French Open Take Home Messages

So what did the French Open tell us about the status of players on the women’s and men’s tours?

The women.  In a field depleted by the absence of Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, the upstart and unseeded Jelena Ostapenko powered her way to the title.  She defeated Simona Halep who, though undoubtedly frustrated by the loss, should be encouraged by her performance here.  Down 1-5 in the second set of her quarterfinal with Elina Svitolina, Halep maintained her poise and concentration, and came back to win that match.  That match was probably the best Halep ever played because of the resolve she showed, and could bode well for her as the year progresses.  Will Ostapenko parlay this victory into a consolidated position at the top of the game?  The jury is still out on that one.  Her serve is a bit of a liability, and it’s not clear how consistently she will be able to drive winners on faster surfaces.  She will also face some formidable opponents who, as mentioned above, were not able to play in this tournament.

Other notable events in this tournament were the return of Petra Kvitova, which is great for the tour and a tribute to modern medical technology, and the early round decimation of Eugenie Bouchard by Anastasija Sevastova.  Bouchard continues to struggle with her game but remains in the spotlight by publicly excoriating Maria Sharapova.  More on that in another post.

The men.  Nadal looked like the Nadal of a few years ago as he destroyed the field to win his 10^th title.  After totally dominating Wawrinka in the finals, we club players are all trying to find out what Rafa eats for breakfast.   His movement, shot-making, and ability to win points from 15 feet or more behind the baseline were all truly amazing.  When Roger Federer, the best player in the world this year prior to the clay court season, returns, matches between the two of them will be compelling to watch.

Other notable events include the loss by Novak Djokovic to Dominic Thiemin the quarters.  By itself such a loss is no huge story.  After all, Thiem is a phenomenal clay court player, the only player to beat Nadal in this clay court season.  But the way Novak lost is news.  He dropped the third set 0-6 to Thiem, and afterward said that the match was really decided in the first set.  Is this the same man who defeated Nadal in an Australian Open final after a 5¾ - hour marathon?  Novak’s inability of late to maintain his focus and intensity remains a matter of concern for him.  Murray’s loss in this tournament was not so ominous.  After a very spotty clay court season Andy played a great tournament here.  He lost to a very sharp and powerful Wawrinka, which can happen to anyone.   It’s worth watching Murray closely in the grass court swing to see if his “slump” is over.

A final thought:  The French is still affected by the absence of Hawkeye, with many “check the mark” calls turning out to be errant.  It’s time to put Hawkeye on Lenglen and Chatrier so that the big matches at the end of the tournament are not decided by line calling errors.