2011 Roland Garros on the men's side could not be more exciting. Novak Djokovic is 37-0 this season, winning the Australian Open, Dubai, Belgrade, and the four Masters 1000 events he played in, Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, and Rome. This is longest winning streak to start a season since John McEnroe's 42 match win streak in 1984. This streak is all the more remarkable when you consider that Djokovic started the year ranked number 3 in the world, and has beaten Roger Federer (The Mighty Federer, TMF for short), the consensus greatest player of all time, four times, and Rafael Nadal, the current world number one, in four consecutive Masters 1000 series finals. What is even more remarkable is that two of those wins came on Nadal's favorite surface, clay. Nadal has rightly been caled the King of Clay for his five Roland Garros titles and his absurd records at the other clay court tournaments. In any other year, Nadal would be the clear favorite, having won Barcelona and reaching the finals of the two 1000 series clay court events, but with Djokovic's surge, some are putting Nadal as the slight underdog.
That would certaintly be the clear dream final, but there are a few other men who would love nothing more than to stop that final. The afforementioned TMF, as the third seed and all time Grand Slam leader, is always a threat to win, and having won in 2009, has a great shot as well. Robin Soderling, the Swede, had accomplished the historic feat of defeating Nadal in the 2009 French Open and then Federer in 2010, reaching the final both years. He is in Nadal's section of the draw, and that would make a blockbuster quarterfinal. Andy Murray, the 4 seed, reached the final in Australia but fell to Djokovic. He has been the closest this year to ending Djokovic's streak, taking him to a third set tiebreaker in Rome, so he's made himself into a threat. Finally, David Ferrer, who defeated Nadal in the 2011 Australian Open, is always a threat at the French. After the jump, we're going to look at the draw, quarter by quarter.
First Quarter
This is Nadal and Soderling's quarter, and the other seeds in it do not seem to pose a threat. Mardy Fish is the third highest seed, and Americans recently have been terrible on the red clay in Paris. The only other possible threat, Verdasco, has been slumping horribly since last fall.
Dangerous Floater: Nikolay Davydenko, a former semifinalist here. His form has been way off this year, but he has the history to do well if he can put his game together.
Fun Player to Watch: Marcos Baghdatis, who always puts on exciting, if not technical matches
1st round match to watch: Isner vs Nadal. The number one seed rarely gets tested in the first round of a major, but Isner is a huge serving American who has a puncher's chance, especially in the first round of a major, where he'll be fresh. His problems usually come later in tournaments. It should be fun.
Second Quarter
This section of the draw is really wide open, with Murray and Melzer being the highest seeds. Melzer really is the forgotten man, actually beating Djokovic in the quarterfinals here last year, but his form has dropped off. Murray was already discussed, but the storyline to watch is the young guns. Dolgopolov,`Raonic, Tomic, and the American Ryan Sweeting are all in this section, and it is a golden opportunity for them to make a deep run.
Dangerous Floater: Nicolas Almagro, the Spaniard. He is on a tear right now, and he is certainly someone to watch out for.
Fun Player to Watch: Milos Raonic. The young Canadian leads the tour in aces, and having reached the 4th round at the Australian Open and winning the title in San Jose, and losing a very tight match to Andy Roddick in the final at Memphis, seems to have a great future, but many questions remain about his game on clay. He definitely a player to watch.
1st Round Match to Watch: Carlos Berlocq vs. Bernard Tomic. These are two players who almost certainly will never win a major, but they're both esoteric players who are always fun to watch.
Third Quarter
This is Federer's quarter, and this is a very nice draw for Federer, besides his first round match. He plays Feliciano Lopez, the Spaniard who played him really close and had an overhead for a 5-2 3rd set tiebreak lead in Madrid, but in the end Federer won. After that, there's no one who should challenge him until the possible quarterfinal with David Ferrer. Wawrinka and Tsonga seem to exist to be perrenial 4th round exiters from grand-slam tournaments. In other half of the quarter (sixteenth?), it appears that Monfils and Ferrer will meet in the 4th round. There's a match to watch.
Dangerous Floater: Gael Monfils, the Frenchman. Playing in his home country will bring him pressure, but he is seeded 9th here and has the athleticism and raw talent to take him far. The physical aspect always seems to loom for him though, so we'll see how far he can go.
Fun Player to Watch: Kei Nishikori. Being coached by legendary coach Brad Gilbert and being the highest ranked Japanese player ever, he is an exciting baseliner who looks to increase his ranking even further.
1st round match(es) to watch: Federer vs Lopez because of their match a coiple weeks ago where Lopez should have won, and Nishikori vs. Lu, because Lu (from Taiwan) beat Roddick in last year's Wimbledon.
Fourth Quarter
This is the loaded quarter, with Berdych, Cilic, Youzhny, Gasquet, del Potro, and of course, Djokovic, looking to make a run. Del Potro is on the comeback trail after being sidelined with a wrist injury for over a year, Youzhny was a U.S. Open semifinalist last year, and Gasquet is looking to ride the hometown wave and make a run. Gasquet also had the distinction of knocking out Federer in Rome and losing a tight one to Nadal in the semifinals. That has to help him here. This is definitely the most fun quarter, but Berdych, having made the semis last year, and Djokovic, being on The Streak, should meet in the quarterfinals.
Dangerous Floater: Thomaz Bellucci. It would have been del Potro, but he would meet Djokovic in the thrid round. Bellucci, the Brazilian, made it to the semis in Madrid and was up a set and a break before the Serb regained control.
Fun Player to Watch: Del Potro, for the absurd swings he takes at the ball
1st Round match to watch: Gasquet vs. Stepanek, two mercurial players.
Predictions
Semifinalists: Soderling (Beats Nadal in quarters), Almagro, Federer, Djokovic
Finalists: Soderling for the third year in a row, Djokovic
Winner: Novak Djokovic
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