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Broady v Vandeweghe – French Open R1 Preview

Ros Satar
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By Ros Satar

  • Naomi Broady v Coco Vandeweghe – First Meeting

PARIS, FRANCE – Naomi Broady will hope the weather holds off long enough to get her Roland Garros campaign started.

Britwatch Tennis:

Naomi Broady v Coco Vandeweghe – First Meeting

With the first day of Roland Garros disrupted by rain breaks, the early call off for the day has left Monday’s schedule looking rather a mess. As well as a clutch of matches to complete, the draw kicks into high gear, with Broady the next up on line on the women’s side, while Heather Watson will have to resume in her decider, a break down.

It has been a quiet time for Broady on the dirt, after hitting a career high in match and rising to No. 76 in the rankings. She has slipped just three places, but after failing to get out of qualifying in her only two previous attempts in the French capital, she is a main draw entrant for the first time – and will expect to make an impression.

Broady picked up just single wins in qualifying at both Madrid and Rome, while Vandeweghe was bounced out of both her first round matches at the same tournaments, and can really only boast a win on Aussie clay for the Fed Cup as her one win on the dirt this season. In fact clay is pretty much her weakest surface.

Broady has spent her time in the lower tier events racking up time on the dirt, but the French Open is another matter. Add to that the inclement weather and the fact that the moisture makes the clay more akin to trench warfare, this may come down to who can hit the cleanest or hardest through the ball.

The Brit has a fair bit of confidence in her game with a solid serve and an aggressive return game. How that measures up on heavy clay may come down to more variety. Vandeweghe can most likely match Broady in the serve department, and indeed the American is also known to play aggressive, looking to take the ball early and on the rise, and solid from both sides.

Although Vandeweghe is good ay the net, expected to come forward to shorten the rallies, she can be vulnerable if pulled around the court and Broady will have to throw a veritable kitchen sink of variety to gain an advantage.

Broady and Vandeweghe are scheduled third on Court 4, and not expected before 2:30pm (1:30pm BST).