Roland Garros | AS Roland Garros special: all against King Nadal

Rafa Nadal is for almost everyone the great favorite to win the title at Roland Garros, despite the change of dates, the lowest temperature, the bubble that nobody likes and the possibility that he will play some of his games at night, especially in the last rounds, if he reaches them. It is also the winner for the major bookmakers. His final victory is paid at 1.83 euro, while that of Novak Djokovic, his main rival, is priced at 3.75, just like Dominic Thiem's.

The fact is that the Balearic has before him a great opportunity to make history and equal Roger Federer's 20 Grand Slam titles, all-time men's all-time record. It would be the 13th trophy he would lift in the Philippe Chatrier, thereby increasing his own record in the tournament. He lost the opportunity in Australia by losing to Thiem in the quarterfinals and did not attend the US Open as a precaution against the plague of COVID-19. In favor he has his deep knowledge of tennis on the ground, where he is the undisputed king, and against, those new conditions that do not favor him too much and the fact of having played only three matches on clay after having been without competing on any surface for 200 days.

But as he said in AS Mats Wilander, Rafa “is capable of playing flatter and the proof is that he won the US Open four times doing that”. His record in the French major is impressive: 93-2. On the track they have only been beaten by Robin Soderling (eighth of 2009) and Djokovic (quarter of 2015). In 2016 he retired before playing Marcel Granollers in the third round. In finals he is 100% effective: 12 out of 12 and has been on a streak of three in a row since 2017 (more numbers for the champion in the tournament figures section). Those are his main credentials that together with his power of intimidation, his quality and knowing how to be have made him almost invincible at Roland Garros, although this year his rivals see him more affordable. Even Djokovic says it: “You always have to put Rafa at the top of the list of favorites in Paris”. Although the Balkan leaves a door open. “Schwartzman showed that he is not invincible on land.” Nadal is not worried and trusts in his possibilities: “I know what I have done wrong and how to fix it. Maybe I need to compete and play very long points, they are things that one needs to pick up “.

Novak Djokovic has between eyebrows and win the battle for the historical supremacy in tennis, in conflict with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. And to get ahead of them it would be necessary to beat the Spaniard once more on brick dust. He already did it in 2015, in the quarterfinals, although that year he did not win his only title at Roland Garros (he lost in the final against Stan Wawrinka), He did so in 2016 by taking advantage of the premature retirement of the king of the land and defeating Andy Murray in the trophy match.

This year he arrives at the tournament in good condition, having almost forgotten the slip that caused his disqualification at the US Open when he hit a chair umpire in his match. of eighth before Pablo Carreño. His brand is scary so far this year: 31-1 with four titles (Australia, Dubai, Cincinnati and Rome). He has played a few matches on the ground between exhibitions, such as those of the ill-fated Adria Tour, and tournaments, many more than Nadal and his confidence is through the roof, although since the incident in the United States, he has not been in a very good mood and that can penalize. The lower temperature conditions in which the Parisian major will take place benefit him and he feels that this may be his year. It is the number one.

The third in contention on the roster of great favorites at Roland Garros is Dominic Thiem. The current and recent champion of the US Open, in that epic final against Alexander Zverev that he won in the tiebreaker of the fifth set after lifting a two-set deficit, is the one that can most disturb Nadal, who has already won on clay although never in a five-set match, like Djokovic, whom he dropped last year in the semi-finals of the French tournament. The Austrian has lost the last two Roland Garros finals to the Spaniard and in 2019 was able to steal a set from him on Comanche territory.

He is a natural puncher and specialist on clay (10 of his 17 titles have been won on clay), although his improvement on hard court gave him his first Grand Slam trophy in New York. Number 3 in the world, he threatens Rafa's second place, who will not be able to score points as he is the current champion, and he knows how to play the greats, in fact last January he was close to beating Djokovic in Melbourne. · In the first time I played in Paris against Nadal I had no chance, since he was clearly superior from the first moment. Already in the second I had a better performance against and even my chances, but Rafa is too big on clay. There is no doubt in affirming that Nadal is the best player in clay “, said a few months ago Thiem, to whom his moment in the Philippe Chatrier could finally come. Who knows. He does see it: “My next goal is Roland Garros.” If he wins it, he will have another prize, he will snatch number two in the ranking from Nadal himself.

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Garbiñe Muguruza, always unpredictable, seemed destined by her tennis and her physique to offer a first stroke on a fast track. But she gave it in the Philippe Chatrier, an unforgettable June 5, 2016, the day she beat number one Serena Williams 7-5 and 6-4 to become the second Spanish, after Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, to be crowned in Paris . At just 22 years old, he announced a spectacular future that he endorsed by also winning Wimbledon in 2017.

