Staff writer offers his opinion on Nadal and Federer and their current statuses as the top two favorites for the 2011 French Open. Tournament dates are providing along with the other favorites.
The 2011 Davis Cup will soon be taking center stage in the tennis world however in consideration of the fact that not all tennis fans care about that event and its results perhaps it is a good time to take a look ahead at the 2011 French Open.
The tournament dates this year are May 17th to June 5th and, as usual, Rafael Nadal is the favorite (source: Paddy Power) and the argument against picking him to win is the fact that he is an often-injured player.
As a case in point, Nadal needed time to rest and recover from injury at the start of February 2011 and there's always a degree of chance, more so than with other players, that Nadal will not be at 100% when a major tournament comes around and that is a serious knock against the Spaniard.
The second favorite, as usual, is Roger Federer however the Swiss Maestro's status as second favorite is highly questionable at this point in his career. Federer is still a clear force in ATP events but his results in Grand Slams have taken a drastic turn for the worse as he has not been to a Grand Slam final in the last four majors.
Robin Soderling, Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer, and Nicolas Almagro might all be considered bigger threats to win the 2011 French Open now than Federer should be. Perhaps Juan Martin Del Potro, if fit, could do damage in the clay court Grand Slam as well as the Argentine has a recent title on tour. The last time he challenged the Roland Garros draw he showed no significant weakness on the clay as he made the semifinals in 2009 and took eventual champion Roger Federer to a 5th set in that round.
It's still too early to bother with the French Open in depth but it is only about two and half months away and the significant players seem clear.
If there was a dark horse at this time it would likely be Milos Raonic and perhaps the Canadian's clay court abilities should be examined by tennis fans as he heads to Mexico for Davis Cup matches on the red dirt.
