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| I'm still stunned she didn't win in Australia but Serena got the job done in Paris |
Roland Garros 2013: Revisiting my predictions
Before all the attention focuses on the green stuff there is time to reflect on two glorious weeks of clay court tennis in Paris and look back over my predictions
Women's Singles
I got 5 of the 8 quarter finalists and picked the semi-final line-up.
Serena had looked awesome in Charleston and in Madrid (and Rome this year) as she did in 2012 but this time she came to Roland Garros as reigning Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic Champion so she was also going to triumph in Paris.
There was one wobble and it typically came in the quarter finals - where had fallen four times in the last 10 years - but she got through it. Had Kuznetsova got that second break for 3-0 in the third who knows if she would have repeated her 2009 victory over the American.
But Serena did recover and deservedly took Grand Slam No.16.
I had a feeling Kerber wouldn't make it through to the last eight but thought it might have been another left-hander Ekaterina Makarova taking her spot rather than former champion Kuznetsova.
The two-time major winner dispatched Makarova comfortably in the first round. Kuznetsova made it back to back major quarter finals for the first time since 09 while Makarova left Paris with the doubles title which I would not have predicted.
As anticipated Sara Errani put in another strong performance on her favourite surface. The Italian No.1 may have been slaughtered by Serena in the last four - having tested the American in Madrid - but did get her first top 5 scalp against Radwanska in the last eight.
I had thought that Ivanovic would get a top 10 win to make it through to the quarters but as in Australia Ivanovic found Radwanska to be just too steady as the Pole booked her first French Open quarter final.
Two-time Aussie Champ Azarenka finally made it through to the last four in Paris but her quarter final foe was Maria Kirilenko and not Li Na as expected. I thought the Chinese No.1 would have a tough time against Mattek-Sands but having beaten the eccentric American in Stuttgart I thought Li would get through. However Mattek-Sands scored an impressive upset
Now after her third major quarter final Kirilenko is inexplicably in the top 10, I really don't see her climbing any higher but then I wouldn't have predicted she's ever reach the top 10 so she may surprise me again!
Defending champion Sharapova as anticipated put in a strong defence and her quarter final opponent, as per my hunch, was three-time semi-finalist Jankovic. Post-tournament the Serb is ranked 7th in the race to Istanbul in what is rapidly becoming a comeback season. It looked like JJ would take out Sharapova but the Russian fought back from a slow start to get through.
During the tournament I felt that Azarenka might edge out Sharapova but my pre-tournament pick was right and of course Serena was always going to take down the Russian in the final although hats off to Sharapova who put in a good performance in a competitive final.
Men's Singles
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| Rafa tastes another Roland Garros victory |
I guessed 6 of the quarter finalists with only two of my outsider hunches proving off the mark.
Choosing Rafa, Novak, Roger and David was hardly going out on a limb but of course proved accurate, although Federer came through a major scare against Simon in round four.
With Janko Tipsarevic desperately lacking in form I picked veteran Tommy Haas to come through to his first Roland Garros quarter final but the 35 year-old took 13 match points against John Isner to get there.
Since his incredible meeting with Djokovic in Melbourne Stan Wawrinka has really kicked on regaining his place in the top 10 and reaching a second Masters 1000 final in Madrid.
I thought that it would be the Swiss No.2, and not Richard Gasquet, who would meet Nadal in the last eight and I was proved right but only after Wawrinka battled from two sets down to see off the Frenchman.
I picked the always dangerous Gulbis to come through Tomas Berdych's section but it was the always exciting Gael Monfils who took out the Czech and then took out Gulbis. Amazingly it was 32nd seeded Veteran Tommy Robredo who came through, three times from a two set deficit to meet Ferrer in the last eight.
Recent Dusseldorf champion Juan Monaco lost a two-set lead against Daniel Gimeno-Traver in round one. The safer bet was of course Tsonga who came through to his allotted place in the quarters and then dismissed Federer with surprising ease.
However if the Swiss 2009 winner had come through to the semi-finals I still would have picked up to get past Ferrer, though it may have been tough. As it was Tsonga just could not deliver under the pressure against Ferrer and the 31 year-old booked his place in a first major final.
The match of the tournament was, of course, the titanic semi-final clash between Rafa and Novak which went the way of the clay court King after an electrifying four hours and 37 minutes.
I had foreseen a fifth Nadal victory over Federer in the final but instead it was a comprehensive victory for Rafa over Ferrer as Nadal took his historic eighth French Open crown.
The Spaniard has put together a stunning comeback with 7 titles from 9 finals. If the 27 year-old can maintain it for the rest of 2013 he's likely to be holding the No.1 ranking in a few months time.
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