Roland Garros Preview

1. RAFAEL NADAL – THE WOUNDED BULL IS THE MOST DANGEROUS?!

The most wins at the same Grand Slam of ALL-TIME: Rafael Nadal 9 times Roland Garros Max Decugis 8 times Roland Garros Willie Renshaw 7 times Wimbledon Richard Sears 7 times US Open William Larned 7 times US Open William Tilden II 7 times US Open Pete Sampras 7 times Wimbledon Roger Federer 7 times Wimbledon NADAL’S MYSTERIOUS NUMBERS: 10-10-15-11-6 or IF RAFA WINS RG’15: It will be his 10th Roland Garros title: absolute record in the history of French Open as well as in the Grand Slam history. He will be the FIRST male player who will have double-digit title at the same Grand Slam; After William Tilden II, he will be the 2nd male player who reaches 10 finals at the same Grand Slam. Tilden played in 10 finals between 1918 and 1929 at the US Nationals; This title will be his 15th Grand Slam trophy with which ranks him second of all-time behind Federer; He will extend his record to win at least one Grand Slam tournament for 11 consecutive years; It will be his 6th consecutive Grand Slam title at RG that is another record and milestone in the history of French Open; Nadal will become the only player who won 10 times in final of the same Grand Slam’s without loss. (Tilden was beaten 3 times in the finals of US Nationals in 1918, 1919, 1927.) Nadal will be the 4th male player in the history who will win the same Grand Slam at least 6 times in a row:

The most consecutive wins at Roland Garros of ALL-TIME: Rafael Nadal (2010-2014): 5 Paul Ayme (1897-1900): 4 Bjorn Borg (1978-1981): 4 Andre Vacherot (1894-1896): 3 Max Decugis (1907-09,1912-14): 3-3 A short summary of Rafael Nadal’s dominance at Roland Garros: His opponents by countries: 21 11 times – ESP 7 times – SRB 6 times – SUI, ARG 5 times – FRA 4 times – SWE, AUS 3 times – USA, ITA, BRA 2 times – GER, BIH, AUT, GBR 1 time – BEL, FIN, RUS, CRO, UZB, SVK, JPN His opponents by continents (2005-2014): Europe: 15 (SVK, GER, BEL, FRA, ESP, SWE, BIH, ITA, SRB, FIN, SUI, RUS, AUT, CRO, GBR) Asia: 2 (UZB, JPN) Africa: 0 Australia: 1 (AUS) America: 3 – North America: 1 (USA) – Central America: 0 – South America: 2 (ARG, BRA) His loss (2005-2014): 1 (SWE) His wins (2005-2014): 66 times vs. 21 different countries Walkover: 0 Retired opponent: 1 (SRB – 2006 QF DJOKOVIC) 3-set match: 50 times (10 ESP, 5 ARG, 3 FRA, 3 SWE, 3 ITA, 3 AUS, 3 SRB, 3 BRA, 2 USA, 2 BIH, 2 SUI, 2 GBR, 1 GER, 1 BEL, 1 FIN, 1 RUS, 1 AUT, 1 CRO, 1 UZB, 1 JPN, 1 AUT) 4-set match: 13 times (4 SUI, 2 FRA, 2 SRB, 1 ESP, 1 SVK, 1 GER, 1 AUS, 1 ARG) 5-set match: 2 times (SRB, USA)

 

2. NOVAK DJOKOVIC – BATTLE FOR HIS LEGACY

if…

 

If Djokovic wins in Paris, he will win the first 2 Grand Slams of the year. The LAST TIME when a player accomplish this feat, it was in 1992 (Jim Courier). The following 9 male players in the Grand Slam history were able to win the first two Grand Slams of the year: Jack Crawford (1933) Don Budge (1938) Ken Rosewall (1953) Lew Hoad (1956) Rod Laver (1962, 1969) Roy Emerson (1963, 1967) Björn Borg (1978-80) Mats Wilander (1988) Jim Courier (1992)

In the Open-era, only 4 of 1988 male players (Laver, Borg, Wilander, Courier) were able to win the first 2 Grand Slams of the year! It means that every 497th player has a mathematical chance for winning the first 2 Slams of the year!

• If Djokovic completes his career Grand Slam in Paris, he will become the 8th male player who will achieve this feat in the history of tennis, and the 6th male player who will complete it in Paris.
• If Djokovic reaches the final at French Open this year, it will his 60th match in Paris and his 228th match in his Grand Slam career.

Career Grand Slam players who completed their career GS in Paris:

1. Don Budge 22 years 11 months 29 days (8399 days) – 1938 RG
2. Rod Laver 23 years 9 months 24 days (8698 days) – 1962 RG
3. Fred Perry 26 years 15 days (9511 days) – 1935 RG
4. Roy Emerson 26 years 6 months 23 days (9700 days) – 1963 RG
5. Roger Federer 27 years 9 months 30 days (10165 days) – 2009 RG
6. Andre Agassi 29 years 1 month 8 days (10630 days) – 1999 RG

• If Djokovic wins Roland Garros this year, he will be 28 years and 16 days (10243 days) on the day of the final!
• If Djokovic completes his career GS in Paris, he will be placed on the 7th of the all-time rank list:

1. Don Budge 22 years 11 months 29 days (8399 days)
2. Rod Laver 23 years 9 months 24 days (8698)
3. Rafael Nadal 24 years 3 days (8769 days)
4. Fred Perry 26 years 15 days (9511 days)
5. Roy Emerson 26 years 6 months 23 days (9700 days)
6. Roger Federer 27 years 9 months 30 days (10165 days)
7. Novak Djokovic 28 years 16 days (10243 days)
8. Andre Agassi 29 years 1 month 8 days (10630 days)

 

3. ROGER FEDERER – SECOND CHANCE?

 

He is the SECOND Swiss-born player who won in Paris in all-time (Jean Schopfer in 1892).
He owns the SECOND best W-L record in Paris (61-15).
He is looking for his SECOND wins in the French capital!
Roger Federer is the SECOND seeded player this year in Paris.

 

4. ANDY MURRAY – 80 YEARS AFTER PERRY?

 

The last English player who could win in Paris, it was Frederick John Perry 80 years ago (1935).
ONLY two British male player won at Roland Garros in all-time: H. Briggs (1891) and Fred Perry (1935).

After 2012 Wimbledon, if Andy Murray lost a Grand Slam final, he won the next Grand Slam at which he participated!
He was the runner-up in Wimbledon in 2012, then he won in New York at US Open.
He lost at the Aussie Open in 2013, then he won in Wimbledon (he missed RG that year).
This year he lost in Melbourne, so he can win at Roland Garros???

 

ROLAND GARROS and the French players

 

French players won 38 times at Roland Garros in all-time.
The FIRST winner was Jean Schopfer (1892).
11677 DAYS AGO was the LAST TIME, when a French male player won Roland Garros (Yannick Noah in 1983).
9849 DAYS AGO was the LAST TIME, when a French male player reached the final at Roland Garros (Henri Leconte in 1988).

In the Open-era, 148 male players represented France at Roland Garros and only one was able to win (Noah in 1983).