By Ros Satar
It’s the second Grand Slam of the year, and with three British men and two British women flying the flag, we take a look at their potential paths to the final.
[3] Andy Murray
Currently unbeaten on the demon dirt, and proud holder of his first two clay court titles (and a natty pair of lederhosen and an unmentionable looking trophy from Madrid) Murray carries our best hopes of a place in the second week in Paris.
R1: He opens up against Facundo Arguello – the Argentine has mainly been putting in his time on the Challenger circuit with just a mere smattering of appearances this year in main draws. Although he focuses primarily on the clay with only one failed round on a hard court this year, we can expect Murray to advance fairly easily. Having been beaten in the last round of qualifying, he gets his chance in the main draw as a Lucky Loser.
R2: Vasek Pospisil or Joao Sousa – Murray enjoys a comfortable head to head over both these players, albeit on hard courts only, but even with a 5-0 lead over Sousa, he may prefer to spend his court time with Pospisil who is looking to be back in action after rolling his ankle in Madrid in the doubles quarter-final.
R3: Nick Kyrgios – After his win over Roger Federer in Madrid in the Swiss’ opening round, Kyrgios is showing us all once more that he is a force to be reckoned although has twice lost to Murray, including earlier this year at the Australian Open. Kyrgios is certainly not short of any self-belief, and he did make the Estoril final on clay this year, losing to Richard Gasquet.
R4: John Isner – Surprisingly effective on clay, Murray could face the big serving Isner once more this year, having beaten him in this year’s Davis Cup tie in Glasgow. This would be their first meeting on clay, and their matches have predictably had a fair few tie-breaks scattered around. Isner has been fairly consistent on the clay this year, but equally fairly consistent at falling to the Top 10 but this could well be down the margins, and might drag Murray into a longer match than he would like to bring in the second week.
Quarter-final: David Ferrer – 2013 finalist Ferrer will do what he always does and creep through the draw un-noticed while all the hubbub is swirling around his compatriot Rafael Nadal, but he has been pretty solid all year with three titles already to his name, and a pretty good run out on the clay already. Murray leads Ferrer 9-6 in their head to head and more importantly, Ferrer has won each of their clay court encounters, including the 2012 French Open quarter-final.
Semi-final: Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic – Once Nadal’s name was pulled from the draw, the buzz was all around their potential quarter-final, and should Murray come through his own challenge against Ferrer, he could well be mopping up the aftermath of what could well be a gruelling encounter. But if we go with rankings, he has yet to find a way past Djokovic this year, losing to him in the Australian Open final, the Indian Wells semi-final and the Miami final.
Final: Roger Federer – The enduring Swiss has escaped the main carnage of the draw, although he certainly has a few challenges in front of him, but with Federer having edged back ahead of Murray in their head to head, a first clay court encounter between the two for a Grand Slam title would certainly be a defining moment.
Heather Watson comes into the main draw looking for a bit of consistency after a great start to the season with her second WTA title in Hobart. Since her next best performance to the fourth round of Indian Wells, she has struggled to put together back to back wins, breaking a four match losing streak finally in Rome, but losing in the next round to eventual finalist Carla Suarez Navarro.
R1: Mathilde Johansson – she starts against the French wildcard, who has the edge over her in their only encounter (2011, R1 Wimbledon). Once a consistent Top 100 performer, Johansson has tumbled out of the Top 200 and has mainly been building up her progress on the ITF circuit. On paper Watson should advance.
R2: Sloane Stephens or Venus Williams – from here on in, things get decidedly tough for the British No. 1. She might hope that a resurgent Stephens can get the better of an equally resurgent Williams, as Watson enjoys a healthy head to head record over the younger American, but was beaten pretty handily by Williams in their only encounter last year in Beijing.
R3: Barbora Strycova – This could actually be a winnable match for Watson, who got the better of Strycova last year, but by her own admission the Czech’s clay court season last year was a disaster, and she has been far more consistent on the dirt this year than Watson
R4: Serena Williams – Williams has scant points to defend this year, but took the precaution of withdrawing from Rome to make herself ready for Roland Garros this year. It would be a first time meeting for the pair.
Quarter-final: Caroline Wozniacki – The Dane has surpassed her previous clay court seasons and is one to keep an eye on. Her defence and offence capabilities would be quite a challenge for Watson at this stage.
Semi-final: Petra Kvitova – the hard hitting Czech is adamant that she is playing her own game and finding a way to make it work on the clay, picking up the Madrid title in the process.
Final: Maria Sharapova – The defending champion could be Watson’s final stop if she completes a dream run and while she has never faced Serena or Wozniacki across a net, Sharapova has twice bettered Watson in their career head to head.
Newly minted Brit Aljaz Bedene and qualifier victorious Kyle Edmund round out the rest of the Brits in the singles draw.
Jo Konta joins Watson in the main draw from qualifying, and starts against Denisa Allertova.
Bedene starts against Dominic Thiem, and Edmund will be in a R1 battle of the qualifiers against Stephane Robert.