French Open: Rafael Nadal seeks 11th career title at Roland Garros
By Harry Floyd
Rafael Nadal enters the 2018 French Open as he always has – the King of Clay. Nadal seeks his 11th career title at the event.
The 2018 French Open is upon us. Last year, Rafael Nadal completed La Decima and won his 10th career title in men’s singles at the Grand Slam event. This year, there is no reason to think he is not the favorite. Rafa has already seen some success on the clay court season. With Swiss superstar Roger Federer out of the picture right now, Nadal is the clearcut favorite.
On the men’s singles side, others such as Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, and Novak Djokovic can pose a threat at Roland Garros. Zverev has already had a beyond impressive May. Nole continues his return from an ongoing injury but has seen success in recent weeks. His veteran experience makes him someone to consider. Other rising stars like Grigor Dimitrov should be players to watch at the upcoming Grand Slam.
On the women’s singles side, Elina Svitolina is surging as of late. She is fresh off of a win over Simona Halep in the Italian Open finals. Svitolina is one of several young rising stars in women’s singles who are challenging the veteran greats. Halep, like Svitolina, is also seeking her first career Grand Slam title-win. Outside contenders like Eugenie Bouchard need to get through qualifying play if they hope to make a run at Roland Garros.
Rafael Nadal has made the clay court season his own in 2018. He enters Roland Garros as the hands down favorite in men’s singles.
Action as the 2018 French Open gets going this week with qualifying. Players such as Nadal await their opening round matches. Dominic Thiem is one of the young rising stars in men’s singles who could pose a threat to the King of Clay. Before the Grand Slam though, Thiem is in action at the Lyon Open as the top seed this week. Everyone is looking for any and all momentum heading into the next major tournament of the 2018 ATP World Tour and WTA Tour.