Introductionz

                                              FRENCH OPEN @ ROLAND GARROS 2021

The much awaited and delayed French open, got underway at Roland Garros, on 30th May 2021  with the Mens Final played on 13th June.

Djokovic was the top seed in the mens section and Ashley Barty in the womens draw.The entire galaxy of stars from Nadal, Federer to Zverev, Thiem in the mens and Serena Williams, Swiatek to Azarenka, Pliskova were in action.Crowds were restricted to half the capacity, but nevertheless it was a much awaited Grand Slam event,in these pandemic times.

The Womens draw saw most of the top seeds exit in the earlier rounds....some lost to better players and some withdrew due to injuries and exhaustion,due to lack of match play, preceding the tournament.The Mens draw however saw most of the top seeds advance till the round of 16 and 8.The notable exceptions being Thiem and Dimitrov,who went out in the 1st round itself. However both the title favourites in the Mens and Womens field lost to better opponents on the day.Serena lost Rybakina in the round of 16 and Nadal lost to Djokovic in the semi final. Earlier Federer withdrew in the round of 16 after a gruelling 4th round match with German Koepfer, and gave a walkover to Berettini in the pre-quarters.

The Womens final was between unseeded Barbora Kerjickova of Czech Republic and 31st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.It was a seesaw battle that saw Krejickova win the crown,the 2nd Czech to win after Hana Mandlikova. It was a great win for her, after being dubbed as a doubles specialist.

The Mens final was between Novak Djokovic,the top seeed from Serbia and Stefanos Tsitsipas,the 5th seed of Greece.What a marathon match it turned out to be.Tsisipas showed no nerves,for someone playing his 1st Grand Slam final.He too the 1st 2 sets easily,and when it looked like he'll run away with the title,Novak too a strategic time out of 10 minutes.By the time he came out he was a man fully transformed.He raced away with the next 3 sets and the title,his 19th slam title,and just 1 title away from Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal,both on 20.

Djokovic showed what champions are made of,both in the semi final against Nadal and in the final against Tsitsipas.However Tsitsipas is just  22 and is a champion in the making.He is a star already and a glorious future beckons him.As for Djokovic...I'm sure his sights are on Wimbeldon in June and US Open in August/Septemebr ,as this will make him the 1st player in the open era to win a calender slam.

I WISH  "NOVAK DJOKOVIC' ALL THE LUCK FOR THE CALENDER SLAM