But since 2016, Roland Garros has been quite elusive. Love broke In 2018 he reached the semifinals, but its brilliance has faded over the land. Will this atypical 2020 be your year again?

At the moment, with Conchita Martínez on her bench, the course began with the final in Australia, where only Sofia Kenin could stop her. During the hiatus due to the pandemic, she has taken the opportunity to shield her physique with the intention of again assaulting the big tournaments, where she feels more comfortable but which requires great endurance. It ended 2019 in 34th place (in 2017 it reached number one) and is now 15th. Last year was to forget. The goal of making a clean slate started with his great performance in Melbourne.

Later, a left ankle injury made him reappear directly at the US Open, where she was shipwrecked before Tsvetana Pironkova, an unranked Bulgarian player who had stopped three years to be a mother. “I came knowing that I was not completely prepared,” acknowledged the one from Caracas.

But last week, and already on the land of Rome, Garbiñe proved to be in tune. He was defeating Sloane Stephens, Coco Gauff, Johanna Konta and Victoria Azarenka. Only number two Simona Halep separated her from the final.

“Having played these games is going to help me face Paris in a positive way. I have felt that I have been close, despite having a difficult draw, so it is positive. I wanted to play a lot of games at a good level in Rome so we have achieved that, “Muguruza explained as he said goodbye to the Foro Italico. Now it's Paris. The city where he took off. The city to take off again.

“I've been trapped for a while trying to win one more Grand Slam. But it's a matter of pride,” warns Serena Williams, just turned 39 years old. The most dominant tennis player of the last decades is pursuing a 24th Grand Slam that would equal her with the Australian Margaret Court and would leave her one step away from the absolute record. But she has been chasing him in nine greats since she returned to the circuit after being a mother in 2018 … And nine times she has escaped.

It does not seem like the land of Roland Garros, where the game is more physical and puts his body to the limit, the most ideal setting to hug Court. Serena's titles in Paris already sound far away: 2002, 2013 and 2015. It is the big one with the least success. In 2018 it reached the fourth round, and in 2017 the third. It does not appear, then, as a great favorite.

But there is pride. “The only thing that makes me nervous is myself. There is a lot of pressure regarding my results and everyone believes that I am in a unique position to win a tournament like this again. I am at a time in my life that I do not care if I lose twenty points in a row if I feel that I am happy. I am 38 years old and I am playing tennis normally. That's why I say that my main enemy is myself, “she said in New York during the US Open, where she fell against Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals. Serena now plays against Serena, as well as against a horde of rivals who already know that she is not invincible as before. The champion of all rushes her options to retire, with the numbers on her side, as the greatest. Although it certainly is.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, there will not be as many absences at Roland Garros as there were at the US Open. In the male box, ‘only 'Roger Federer is truly missing, world number 4 who, had it not been for his double knee operation, would have played again in Paris as he did last year until he fell against Nadal in the semifinals. In addition to Djokovic, Nadal and Thiem, there are Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Zverev, Berrettini, Monfils, Goffin and Bautista as the main seeds. Wawrinka returns, who did not attend the US Open, and Andy Murray, who had not played in Paris for two years. Both will meet in the first round in the most attractive duel. Fognini, Schwartzman and Pablo Carreño, good players on the ground, will want to fight. Nishikori arrives in bad shape after his long break due to injury and Del Potro, almost recovered, has not had time to sign up for the appointment. Neither are Milos Raonic nor Kyle Edmund. The aforementioned Bautista and Carreño follow Nadal on the Army list, which is completed by Albert Ramos, Pablo Andújar, Feliciano López, Alejandro Davidovich, Roberto Carballés, Jaume Munar and Pedro Martínez, who entered the table from the previous one. Fernando Verdasco was dismissed by the organization for testing positive in a test that the Madrid native says is incorrect. In the female team, the losses are notable. They are not number one, Ashleigh Barty, nor the three and recent champion in New York, Naomi Osaka. Neither does Bianca Andreescu, who does not feel prepared, not Belinda Bencic, comes down at the last minute. They rejoin the Grand Slams after the USA, Halep, Svitolina and Bertens were lost by personal decision. Among the outsiders, Sakkari and Gauff stand out. Along with Garbiñe Muguruza, three other Spanish women: Sara Sorribes, Paula Badosa and Aliona Bolsava.

The draw held on Thursday in Paris resulted in Rafa Nadal starting his career this year at Roland Garros against the 27-year-old Belarusian and 83rd in the world Egor Gerasimov on Sunday or Monday. The Spaniard is on the same side as Dominic Thiem, whom he could face in the semifinals although the Austrian has had a tough opponent to start with, Marin Cilic, and Alexander Zverev, a possible rival in the quarterfinals. Before, on Nadal's path, the American Mackenzie McDonald (236th) in the second round, the British Daniel Evans (34th) in the third and the Italian Fabio Fognini (15th) in the second round could cross the ranking.. The Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who beat Rafa a few days ago in Rome, makes his debut against the Serbian Kecmanovic in the Thiem sector, so he would not see the Spanish until a hypothetical semi-final, with Dominic's permission, with whom he would collide in quarters.

