Tennis News

Reigning US Open champion Marin Cilic will take part in the latest stage of his recover and journey back to full health when he begins his campaign a the 2015 French Open. Cilic, who spent much of the first quarter of the year on the sidelines, will begin his quest in Paris against Robin Haase, whom he has faced previously on four different occasions. He remains undefeated against Haase with a 4-0 head-to-head record.

Following a long layoff due to a right shoulder injury, reigning Marin Cilic began his 2015 season this week in Indian Wells, where he suffered a premature exit to Juan Monaco in the opening match in the desert. From then on, he was able to gradually lift his gameplay but is yet to find his top form. He won back-to-back matches the following week in Monte Carlo, which included a win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. However, he has only won two matches on the tour since then, both of which came against rising stars on the tour (Jiri Vesely in Madrid and Rublev most recently in Geneva). Yet his early losses and lack of consistency make it unlikely that Cilic will perform at his best in Paris.

Cilic will come up against Robin Haase, who reverted to playing Challengers events over the past few weeks. Following a quarter-final loss to Nick Kyrgios in Estoril, Haase won the Aix En Provence Challenger tournament before losing to Thiemo de Bakker in the second round of the Bordeaux Challenger.

This is set to be the fifth time that Cilic and Haase will cross paths on the professional tour, with Cilic leading the series with an unblemished 4-0 record. Of those four wins lie two clay court contests, which should add to Cilic’s chances of escaping this contest relatively unscathed. Since this is their first meeting in nearly four years, it will be interesting to see what the final scoreline will be.

An intriguing contest is scheduled to take place in the opening round of the French Open, as riding Aussie star Nick Kyrgios is scheduled to begin his 2015 campaign at the second Grand Slam event of the season against Denis Istomin. It will serve as just the second time that these two competitors will meet on the professional circuit, as they met last season in a Davis Cup tie between Australia and Uzbekistan. Kyrgios won the match to hand himself a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head series.

After reaching his first final on the ATP World Tour in Estoril, Nick Kyrgios finished runner up to Richard Gasquet that day but would go on to win the biggest match of his career a few days later when he ousted Roger Federer in the second round of the Madrid Masters. However, he would go on to lose his following match on the tour and will come into the French Open having lost three of his last four matches. Most recently, he retired down 3-4 to Dominic Thiem in Nice.

The youngster will come up against Denis Istomin, who has only managed to win two main draw matches since the start of the clay court season. He failed to qualify for Monte Caro, won one match in Istanbul and then one in Geneva. His most recent win was a 6-2, 6-0 thrashing of the returning Janko Tipsarevic but that is unlikely to hand him the necessary momentum to succeed on the clay in Paris.

This is just the second time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Kyrgios leading the head-to-head series 1-0. The Aussie won his sole contest against Istomin at last year’s Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan, and while this is their first clay meeting, there is little doubt that Kyrgios should be the favourite.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka is scheduled to begin her French Open campaign on Monday afternoon on Day 2, where she will encounter Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor. This is just the first time that the two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and should make for a relatively straightforward opening match for Azarenka.

After winning two matches at the Fed Cup tie against Japan, Azarenka kicked off her clay court season in Madrid, where she reached the third round and picked up wins over the likes of Venus Williams before losing to younger sister Serena in three tight sets. It was a positive performance from Azarenka, who had not been that competitive in nearly an entire year. She followed up with an even better showing in Rome, where she reached the quarter-final round and earned wins over the likes of Caroline Wozniacki. Maria Sharapova, who defeated her in straight sets, eventually halted her.

Azarenka will come up against Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, who compiled a four-match losing streak before reverting back down to the 50k Saint-Gudens tournament. She won all five of her matches there and defeated Jana Cepelova to lift the title and add a sprinkle of momentum ahead of the French Open.

This is just the first time that Azarenka and Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor meet on the professional circuit and will likely contest a straightforward match that will undoubtedly favour the vastly more experienced former Grand Slam champion. Azarenka’s recovery has been a slow but sure process and she appears to en route to regaining her stride.
 

While dozens of matches are played everyday at the Grand Slam tournaments, it was not difficult to pick out the enthralling match-up between Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens that will grace the second day of the French Open action. The two Americans will step across the net from each other for the first time in their respective career. Stephens holds a memorable history against Venus’ younger sister, Serena, but will need to play an entirely different game against the equally savvy older sibling. The head-to-head series stands at 0-0.

Not one to play too many tournaments, Venus Williams has learnt that being selective can be more beneficial in terms of conserving energy on the tour. The veteran played two clay court tournaments ahead of the French Open. In Madrid, she lost her opening round match to Victoria Azarenka, which was a surprisingly lopsided affair. She later found her way to the third round in Rome, as she beat Katerina Siniakova and Elina Svitolina before losing to Simona Halep in the third round.

In typical inconsistent fashion, Sloane Stephens plodded her way through the clay court season ahead of the French Open with few impressive outcomes. She lost in the second round of Charleston to Mona Barthel, lost to Serena Williams in the Madrid Open second round, and the opening round of the Rome Open. Most recently, she managed to reach the semi-final stage in Strasbourg, where she did not face a single player ranked above herself.

This is just the first time that these two fellow Americans will meet on the professional tour. While Stephens’ history is with Venus’ younger sister, it is quite possible that these two players could produce an interesting chemistry that could provide some entertaining on court. However, it is likely to be a competitive affair that leads to Wiliams’ victory.