Qilu Evening News Qilu one-point reporter Xu Kailing
The French Open is here again, and in the men's singles field, the thirteen-time champion Nadal is still the favorite to win the championship, and the women's singles seems to have some expectations. After all, the French Open is a hotbed of unpopularity, and many women's singles grand slam dreams start from Roland Garros, so what can we expect this year?
Look at the giants, who will go further?
Before the start of this French Open, Murray, Wawrinka, Edmund, Ciurić, Shapovalov and many other famous players chose to withdraw from the tournament for various reasons. Despite this, the competitiveness of men's singles signatures should not be underestimated - at least the "Big Three" are all worth watching at the French Open.
This year's French Open, for the first time ever, the Big Three have been in the same half of the grand slam signing table. Djokovic and Federer have a chance to meet early in the quarter-finals, while Nadal will most likely meet world number one Djokovic in the semifinals. Nadal, who won the 14th French Open, said before the match that he was not "worried" about being drawn in the top half with Djokovic and Federer.
The lower half of the men's singles is more of a new force. No. 2 seedEduced Russia's Medvedev, No. 4-seeded Austria's Thiem, No. 5-seeded Greece's Tsitsipas and No. 6-seeded Germany's Zverev were all placed in the bottom half. It seems that the final French Open final is most likely a contest between the old and the new. Therefore, If Nadal wants to win the 21st Grand Slam title, he must not only break through the blockade of his old opponents, but also face the challenges of the new generation.
In the women's singles, Serena is still working hard for her Grand Slam, and like Federer, Serena will also usher in 40 years old this year. Serena played as the No. 7 seed at the French Open this year, and she has not been able to make it to Paris for the second week since reaching the final in 2016. This season, her clay record is only 1 win and 2 losses, can the 23rd Grand Slam winner get back in time? This is a question that many people desperately want to know.
In the women's singles field, there is another star worth paying attention to, that is, Naomi Osaka. As we all know, Osaka is invincible on the hard court, having won two Australian Open (2019, 2021) and two US Open (2018, 2020) women's singles titles, but at the French Open and Wimbledon, the woman always seems to be out of tune, and her best results in Roland Garros and Wimbledon are only in the third round. However, this year's French Open, Naomi Osaka has triggered off-site topics. Naomi Osaka, who is the top for Forbes global female athletes in terms of revenue, directly announced that she will not participate in any press conference at the French Open. Naomi Osaka said her decision was due to concerns about the mental health of questions from press reporters, so she preferred to fine herself rather than go to the press conference. Although Naomi Osaka is not a favorite to win the French Open, as long as she is still on the signing form and does not attend the press conference, she will become the focus of media attention.
Look at the new stars, who can bring surprises?
Last fall's French Open, unseeded player Swarteck swept all the way to Roland Garros to win the women's singles title, which was unexpected. This year, as the defending champion, the Polish rising star, who will celebrate his 20th birthday during the French Open, has also made the outside world full of expectations.
In rome, a warm-up match before the French Open, Swatak won the title, becoming the fourth young player to win the WTA 1000 class since 2009, which made her world ranking soar again. Before winning the French Open last year, Swatek was ranked 54th, and this week she reached ninth in the world.
Swataker has a maturity beyond his age, she said, and in the WTA Tour, everyone can play a good front and back shot, but what really distinguishes the champion from the runner-up is the spiritual level. This year's French Open, looking forward to the performance of the defending champion.
The performance of a rising star in the women's singles is also worth looking forward to, that is, the American player Gauff. American junior Gauff won the Parma singles and doubles title in a warm-up before the French Open, and she also became the youngest female player to win the cup on the same tour line since Sharapova (Birmingham in 2004). Gauff set a new high in singles rankings this week, reaching 25th, and Gauff will also play in a Grand Slam for the first time as a seeded player.
Interestingly, after the 17-year-old Sharapova won the title in Birmingham, she won the title in the following Wimbledon and won the first Grand Slam title of her career, and now Gauff is also exactly 17 years old. The 15-year-old Gauff once beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon, and last year she eliminated defending champion Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open, so the outside world seems to be more suitable for the fast course, but in 2018, Gauff won the women's singles title in the French Open youth group. In this way, if this little girl creates some magic in this year's French Open, it may not be too surprising.
Look at the Chinese golden flower, who can carry the big flag?
Li Na won the French Open that year, so that many fans later were full of expectations for Chinese players in the French Open. Seeking truth from facts, in recent years, it is difficult for Chinese players to have a bright report card in the French Open. And this year's French Open, who can become the best of The Chinese players?
Zhang Zhizhen, 24, is currently ranked 175th in the men's singles world and is a Chinese male individual miao in this French Open qualification tournament. In the second round of the qualifying round, he only lasted 62 minutes, and even lost two sets to Germany's Goroniczk and missed the third round of the qualifiers. Chinese men's singles players still missed this year's French Open.
The women's singles situation is much better. As the only seedling of the Chinese legion to participate in the French Open women's singles qualification tournament, Chinese teenager Wang Xiyu is in a brave state, even through difficulties, and has advanced to the French Open stage for the first time in her career, and this is also her second time to play in the main tournament of a Grand Slam tournament after the 2019 US Open. Wang Xiyu will face collins from the United States in the first round of last year's French Open quarterfinals; the 27-year-old Collins will play directly in Roland Garros this year in the case of zero warm-up on clay. Although Wang Xiyu has not yet won a record in a Major tournament, she has won all six times against American players on the Tour.
For several other Chinese Jinhua who directly entered the main tournament, their first-round signing was not ideal. Zheng Saisai's opponent Tomo is a clay player in the traditional sense; Zhu Lin will play against Pegula, who has never won the French Open but has performed well in the warm-up matches. Zhang Shuai is against Lepcchenko, who got the ticket to the main tournament through the qualifiers, and the 35-year-old Lepchenko was once among the top 20 in the world rankings, and the best result in the history of the Grand Slam and roland Garros was the women's singles round of 16. Zhang Shuai is still in the recovery period of injury, coupled with the recent tour results are indeed not ideal, it is difficult to say that he has an absolute advantage in the face of Lepchenko. Wang Qiang, who was in a state of recovery at Parma, played xie shuwei in the first round, and although Wang Qiang won in the only clay encounter between the two, Xie Shuwei still had a slight lead in the record of the confrontation. The past record of the two in the French Open is quite similar, and the recent state is not the best, it can only be said that this is a match between Wang Qiang and the gestures. If Wang Qiang can successfully enter the second round, she is expected to stage a "second battle" with her opponent Gauff in the parma final, and Wang Qiang, who is completely inferior in Parma, is even more difficult to shake Gough.
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