Current favourites to win the Roland Garros?

roysid

Legend
1. Nadal

I’m serious. Anyone else winning at RG would be considered a major shock. I mean, people can predict all sorts of **** and this might be one of the THREE years it sticks, but the favourite (if even half fit) is Nadal. His ridiculous, one of a kind record demands it.

The man is 86-2 there. 86-2. Won it 11 times in 14 attempts. Crazy.

The only other guy i’ll mention is Djokovic. If Nadal doesn’t win it, he will. There is no one else.
I agree. It's Nadal vs Djokovic.
Both will make the finals and will be cracker of a match
 

kevaninho

Hall of Fame
Yep, there will come a time when Nadals knees wont be able to take clay either. It could be sooner than later, no one knows.
 

maratha_warrior

Hall of Fame
Neither will make the final. :p
tumblr_pbzgenZztM1xyn69lo8_250.gif

Nadal is a lock for the RG finals..
Djoker needs to up his game.
 

Colin

Professional
On a sluggish day, Nadal will fall behind to a surprise on-fire player, then the knee will start being grasped at constantly. A handshake at the net follows, setting up the shock of the tournament in Round 4. Fed, on track for a semi with Nadal that nobody thought he could win, now has a more open path to the final. He puts on a nostalgic and super-fast masterclass to take out Coric in the semis.

He kicks back and watches on the other side, as Thiem takes out Djokovic in a grueling, epic fifth set of their semi, setting up the dream conclusion — a rematch of the Indian Wells final, majestic backhand vs. dreamy backside. Who will be on top in this climax? I can't wait to see.
 

smash hit

Professional
Fed, on track for a semi with Nadal that nobody thought he could win, now has a more open path to the final.

When horror of horrors Federer's phantom back starts to play up, he bravely carries on to the end but is beaten by a qualifier.
 

trailgraves

New User
1. Djokovic
2. Rafa
3. Fed
4. Thiem
5. FAA
6. Coric
7. Monfils
8. Wawa
9. Khachanov
10. Zv

I would put Thiem above Federer for sure. And Del Potro has to be somewhere in the top 10. Other than that looks about right, although even 4th still seems too high for Federer considering his last semi final there was 2012.
 

tennisenthusiast

Hall of Fame
At the moment who do you think has the best chances to win Roland Garros 2019?

I'd say

1. Rafael Nadal
2. Novak Djokovic
3. Dominic Thiem
4. Roger Federer
5. Alexander Zverev
6. Diego Schwartzman
7. Stefanos Tsitsipas
8. Juan Martin dél Potro
9. Marco Cecchinato
10. Gaël Monfils

Monfils is there because he has playing incredible this season, and I believe the slam he would want to win the most is Roland Garros, so a little chance. Cecchinato has already won a clay tournament this year, and has showed how much better a tennis player he is on clay. Federer, unlike a lot other better clay players, believes he can win a Grand Slam, and is a dangerous candidate.
And no Wawrinka?
 

Badabing888

Hall of Fame
Only two players have beaten Rafa at RG and only 2 players have taken him to 5 sets, which Rafa won both. Only one favourite for this year's title until proven otherwise.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
I would put Thiem above Federer for sure. And Del Potro has to be somewhere in the top 10. Other than that looks about right, although even 4th still seems too high for Federer considering his last semi final there was 2012.

I don't see DelPo as a serious threat to win anything right now, maybe when he starts playing I will change my mind.

Thiem should be above Federer, but Fed seems to be a bit on the warpath right now. His revenge matches against Coric, Tsits and Anderson have been things of beauty.
 

True Fanerer

G.O.A.T.
will stan be seeded ?... is an interesting question ;)
Stan is currently ranked 36 so possibly, even likely. And he's in better shape than most give him credit for here. Would be just like him to take another slam when nobody expects it.

But can you imagine the threads that would infest this place?

"Who is a better clay player, Stan or Joe or Rajah"
I think he'll be seeded. Ranked 36 and practically nothing to defend from last year. I'm going to say somewhere between 20-25 seed.
 

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
  • Nadal would still be a strong pick, but not as foregone a conclusion as in the past.
  • Fed or Djo have strong support
  • Thiem is a dirt beast
 
That depends on how you measure people. Stan had been well off his best but recently he has been playing better than Cecchinato, even though Cecchinato is playing well for him.
 

trailgraves

New User
I don't see DelPo as a serious threat to win anything right now, maybe when he starts playing I will change my mind.