On the other side of the table, Novak Djokovic will collide with the Swede Mikael Ymer. In the Serbian's route would be Ricardas Berankis in the second round, the Polish Hubert Hurkacz in the third, the Russian Karen Khachanov in the eighths, the Italian Matteo Berrettini in the quarterfinals and Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals.

In the women's draw, Garbiñe Muguruza will face the 22-year-old Slovenian and 81st in the world Tamara Zidansek in the first round of Roland Garros according to the draw for the women's team for the 2020 edition, which was held completely electronically by the anti-COVID-19 protocols and was broadcast on social networks. The Spanish will go on the opposite side to Simona Halep and Serena Williams, in the part led by Karolina Pliskova, who would be her potential rival in the semifinals. In the quarters, Garbiñe would meet the American Sofia Kenin. Before, always by ranking, her possible rivals would be the Czech Krystina Pliskova in the second round, the American Jennifer Brady in the third and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the second round.

Serena Williams, who is chasing the 24th major title to equal Margaret Court's absolute record, will make her debut in the competition against fellow American Kristie Ahn. Among the most outstanding pairings of the first round is the one that will face the British Johanna Konta and the great sensation of the circuit, the 16-year-old American Coco Gauff.

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Roland Garros 2020 schedule: What time do the matches start?

The clay court Grand Slam matches will begin daily at 11:00 am, and there will be only one session, with no breaks. The meetings in each of the tracks will be distributed in a total of four turns. The men's final will be on Sunday, October 11; the female, on Saturday 10.

Television: Where to see Roland Garros?

Eurosport will broadcast the event live and in its entirety. The best matches of international players can be followed on Eurosport 1, while Eurosport 2 will focus on matches with Spanish participation. In addition, all the tournament matches will be available on the Eurosport Player platform to be able to enjoy them from the device that users choose and whenever they want.

Alex Corretja, Anabel Medina and Jordi Arrese repeat one more year as Eurosport experts to offer viewers the best analysis of each day together with the team of commentators made up of Álvaro Rama, Manuel Poyán, Álvaro Benito, José Manuel Díaz, Antonio Arenas, Fernando Gómez, José Luis Corral, Fernando Murciego, Francisco Trapero, Alberto Pérez, Sergio Gutiérrez, José Manuel Tallada and Rubén Fernández.

Internet: Where to follow Roland Garros online?

On As.com you can also follow a wide coverage of the tournament, with direct from the main matches. With us you will have the best minute by minute, the most shocking images of the meeting and the statements of the protagonists, as well as the chronicle as soon as the matches finish.

As curious as it may seem, the name of one of the most important events in world tennis has nothing to do with the sport itself. Roland Garros (Saint-Denis, 1888 – Ardennes, 1918) did not dedicate himself to any discipline professionally, although he did play soccer, rugby, and cycling during his childhood. Precisely the bike helped him regain his shape after a serious pneumonia suffered at the age of 12. After graduating from business school, he created his own dealership, but he soon discovered what would be his passion.

At an air show Roland Garros fell in love with aviation, buying his first plane and learning to operate it in a self-taught way. It did not take long for him to participate in shows and races of the discipline, and even less in become a star of it. It was there when Garros wanted to break barriers, focusing on the seas. In 1913, He was the first human in history to cross the Mediterranean Sea, on an eight hour flight from France to Tunis.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Roland Garros joined the French army, being key in air battles. He succeeded in creating the first single-seat fighter plane equipped with an on-board machine gun that fired through the propeller. After adding three victories, he was shot down within German lands, being sent to a prison camp. In addition, Germany was able to analyze its aircraft and incorporate Garros's advances, which escaped from captivity three years later. With a very deteriorated health, Roland returned to fight, and on October 5, 1918, a month after the end of the war, he was again shot down in Ardennes, dying on the spot.

Despite this, Roland Garros was considered a French war hero. Ten years after his death, the tennis stadium that had been built in Paris for France to defend its Davis Cup title was named after the aviator. That is when the legend of Roland Garros was further increased, which gave its name to one of the most legendary tennis tournaments on the planet.

The awards

The 2020 edition of Roland Garros will have a prize pool of 38,409,679 euros, with an increase of 30% in the reward for losers in the first round, as a show of solidarity for the tennis players who have suffered the most this year the consequences of the pandemic. Along the same lines, there is also more money for the players of the previous one, 27% more than in 2019 The player who debuts in Paris will take at least 60,000 euros. The final winner of both the men's and women's draw takes 1,600,000.

