I offered my thoughts on the upcoming French Open to Rick Stiles over at Stiles Points. Check it out here. (Not that it makes a big difference, BUT: I wrote my responses before yesterday’s Hamburg final.)
Agree? Disagree? Tell us.
flirting with punditry
good site thanks!
I think you overestimate Nadal’s chances at the French. Okay, so I am and always have been one of those root-for-the-underdog types, and I’m not saying Nadal won’t win, but I think there are a couple of people who can beat him and not just Federer. Willie Canas has been having a great year, and wasn’t so much around last year, when Nadal really showed his prowess at the French. And Juan Carlos Ferrerro, okay, that’s out on a limb, but El Mosquito seems really ready to make another try for a major. There are a few other players who, if they play as well as they can, could do it, even if I wouldn’t bet on them. Namely, Gasquet and Ljubicic. Murray too, but he just broke his wrist in half, so . . .
PS: Roddick, I think, is a serious darkhorse contender to go pretty deep. No, I don’t think he’ll win, but I definitely disagree about your Connors-talk. Connors has given him buttloads of confidence, and a much better attitude, making it less likely that he’ll basically give up in order to save himself for Wimbledon. Besides which, did you see him on clay in Davis Cup against the Czechs? They may not be Nadal, but the Czechs are serious clay courters — and Roddick beat Berdych, who I think is another excellent French contender, to win the tie.