French Open 2022 men’s preview: Djokovic, Nadal, Alcaraz contenders in top-heavy draw-Sports News , Firstpost

World No 1 and defending French Open champion Novak Djokovic hasn’t been in a Grand Slam match since second week of September, 2021. His only contribution to the Australian Open this year was drama, chaos and court visits that weren’t to the Rod Laver Arena.

His unvaccinated status, and decision to not change that, saw him miss the major in Melbourne and two more hard court events in the US. France doesn’t have strict COVID-19 guidelines on foreigners which allows him to defend his title at Roland Garros.

A lengthy absence from the tennis court showed in Monte Carlo when he lost in the second round. Serbia Open allowed him an opportunity to get some much-needed match practice, in front of local support, where he lost to Andrey Rublev in the final.

In Madrid, he lost to young and upcoming Carlos Alcaraz (more on him in a bit) in the semi-final which could have gone either way. The Serb was getting better with each match and a sixth title in Rome is proof of that. In a milestone week where he won his 1000th match, didn’t drop a set and clinched a 38th Masters title, he beat last year’s French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The draw for the French Open doesn’t help him though. With Nadal dropping to fifth seed, all of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Alcaraz have been placed in the top half. That means, three strong title contenders for the French Open are on collision course. Djokovic could meet Nadal in the quarterfinals, and one of those two could face Alcaraz in the semi-finals!

In Djokovic’s absence, Nadal romped to win the Australian Open for his 21st major – taking lead over Djokovic and his historic rival Roger Federer. Novak admits the fiasco in Australia does spur him in the quest for a 21st major.

“It’s something that I never faced before,” said Djokovic, who turns 35 on Sunday. “The amount of pressure and everything that I was feeling in the first few months of the year, as much as I’ve felt pressure in my life and my career, that was something really on a whole different level,” he added.

Nadal vs Djokovic, should they meet in the last-eight, would be a repeat of their 2015 meeting at this stage. On that day, Novak handed Nadal his one of only three defeats – out of 108 – at the French Open.

With Nadal suffering a recurrence of the foot injury and question marks over his fitness level, another Spaniard has brought plenty of limelight upon himself.

Alcaraz the ‘talk of the sport’

Voted ATP’s newcomer of the year in 2020, Alcaraz, 19, has gone up the charts with jaw-dropping tennis, never-say-die-attitude and bravado you wouldn’t expect. In 2021, he reached the quarters of the US Open and you could tell something was brewing.

At the Rio Open, it became evident. It was once again emphasised at Indian Wells where he was stopped by Nadal in the semi-finals. A week later, he won the title in Miami and you could tell this wasn’t going to be a flash in the pan.

The marquee moments arrived when he beat Nadal and Djokovic in back-to-back matches, first player to do so on clay, in Madrid. Alcaraz, christened ‘the new Nadal’, was World No 141 at the end of 2020 and enters Roland Garros having jumped to No 6.

“Everything about his game is really impressive. He’s a really complete player, can play equally well offensively and defensively. He’s the talk of the sport,” said Djokovic of Alcaraz. “Roland Garros, he’s definitely one of the main favourites, no doubt.”

How fit is Nadal?

Nadal was limping, struggling to stand against Denis Shapovalov in Rome. With French Open just days away, the foot injury looked bad enough to steal Paris of its 13-time champion. But then he hit the practice courts.

With Nadal, form is not a concern when it comes to the French Open. But the injuries are reason for worry. A rib injury in March has now been followed up by a chronic foot injury.

“I am a player living with an injury; it is nothing new,” said Nadal who was on a 20 match unbeaten run earlier in the year.

“Since I came back, the foot has been tough. It’s tough for me to be able to practice the proper way.”

Despite it looking Nadal’s injury could flare over the course of the tournament, he is in the draw and could face former champion Stan Wawrinka in the second round and Fabio Fognini in the third.

Door ajar for the bottom half

With Djokovic, Nadal and Alcaraz in the top half, it means the remaining 64 players have an opportunity to make it to the final. Fourth seed Tsitsipas is prime contender to reach the title clash with World No 2 Daniil Medvedev just returning from a hernia operation and clay not being his preferred surface either.

Medvedev, who squandered a two-sets lead to lose to Nadal in the Australian Open final, was beaten by Richard Gasquet in Geneva this week.

The US Open champion has won 13 titles but has yet to master the draining demands of clay.

At Roland Garros, he was winless in four visits before stopping the rot with a quarter-final run in 2021.

Greek World No 4 Tsitsipas has enjoyed a solid clay season and the draw places him in a good position. He defended his Monte Carlo title before making the last-eight in Barcelona, semi-finals in Madrid and final in Rome.

Another outside chance falls to Casper Ruud who is coming off a semi-final run in Rome and could face Tsitsipas in the quarters. Last year in Madrid, Ruud beat Tsitsipas in Madrid to stamp his authority.

Round 1 matches to watch: Tsitsipas vs Musetti, Shapovalov vs Holger Rune, Ruud vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

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