2022 French Open Preview

2022 French Open Preview 202

Photo credit: Seth Sarelson

The second major of the calendar year brings us to the City of Love as the best players in the world descend on Paris for the French Open. The 2022 French Open will run from May 22 through June 5 on the famed red clay of Roland Garros.

Long Island Tennis Magazine has broken down some of the contenders, pretenders and sleepers for the 2022 edition of the French Open.

Men’s Singles - Contenders

Carlos Alcaraz

Perhaps the hottest player on the men’s tour is the young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. The 18-year-old won his first Masters 1000 title in Miami and has shown his prowess on the hard courts, and as the tour calendar enters the clay season, that is where Alcaraz can really thrive. He grew up playing on the clay back in Spain, and with his devastating forehand and unrelenting athleticism, no one wants to see Alcaraz next to their name in the draw.

Novak Djokovic

The 20-time major champion may enter Roland Garros more motivated than ever. We all know the saga of his time in Australia at the beginning of the season, but the Serb seems to be on track to compete at the French Open. Djokovic is the defending champion and has hoisted this trophy twice before, so look for Djokovic to make a strong push to tie up Rafael Nadal on the all-time majors list.

Daniil Medvedev

Although he has proclaimed his disdain for the clay, Daniil Medvedev is still the highest ranked player in the world, and therefore will be difficult to topple at any of the majors.

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He broke through for his maiden Slam last year at the U.S. Open, and now that he has shown the ability to play his best tennis over a two-week span, Medvedev will be out to compile his best showing at the French Open.

Women’s Singles - Contenders

Paula Badosa

Like Alcaraz, Paula Badosa was raised playing on clay, and is certainly a threat to win her first Slam title at the French Open. The NYC-born, Spanish-raised Badosa has a big forehand and relentless groundstrokes from the baseline. Badosa reached the quarterfinals here last year, and will be eager to improve on that result in 2022.

Simona Halep

Despite being ranked on the fringe of the top 20, fans should not overlook the possibility of Simona Halep being a real threat to win this year’s French Open. The Romanian veteran has proven her might on tour over the years, and has the ideal balance to her game that makes her a tricky player to face. Halep is a former world number one with two major titles on her record, and those types of players should never be counted out.

Iga Swiatek

The top-ranked woman in the world? That is Poland’s Iga Swiatek. The 20-year-old has the perfect game to succeed on the clay, and that was proven back in 2020 when she

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won Roland Garros, becoming the first male or female from Poland to win a major title. Between Swiatek’s game and her previous triumph in Paris, Swiatek is the player to beat at this year’s French Open.

Pretenders – Men’s Singles

Denis Shapovalov

Denis Shapovalov is a talented young Canadian with a devastating lefty forehand, but that has yet to translate to winning a major. The French Open has not been kind to him during his career, as he has never made it out of the second round, a trend that we expect to continue this year.

Alexander Zverev

It is hard to call the third-ranked player in the world a “pretender”, but the odds seemed to stacked against Zverev at the French Open this year. It has been a strange 2022 for the German who has multiple outbursts on court which demonstrated his temper, and it will be interesting to see how he fares over his twoweek long stay at Roland Garros. Do not be surprised if Zverev doesn’t make it back to the semifinals like he did in 2021.

Pretenders – Women’s Singles

Barbora Krejcikova

If you asked many tennis fans who the second-ranked woman in the world, you would be hard pressed to find someone who named Barbora Krejcikova. That isn’t a slight on her, but just a nod to the strong rise she has had up the rankings, much of which is attributed to her win at the French Open last year. She has won just one title since her French Open triumph, and has had an up-and-down season thus far in 2022.

Karolina Pliskova

Karolina Pliskova has been a mainstay in the Top 10 of the women’s rankings for years now, and that is a testament to her consistency on tour. But Pliskova has yet to breakthrough at a major, although she has gone deep in some of them, including reaching the finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, but the French Open has been her least favorite event over the years. She

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reached the semifinals in 2017 but since then has never made it out of the third round, including second round exits in each of the last two seasons.

Sleeper – Men’s Singles

Taylor Fritz

The highest-ranked American in the world has had an excellent 2022 season, and despite most of that coming on hard courts, look for Fritz to surprise people and make a deep run on the Roland Garros clay. There is not a lot of precedent to believe that, as Fritz has never made it past the fourth round of a major. But he is older now and his game has matured, and Fritz has demonstrated the ability to beat the game’s best. Fritz presents the best chance for an American man to win a major, and that could happen in Paris.

Sleeper – Women’s Singles

Ons Jabeur

One of the craftiest players on tour, Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur is the type of player who gives opponent fits. Jabeur has plenty of variety and hits self-proclaimed “crazy shots”, something that plays well on the clay. Jabeur is currently ranked ninth in the world, and is ready to build off of her fourth-round showings in each of the last two French Opens.