Tennis News

The opening round of the 2015 edition of the French Open will feature an intriguing opening round match that will include a former champion in Ana Ivanovic. The Serb, who won the title at this event in 2008 and never again, will begin her fortnight in Paris against Yaroslava Shvedova. This is the third time that the two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and will serve as a rubber match to break the 1-1 head-to-head split that they compiled over the past eight years.

Ana Ivanovic has not had the greatest of clay court seasons so far this season. She lost her first match of the season on that surface to Caroline Garcia and since only won two matches in the lead-up to Roland Garros. She reached the third round in Madrid but then suffered back-to-back losses to Carla Suarez Navarro and Daria Gavrilova.

Following a strong showing in Bogota, where she finished runner-up at the tournament, Yaroslava Shvedova has since gone a three-match losing streak that saw her lose openers in Madrid and Nuremberg. Her biggest win on clay this season came against Monica Puig in Bogota and she is capable of some surprising performances when at her best.

This is just the third time that Ivanovic and Shvedova will meet on the professional tour and will serve as a rubber match to determine who will finally take the lead in their 1-1 split head-to-head series. Their first meeting was back in 2007, which was a meeting that Shvedova won in Miami. Three years later, Ivanovic avenged that loss with a win in Cincinnati. Now, five years later, the two will cross paths again to determine who will take the lead in the series and will also advance to the second round of the French Open.

For the first time in over three years, Kei Nishikori and Paul-Henri Mathieu will cross paths on the professional circuit. Their last meeting took place back in 2012 and the gap between matches should add to the overall intrigue of the opening round French Open contest. Overall, this will serve as a rubber match between the two competitors, as they split their previous two meetings on the tour for a 1-1 head-to-head record.

One of the main forces to be reckoned with this coming fortnight in Paris is Kei Nishikori. The Japanese No. 1 has had a strong run during the lead-up to Roland Garros, and was even able to complete a successful title defense in Barcelona. He followed up with a quarter-final showing in Madrid, where he lost to the soon-to-be champion Andy Murray, before suffering a quarter-final exit to Novak Djokovic in Rome the following week. Given that his only two losses on clay this season came against two of the tournament favourites, Nishikori will come into the event with some significant momentum.

Standing on the opposite side of the net will be Paul-Henri Mathieu, who failed to qualify for any of the clay court main draws on the ATP World Tour but still managed to reach the final of the Aix En Provence Challenger before losing to Robin Haase. He most recently retired in the second round of the Bordeaux Challenger.

This is set to be the third time that Nishikori and Mathieu will cross paths on the professional tour, with the head-to-head series tied at 1-1. The rubber match comes over three years past their most recent encounter on the tour. Interestingly enough, Nishikori’s win took place on clay, which should add to his advantages against Mathieu. In the end, it should lead to a straight sets win for Kei.
 

Roger Federer is set to begin yet another campaign at the French Open, where he managed to win one of his 17 Major championships many years ago. This year, however, the tide is slightly more promising with Rafael Nadal’s apparent chinks in the armour, which will likely add to Federer’s on-court motivations and quest for a record No. 18. The Swiss No. 1 will begin his fortnight in Paris against an opponent he has faced many times before on the tour: Alejandro Falla. Federer leads the head-to-head series with an unblemished 7-0 record.

In what appeared to be a rollercoaster clay court season with many inconsistencies, Federer was able to salvage his pre-Roland Garros warm-up with an impressive finish at the Rome Masters. After a second round exit in Monte Carlo, Federer lifted the title in Istanbul but then had that momentum halted when he lost his opening match in Madrid to Nick Kyrgios. Finally, Federer was able to secure a spot in the final of the Rome Masters, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets. The Swiss, who had not dropped a set all week heading into the final, admitted to playing below par in the final. It was the fourth time that Federer finished runner up in Rome and is yet to lift the tournament title in 15 attempts.

Following first round exits in Madrid and Rome, Falla moved on to Paris, where he took part in the French Open qualifying round. He defeated Lamine Ouahab and Maxime Authom before losing to Germain Gigounon. However he has returned to the fold as a lucky loser.

This marks the eighth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour. Federer has won all of their previous match-ups on the tour, but did go five sets with Falla at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. This, however, will likely be a different match entirely on clay, and could even lead to an extra set if Federer is not careful enough.

Back in 2007, Simona Halep and Evgeniya Rodina met in the Wimbledon Championships Junior Tournament. Now, eight years later, the two will meet again, this time as professional athletes competing for a slot in the second round of the prestigious Roland Garros tournament. This marks the first time that the two competitors will collide on the professional tour and should make for an interesting start to Halep’s 2015 campaign at the French Open.

Following an excellent start to her 2015 season, which included title wins in Dubai and Indian Wells, and most recently reached the semi-final stage in Miami, Simona Halep was dealt a significant blow when she was ousted from the Madrid Open in her opening round match. She managed to salvage some momentum ahead of the French Open when she worked her way to the semi-final stage in Rome before losing to Carla Suarez Navarro. She is yet to claim a title on clay this season.

Halep will come up against Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina, who has had a turbulent clay court season that included three first round exits (Stuttgart, Marrakech and Renava) and two second round exits. She will look to try her luck at the biggest win of her professional career in an upset win over Halep.

This marks the first time that Halep and Rodina will meet on the professional tour but that does not mean that the two don’t share history together on court. Rodina actually defeated Halep in the third round of the 2007 Wimbledon Junior tournament and will look to relive that moment with a crushing first round upset win against one of the tournament favourites. However, given Halep’s general consistency over the past few months, there is little doubt that the Romanian will advance to the second round.

