2022 French Open Preview
The 2022 French Open is one of the four grand slam tournaments in the tennis calendar and it is scheduled to take place from May 22 to June 6, 2022, at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. This will be the 126th edition of the French Open and the second grand slam tournament of the year! The 2022 French Open will feature a singles tournament, a doubles tournament, and a mixed doubles tournament. In addition, there will be junior and wheelchair tournaments.
The defending champions in the singles tournaments are Novak Djokovic (men's) and Barbora Krejcikova (women's). In the doubles tournaments, the defending champions are Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut (men's), Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova (women's), and Desirae Krawczyk and Joe Salisbury (mixed). As always, the French Open will be contested on clay courts. The slow surface favors players who are patient and have excellent footwork, like Spanish Legend Rafael Nadal. He returned to his beloved Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday for his first hit at Roland-Garros 2022. The Spaniard practiced with his countryman Jaume Munar in a session witnessed by some 4,000 lucky fans!
Things to look out for at Roland Garros 2022
Novak Djokovic has the opportunity to win his 21st Grand Slam, which will equal Nadal's record. Earlier in the week, French Open boss Amelie Mauresmo admitted there was some "concern" that Nadal wouldn't be able to play, saying the tournament would “miss” him if that happened to be the case. As of the 19th of May, Nadal looks like he is going to compete, but it is worth mentioning that he's been struggling with injuries since 2021. That said, Nadal defied the odds to win the 2022 Australian Open, and he has the opportunity to widen the gap between himself and Djokovic and Federer. Djokovic is the favorite to win this year, with Nadal slightly behind him...
Polish phenomenon Iga Swiatek enters Roland-Garros carrying a sensational 28-match winning streak. If she wins this years tournament, she would match Venus Williams' streak of 35 consecutive victories from the year 2000. Paula Badosa (Career clay court wins/matches: 157/237 (66%) and defending champion Barbora Krejcikova (Career clay court wins/matches: 237/329 (72%) have good clay court experience though, and they are likely to play a key role in the competition.
Young talent Carlos Alcaraz became the first ever player to defeat Djokovic and Nadal at the same tournament on clay in Madrid earlier this year. After losing to Alcaraz in Madrid, Nadal conceded it could be the start of the "handover". Alcaraz could become the youngest man to win The French Open since Nadal in 2004, and this could truly be the passing of the torch. Alcaraz says he feels ready to win a major and is considered one of the top contenders for the title in Paris, currently ranked at world number six.
Check out our Babolat products here:
