2021 Clay Court Report - Part 1

With an eventful first few weeks on the European clay now in the books, let’s look at what happened, and what it means moving forward towards the ultimate prize on the dirt – Roland Garros. 

Stefanos Tsitsipas is a true contender for a French Open Final

Tsitsipas had been knocking on the door of a Masters 1000 win ever since he made the Toronto final in 2018, losing in straightforward fashion to Rafael Nadal.

His next attempt in Madrid, 2019 was more competitive, but still a two-set loss to Novak Djokovic. Going 0-2 in your first two finals at the Masters 1000 level is no shame when losing to two of the GOATs.

Fast forward to Monte Carlo in 2021 and with both Nadal and Djokovic out of the picture, and fellow Next-Gen mate Andrey Rublev in front of him, Stef took charge and made it look easy with a 6-3, 6-3 victory that never looked in doubt. With a Masters 1000 title under his belt – in the most opulent of places on the planet – he took off to beautiful Barcelona and ran through the field without losing a set on his way to a date with the King of Clay himself, Rafa.

Tsitsipas was excellent in his confrontation with Nadal, losing a tight three-set match 4-6, 7-6(6), 5-7, and playing wonderful tennis in the process. He certainly didn’t lose the match, and forced Nadal to come up with something special to win it. With two big results thus far in the clay season, which included a run of 9 wins on the trot in straights, it sets the table for Tsitsipas to excel in Paris. 

Lastly, in Stef’s runner-up speech in Barcelona, he alluded to the idea of bringing a tournament to Greece and he used Barcelona as an example of what a tournament could look like in his homeland. Good for Stef – not only is his career blossoming right in front of our eyes, but he is looking to take his non-traditional tennis country with him. He should use inspiration from Barcelona – he clearly loves it there – but he can also take a good look at what Novak Djokovic has done for Belgrade in bringing a 250 to his home city. Hopefully in the near future we will see a 250 event in Greece with Stef’s fingerprints all over it. 

Rafa Nadal is, and always will be, the King of Clay 

If anyone tells you that there is a favourite for Roland Garros and the two words that come out of their mouth aren’t “Rafael” and “Nadal” – do not consider them to be of sane mind.

Yes, Nadal looked sluggish in Monte Carlo, and took an early exit in a place that he used as his own personal playground from 2005-2012. And yes, he managed to eek his way through a couple of sloppy three-set matches to start Barcelona. But – Rafa found his form against Cameron Norrie in an emphatic 6-1, 6-4 win and he rolled to the final from there, where he met the aforementioned Greek. 

In a match that is the early favourite for 2021 match of the year, Nadal and Stef put on a show.

It was electric and we will be hard-pressed for two competitors to entertain us more than they did on Sunday. In the end, Nadal was just slightly better than Stef, by the thinnest of margins. But that’s what he does, doesn’t he?

When it matters the most on clay, Nadal will not let a point end. He is dogged in his determination to retrieve a ball and then somehow wins the point with a winner from nowhere as though it’s what he intended to do all along.

Of course, this isn’t to say Nadal can’t clean up a couple of areas of his game on the lead-in to Paris. He didn’t have his best serving day, and made an uncharacteristic 5 double faults in 3 sets. He was in a giving mood when it came time to make some unforced errors in untimely moments in the 2nd set and even late in the 3rd. I’m sure that Nadal will confer with his team and continue to improve his game in the lead up to Paris.

Don’t expect a lengthy stay in Madrid (never Nadal’s favourite tournament), but look for the King of Clay to rack up yet another Roland Garros title and take the lead in the all-time Grand Slam race for the first time in his career. 

World #1 Ash Barty Continues to Roll

The WTA stopped in Stuttgart for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix this past week and the tournament produced fireworks. The quarterfinal matches were scintillating, with Ash Barty getting out of a jam against Karolina Pliskova, winning in three sets 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. Elina Svitolina managed to come back from a set and 2-5 down in the 2nd against defending champion Petra Kvitova, taking 11 of the last 13 games to win 6-2 in the 3rd. Their head to head now sits at 7-4 for Kvitova, but with Svitolina taking the last three matches against the Czech. Rising star Aryna Sabalenka and Anett Kontaveit put on the final show of the quarterfinals with a 2 hour, 28 minute match that saw some incredibly powerful ball-striking from Sabalenka. Simona Halep was able to cruise in her quarterfinal, but was stopped by the more powerful Sabalenka in the semis. Barty didn’t have such an easy time with Svitolina, getting by with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory to setup a finals clash with the Belarussian. Despite losing the first set, Barty kept her wits about her and bageled Sabalenka in the 2nd set and ran away with the 3rd, 6-3 to win her third tournament of 2021.

Barty has to be considered the favourite for Roland Garros, as she won the tournament in 2019 and was absent from it last year due to COVID-19 concerns. She is clearly in the best form on clay in the women’s game, and the player behind her in the world rankings (Naomi Osaka) has never made it past the 3rd round in Paris. Simona Halep has the pedigree for a deep run at Roland Garros, but hasn’t shown her top form yet this year. Can she work her way into it over the coming weeks? For now, based on form and pedigree, Coupe Suzanne Lenglen looks to be going back into the hands of the world number 1. 

Serve & Volley

• We have not seen the best of Novak Djokovic yet on the clay court swing. An early loss in Monte Carlo to Daniel Evans, a semi-final loss to Aslan Karatsev in Belgrade and pulling out of Madrid leave Djokovic in a cloud of mystery surrounding his form on clay. Can he find his top gear in Paris? I think so, and I would be shocked to not see him in the quarterfinals. If he isn’t on his game and meets a player like Tsitsipas, he may not make it further.

• Does anyone else find it odd that the players continue to shake hands and hug at the net following a match, but don’t subsequently shake the chair umpire’s hand? Shouldn’t they refrain from embracing at the net with each other, just the same as the umpire?

• Aryna Sabalenka is a future Grand Slam winner in my eyes. When she is on her game (which is continuing to improve), she can take the racquet out of anyone’s hands. She is still young (22 years old) and has already won 9 titles since breaking through in 2018. The only thing left on her checklist is to make a deep run at a Major, as a Round of 16 appearance is presently her best result (Australia, 2021 & US Open, 2018). Look for her to improve on that in Paris.

Andrew Palm brings The Slice from Toronto, Canada.