Diffusion

The owners of the television rights of Roland Garros will broadcast 15 hours of programming every day and Eurosport will exclusively offer all the matches. In 2019 the tournament could be seen through 146 channels in 222 territories; 91,268 hours of tennis were broadcast and the audience was 354 million people in the accumulated.

Tournament economic data

The Roland Garros site can accommodate 400,000 visitors, although this year the capacity is limited for health reasons to 5,000 per day. Every year since 2016, the tournament generates 600 jobs. 99% of the 380 million that are invested are self-generated. The event generates 228 million of gross domestic product that employs 6,500 each year. 123 additional trees have been planted for a total of 660. There are 18 tennis courts, with Philippe Chatrier (15,000 spectators) leading the way, followed by Suzanne Lenglen (10,000), Simonne Mathieu (5,000) and Fonds des Princes (2,200) within a total area of ​​11.16 hectares.

Sports figures

–The 2020 edition of the tournament is the 119th since it started under the name of the French Championships in 1891. The 90th as French Internationals and the 87th as Roland Garros.

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The Argentine Legion tennis players will once again be very present at Roland Garros. Among all of them, a name to stand out: Diego Schwartzman (13th in the ATP ranking). One more year, the Buenos Aires will be the main hope in the men's team. His final at the Masters 1000 in Rome, defeating Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals and fighting until the last point of the final against Novak Djokovic, reinforces his position among the candidates for the title on the clay of Paris.

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Aunque han sido días difíciles para Juan Sebastián Cabal y Robert Farah tras el reinicio de la competencia, Roland Garros será la oportunidad para regresar al nivel que los caracteriza. La pareja número uno del mundo cayó en la primera ronda del Masters 1.000 de Cincinnati y en los octavos de final del US Open. Los colombianos ya están acostumbrados a sobreponerse.

La raqueta los unió desde que eran niños, los dos se consideran familia a pesar de llevar apellidos diferentes. La pista dura, de hierba y la de tierra batida los vio crecer en Cali, Colombia. A los 8 años de edad fueron rivales, a los 11 se dieron cuenta en la Liga Vallecaucana de Tenis que los dos podían ser los encargados de escribir historias de gran magnitud para el tenis colombiano.

Luego de entrenar siempre juntos, decidieron apostar por los sencillos en la élite mundial, los resultados no fueron favorables y en 2005, Cabal sufrió una fuerte lesión en la rodilla izquierda, que por poco lo saca del tenis. En 2009 los dos tomaron una gran decisión y decidieron competir en dobles.

Fueron muchos años de caídas, pero luego llegaron a su mejor nivel, ese que los llevó a ganar dos Grand Slam: Wimbledon y US Open en 2019, luego se convirtieron en la pareja número 1 del mundo. Ahora llega Roland Garros. Su mejor presentación allí fue el año pasado en donde llegaron en semifinales, pero cayeron ante los franceses Fabrice Martin y Jérémy Chardy en parciales de 7-5 y 6-4.

Colombia en Roland Garros

Todo empezó con Iván Molina en 1974 cuando logró ser el primer colombiano campeón de un Gran Slam en la modalidad de dobles mixtos junto a Martina Navratilova. En 1973 lo había intentado con la rumana Florenta Mihai. Luego tuvo que llegar una nueva generación para volver a ser protagonistas en el tenis mundial.

En 2001, Alejandro Falla y Carlos Salamanca fueron los jóvenes que ilusionaron con su título infantil, derrotando a los alemanes Markus Bayer y Philipp Petzschner. En 2004, Fabiola Zuluaga llegó a cuarta ronda del torneo en donde fue eliminada por Venus Williams. La tenista ha sido la mujer que ha llegado más lejos en el torneo de mayores.

En 2007 regresaron las alegrías juveniles con la clasificación a la final de Mariana Duque, quien fue derrotada por la francesa Alize Cornet. En 2011, Cabal empezó a brillar como doblista, llegó a la final del torneo en la categoría de dobles mixtos junto al argentino Eduardo Schwank, en el partido definitivo perdieron ante Max Mirnyi y Daniel Néstor.

En 2011, Alejandro Falla firmó la mejor presentación en sencillos, el colombiano se quedó en cuartos de final siendo eliminado por el argentino Juan Ignacio Chela. Pasaron 8 años para volver a ser protagonistas del Roland Garros. Hace un año María Camila Osorio llegó a las semifinales Junior cayendo ante la canadiense Leylah Annie Fernandez, luego la pareja número 1 de dobles también perdió en semis ante los franceses Fabrice Martin y Jeremy Chardy.