Roland Garros So Far – Five Talking Points

The first round of Roland Garros has come to a conclusion and the players have blown off the cobwebs and can now consider themselves at ease with the surface and the courts in the French capital.

So, what has the first few days of action taught us? Here are five talking points.

Kei Nishikori Is A Contender

The “Big Four” are always the main candidates going into Grand Slams and they have very much earned that right with their dominance over the last decade or so.

However, perhaps the most impressive performer of the first couple of days at the French Open has been Kei Nishikori.

The Japanese number one has brushed aside potentially tricky ties, with home favourite Paul-Henri Mathieu and Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci easily dealt with in straight sets.

The draw also looks good for the fifth seed going into the next stage of the tournament – having reached the US Open final last year, is Nishikori set to go one better at a Slam this time around?

Eugenie Bouchard Has A Long Way To Go

This time last year Eugenie Bouchard was earmarked by many to be the next big thing in women’s tennis. That may still be the case, but a first round loss at the hands of Kristina Mladenovic has further added to her recent woes.

The Canadian has lost eight of her last nine matches and another defeat on the dirt in the first round of the second major of the year will see her lose a lot of ranking points, which will do nothing to aid her faltering confidence.

She may have been handed a tough draw with a home player on a show court, and she battled well from a set and 5-0 down to force Mladenovic to nervously serve out a 6-4 second set victory, but despite that it is all too clear that something is not quite right in the camp of Eugenie Bouchard.

Grigor Dimitrov May Never Win A Slam

Many people have waxed lyrical over the many talents of Grigor Dimitrov, and quite rightly so. The youngster has an all-round game and is remarkably reminiscent of Roger Federer in his style of play.

However, his style is not being matched with substance as he is maturing into what should be the peak years of his career.

A first round loss at the hands of fellow up and comer Jack Sock shows that the Bulgarian doesn’t have the mentality on the big occasions yet to go all the way in one of the four majors.

He may be a ridiculous talent, but slam winners who blossomed later than expected on the big stage such as Djokovic, Murray and Del Porto all progressed to the latter stages of majors on a regular basis before they claimed their maiden triumph in one of the sport’s four biggest crowns.

Dimitrov is yet to really show that he has it in him to claim a Grand Slam, and while more consistent performers at the top level are still hovering around the game, it is highly unlikely the the youngster’s incredible talent shall be rewarded with a major – and that may always be the case.

The Women’s Tournament Is Impossible To Predict

The women’s French Open has traditionally been a hard one to predict, with outsiders such as Francesca Schiavone and Li Na claiming the trophy in recent years, with Sam Stosur, Simona Halep and Sara Errani all reaching the final as well.

This year shall be no different if the preliminary stages are anything to go by.

Agnieszka Radwanska is out, as is last year’s runner-up Halep. Meanwhile, the in-form Petra Kvitova got ran close by Marina Erakovic.

Venus Williams was put to the sword, while Ana Ivanovic came through her second round encounter in three very tight sets against a gallant Misaki Doi.

All of this in just the first couple of days at Roland Garros – the women’s draw is set to be as open as ever by the looks of things.

Novak Djokovic Is Becoming More Aggressive

He may have had a second set wobble, when it appeared as though Jarkko Nieminen was going to square the match at one set apiece on Tuesday, but Novak Djokovic played some exhibition tennis for most of his first round match on Philippe Chatrier.

The first set was a flurry of whipped forehands, exquisite dropshots and scorching backhands, while the third saw the Serb dig all sorts of miraculous shots out of his sizeable arsenal.

In years gone by the world number one has been content to sit back and let his opponents lose the match by forcing them into errors, but this time around he is a different animal.

Looking for his maiden French Open title, and career Grand Slam to go with it, Djokovic was hugging the baseline and taking the ball early at every opportunity he could, strangling the point before his opponent had chance to get a foothold.

Aside from those second set troubles, the first seed looked as good as he has ever has on Tuesday in the French capital. With a potential quarter-final with rival Rafael Nadal in the offing, it appears as though he is trying to successfully cement an aggressive style of play early doors in Paris. The initial signs are very promising.