would be if they got two of them in the same year.