Thiem should be above Federer, but Fed seems to be a bit on the warpath right now. His revenge matches against Coric, Tsits and Anderson have been things of beauty.

Fair enough on Del Potro. My thinking is the clay field is so weak, and he is one of the only proven ones that has shown any ability to play somewhat top level clay tennis (the same reason anyone is ranking Federer even though he hasnt done squat on clay in forever now; and many ranking Zverev even though he has been garbage all year and done nothing in majors period yet). I agree it is hard to imagine DP winning anything big right now, but top 10 to win doesnt mean much anyway, since it is pretty firmly established people who would be bottom part of the top 10 have about as good a shot of winning the mens French Open as Sharapova has of doing the Calendar Grand Slam next year anyhow. I mean seriously nearly everyone has Bautista Agut in their top 10 which is in fact absolutely correct, yet what are the odds of him actually winning Roland Garros, ROTFL! It could be argued everyone but 2 or 3 guys would be a huge miracle.

I see your point on Federer too, but that warpath has been only on hard courts. If he continues that on clay I will be very impressed, and more than a little amazed. I just cant see him somehow having a significantly better chance on clay as a nearly 40 year old than he had 4-7 years ago, and his results those years indicate he wasnt even a top 4 clay courter those years.
 
Last edited:

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Fair enough on Del Potro. My thinking is the clay field is so weak, and he is one of the only proven ones that has shown any ability to play somewhat top level clay tennis (the same reason anyone is ranking Federer even though he hasnt done squat on clay in forever now; and many ranking Zverev even though he has been garbage all year and done nothing in majors period yet). I agree it is hard to imagine DP winning anything big right now, but top 10 to win doesnt mean much anyway, since it is pretty firmly established people who would be bottom part of the top 10 have about as good a shot of winning the mens French Open as Sharapova has of doing the Calendar Grand Slam next year anyhow. I mean seriously nearly everyone has Bautista Agut in their top 10 which is in fact absolutely correct, yet what are the odds of him actually winning Roland Garros, ROTFL! It could be argued everyone but 2 or 3 guys would be a huge miracle.

I see your point on Federer too, but that warpath has been only on hard courts. If he continues that on clay I will be very impressed, and more than a little amazed. I just cant see him somehow having a significantly better chance on clay as a nearly 40 year old than he had 4-7 years ago, and his results those years indicate he wasnt even a top 4 clay courter those years.

All true...but, I don't discount RBA either. Not a flashy choice but I have watched the guy work and he is merciless.

Re Fed, until he really falls off a cliff, he's a threat to win anywhere. His Third Act, his "George Gervin Phase," is still going strong.

I think that he is a better player than Nadal now, and has been for years. Would a clay meeting blunt his advantages? Sure. But I think Rafa has fallen off a cliff so much compared to Djok and Fed, that Fed has a better shot to win the FO, even if his path goes through Rafa, than he has in 10 years. And obviously he agrees or he wouldn't be playing.

The players know how strong the others are, better than we as fans or even the commentators/analysts. Rafa's face in the AO Final, he knew. He hasn't beat Fed in 5 years and counting...he knows. Otherwise why would he skip their match at IW? He's not confident and the other players are smelling blood.
 

EloQuent

Legend
All true...but, I don't discount RBA either. Not a flashy choice but I have watched the guy work and he is merciless.

Re Fed, until he really falls off a cliff, he's a threat to win anywhere. His Third Act, his "George Gervin Phase," is still going strong.

I think that he is a better player than Nadal now, and has been for years. Would a clay meeting blunt his advantages? Sure. But I think Rafa has fallen off a cliff so much compared to Djok and Fed, that Fed has a better shot to win the FO, even if his path goes through Rafa, than he has in 10 years. And obviously he agrees or he wouldn't be playing.

The players know how strong the others are, better than we as fans or even the commentators/analysts. Rafa's face in the AO Final, he knew. He hasn't beat Fed in 5 years and counting...he knows. Otherwise why would he skip their match at IW? He's not confident and the other players are smelling blood.
RBA is not a clay courter, even though he is Spanish.
 
Top