Back in January, Stan Wawrinka began his title defense at the ‘Happy Slam’ against Marsel Ilhan. Now, five months later, the Swiss No. 2 and fourth seed at the event is scheduled to open his French Open campaign against Ilhan, which made for an interesting coincidence. Wawrinka leads the head-to-head series 1-0 and will likely remain undefeated against the Turkish player.

Prior to his last tournament ahead of the French Open, which took place in his hometown of Geneva, Stan Wawrinka looked as though he was set to arrive in Paris with some significant momentum. After alternating wins and losses for three consecutive Masters 1000 events, Wawrinka arrived in Rome, where he defeated Juan Monaco, Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal before losing to Roger Federer in the semi-final round. His win over Nadal was particularly impressive, yet he had that momentum halted when he failed to serve out a match against Federico Delbonis in Geneva and instead lost the contest in three sets.

The Swiss star will come up against Marsel Ilhan, who failed to qualify for the Madrid Masters event but managed to work his way into the Rome Masters 1000 draw, where he defeated Adrian Mannarino before losing to Rafael Nadal in the second round.

This is set to be the second time that Wawrinka and Ilhan will cross paths on the tour, and is not a particularly challenging contest for Wawrinka last time around. Wawrinka leads the head-to-head series 1-0 with a win earlier this year at the Australian Open, where they also met in the opening round. While anyone is capable of surprising a high seed early on in the tournament, this is unlikely to be the case here. Wawrinka looked to be in-form over the past few weeks apart from his bizarre exit from the tournament on home soil in Geneva last week. He should be able to work his way past Ilhan with relative ease.

Top Canadian Milos Raonic announced on Thursday afternoon that he would be forced to withdraw from the 2015 French Open. It appears the world No. 6 was unable to recover from right foot surgery in time to prepare himself for competitive play at the Grand Slam level.

“I am sad to have to unfortunately announce my withdrawal from 2015’s Roland Garros,” said Raonic. “I tried my best to be back on court and healthy in time after surgery but after consulting with my team and doctors, I made a decision to withdraw from this year’s tournament and make sure I am able to return return to the court at one hundred per cent. My rehab will continue this week and I will shortly begin preparations for a strong Queens Club and Wimbledon.”

Raonic, who dealt with right foot issues over the past couple of months, underwent surgery last week to aleviate a condition known as Morton’s Neuroma. It is a painful condition that involves the thickening of the tissue around a nerve leading to a toe. Due to this condition, he was forced to retire from the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 event and later withdrew from the Rome Masters.

Raonic had quarter-final points to defend at this year’s tournament, where he lost to Novak Djokovic last season. The tournament is set to begin on Sunday, May 24th in Paris.

An intriguing encounter is set to take place in the semi-final round of the Open de Nice tournament on Friday afternoon in France. The final warm-up event ahead of the 2015 edition of the French Open will feature an enthralling contest between American No. 1 John Isner and Dominic Thiem. It will serve as the first ever meeting on the tour between the two talented competitors.

In a standard match on court last Thursday, John Isner defeated Serbian adversary Dusan Lajovic in straight sets to advance to the semi-final stage of the Open de Nice. He fired eight aces, won 76% of his first service points, converted just the one break point in the second set and saved both the break points he faced on serve during the match. He eventually finished the encounter 7-6(3), 6-4.

“I thought it was a pretty high quality match,” Isner told ATPWorldTour.com. “I played pretty well. As it is in a lot of my matches, it came down to a few points in the first and second sets.”

In a less-than-stellar quarter-final meeting on Thursday, Austria’s Dominic Thiem defeated Ernests Gulbis in straight set to advance to the final four in Nice. He struck two aces, won 75% of his first service points and converted four break points to secure the 6-2, 6-4 victory in one hour and 37 minutes. It was an impressive showing from the Austrian as he prepares for a tall task against the American.

This is just the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and is an encounter with two separate, potential outcomes. However, it is likely that Isner will present a difficult challenge on serve for Thiem and he will likely advance to the tournament final following a tight straight sets encounter with a couple of tiebreaks.

Two of the top seeds at the Nurmemberg Open are safely through to the semi-final stage of the tournament, where they will now cross paths for a fifth time on the professional tour. Angelique Kerber and Roberta Vinci had cross paths on four previous occasions and split the head-to-head series 2-2 over the three-year length of the rivalry.

In a relatively straightforward encounter in the quarter-final stage of the tournament, Angelique Kerber advanced to the final four in Nuremberg with a straight sets victory against Misaki Doi. She struck one ace, 62 percent and converted six of seven break points to secure the 6-2, 6-3 win. The contest lasted a total of one hour and six minutes.

In one of the other four quarter-final matches on court that day, Roberta Vinci advanced to the semi-finals with a three set win against Kurumi Nara. It was a rollercaster affair that saw Vinci win 65% of her first service points and convert four break points to close out the match 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes. Vinci was the more solid returner of the two competitors, particularly in the first service returns, which helped her break serve enough times to secure the victory. In the end, she won 47% of return points, which is 8% more than Nara.

This is the fifth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with the head-to-head series split at 2-2. They have no met on the tour since Beijing in 2013 and only met on clay once during in those four matches. Kerber won that sole clay court meeting, which came in the form of a straight sets win at Stuttgart in 2012.