French Open 2020 – Post-Tournament Thoughts – Tennis Column #55

French Open 2020 was different from all French Open played in past years. New dates, different weather, a new roof at Philipe Chartier court were just a few examples of changes we witnessed this year. However, the biggest question before the tournament was: “Will the tennis be as good as we were used to in pre-corona times?”. Now, we know the answer. Yes, tennis was excellent. French Open 2020 was entertaining, full of drama and surprises, but we also got the classic match we wished for. Here are my post-tournament thoughts about the just-finished Grand Slam.

My French Open predictions? – Totally Off

First of all, I will grade my pre-season and pre-tournament winners’ predictions.

I was consistent in my pre-season and pre-tournament predictions, and I was also consistent in predicting both winners wrong.

Dominic Thiem did not have enough power to keep up with Diego Schwartzman in the Quarterfinals. And that’s totally understandable after reaching the US Open title.

Simone Halep was a big favorite until she met Iga Swiatek. Halep did not find a single tool on how to keep up with the young Pole.

I hope that next time my predictions will be closer to reality.

Ladies Singles

I am saying that anyone out of the top 30 can win a ladies’ event for a long time. Well, I need to correct it. Anybody out of the top 100 can win whatever WTA tournament, Grand Slam included.

We saw number 159, and number 66 of WTA ranking in the quarterfinals, number 131 in the semifinals, and number 54 won the entire tournament.

For those who can not link the ranking numbers with players names:
159. Trevisan,
66. Siegemund,
131. Podoroska,
54. Swiatek.

The winner, Iga Swiatek, was a real surprise for me. And I think I was not the only one who was caught by surprise.

She played incredible tennis against every opponent she met. No matter if she faced number one seed Simone Halep in 4th Round, or number 131, Podoroska in the semifinals.

She played consistently attacking tennis all time. It was a pleasure to watch her attacking shots and no nervosity.

Who would guess it after she lost in the WTA Rome tournament in the first round with Arantxa Rus? Nobody, but her French Open triumph was absolutely deserved.

Now I hope that Iga Swiatek will not become a “one-hit-wonder.”

Well done Swiatek. Hope she will become rather Naomi Osaka than Jelena Ostapenko type of Grand Slam winner 🙂 #RolandGarros

— Tennis Pro Guru (@tennisproguru) October 10, 2020

Men Singles

There was a lot of talk about the new generation of players coming. Thiem, Tsitsipas, or Rublev seemed to be really close to Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal.

But they have to wait a bit longer. Nadal and Djokovic are still a bit better in crucial moments.

They are better mentally for sure. And as we saw in Tsitsipas – Djokovic semifinal match, the old generation is better also physically.

And that is the difference in Grand Slam. The top three players can lose in the best of three sets match, but the best of five is different.

That is the main reason that we got a chance to see one more classic final. Thanks for it, even when it was much quicker than I expected.

That was much quicker than I expected and wished for. But well deserved triumph for Rafa. He is the clay master forever, no matter the balls or humidity 🙂 #RolandGarros

— Tennis Pro Guru (@tennisproguru) October 11, 2020

Rafael Nadal was absolutely perfect. He made minimum unforced errors and was able to return almost every ball from Novak.

It was cruel for Novak. The feeling when you play against the wall with no chance to win.

Nadal is the king of clay, and I doubt we will see anybody so good as him on clay in the future.

Overall, this French Open was really entertaining. We saw many excellent matches, a lot of unexpected results, and the classic finish on Sunday.

That is tennis at its best, and I like it very much.

Check the readers’ opinion on the winner of the Australian Open 2021 here

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