Ten Things I've Missed Blogging This Year

As I set out in a post a few weeks ago, my blog has been more than a little erratic over the last 12 to 18 months as I look to piece certain things back together. To read more about my psychology, click here, but in this post, I wanted to provide my belated opinion on ten of the year's top sporting stories that I never got the opportunity to cover.

This has been separated into the sports that I have previously blogged on, but in the last year I have got into a number of new sports, some of which will be covered here.

Football

1. Leicester win Premier League

I kind of had to do this. Arguably the greatest footballing story in the history of the English game, the ultimate in underdog stories came to fruition this year. While I did give my opinion on the exploits of Jamie Vardy (both in the positive and negative sense) late last year, I never looked at the collective achievement of the squad as a whole.

I suppose here, more than in any other story, there is very little I can say that is new. When you consider that the biggest shock in the Spanish La Liga in recent years was the title winning side from Atletico Madrid, that highlights the scale of the accomplishments. In my mind, the only comparable previous event in recent memory is the Montpellier success in the French league in 2012, but even that pales in comparison to the dramatic turnaround in fortunes.

Without a doubt, momentum played a crucial role, but the performances of a number of individuals was simply outstanding. Whether that's the consistency of signing of the season N'Golo Kante, or the moments of magic from Riyad Mahrez, the Foxes have had quality across the field all season, and thanks to everyone else throwing it away, Leicester run out deserved winners.

2. FIFA implodes and Sepp Blatter found guilty

Who saw this coming? I don't mean in the sense of FIFA's corruption - I'm not naive. We've all known the frankly ridiculous levels of bribes, backhanders and 'favours for the boys' that Blatter and the rest of his cronies have been taking part in. What I didn't expect was for them to be caught, as everyone seemed to be content with the incompetence.

However, what made this moment among the best of the last 12 months was the reaction of comedian Lee Nelson. Though I've never been much of a fan of Nelson's work (his humour always seemed a little too slapstick and PR stunty to me), I have to say his idea at a press conference involving Blatter last year was absolutely brilliant. Having managed to sneak his way into the audience, Nelson took the opportunity to throw a huge wad of cash over the disgraced FIFA chief in one of the most iconic images of the scandal. Though he was instantly arrested as a suspected terrorist, he created a moment that resonated around the world, and highlighted, for the first time, the public opinion of the issue.

3. Footballers as role models: the Adam Johnson story

Like the Leicester story, there is very little that I can add to this story in terms of opinion, as my reaction to this story was much the same as everyone else's - a mixture of disgust and sympathy for the victim. What the latest in a long line of criminal cases against entitled footballers with no concept of other people demonstrates is a point I raised in my first 'Bitesize Rants' post, namely, that footballers should not be considered role models for children, as they have proven time and time again they do not deserve the moniker.

What makes this story particularly abhorrent is the way that both Johnson and the world of football treated his arrest and subsequent case. While I am the first person to stand behind the phrase 'innocent until proven guilty', and it irritates me no end that rape is the only crime where the burden of proof is on the defendant, if you are under investigation for a crime and you have a job in the public eye, you should really be ineligible for selection until the matter is concluded. By all means continue to pay them and treat them the same, but more to demonstrate the seriousness of the situation, you have to ensure they are not being put in the public eye. If it was up to me, no-one would ever be named as a suspect until after they are convicted, but that simply isn't the world we live in.

With this in mind, it is therefore mindless that Sunderland continued to play the winger, and in light of his guilty plea since, only makes the Wearside club look callous and morally bankrupt, willing to play and support a sex offender to gain an advantage. What makes the story even worse is that Adam Johnson, despite knowing he was guilty and about to submit a plea, continued to milk the North East club for all they were worth in wages.

Formula 1

4. Hamilton and Rosberg become best of enemies

Having grown up together through karting and junior formulas, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg formed a close friendship, racing hard but fair and keeping the work away from their friendship. However, like any soap storyline, all friendships inevitably come to an end. Unlike the soap, there were no affairs, illegalities or betrayals, but pure competition.

The breakdown of the relationship started with Rosberg, clearly frustrated at trailing Hamilton in the championship, outbreaking himself in qualifying at the Monaco grand prix in a move reminiscent of the famous Schumacher Rascasse-gate. Further fuel was added to the fire in Belgium, when an angry Rosberg committed the gravest sin in Formula 1 - deliberately hitting your teammate.

After Hamilton's procession to the title last year, the relationship seemed to have settled between the pair to a healthy rivalry. That was until the Spanish grand prix a few weeks ago. Having taken one another out on the first lap, the two very quickly pointed the finger at one another, again stoking the flames and setting the season up for a fiery rivalry.

Tennis

5. Serena completes year grand slam

As much as I hate her hypocritical, have your cake and eat it too, standard feminist mentality, Serena Williams did something amazing last year. To win a Grand Slam is an impressive achievement, but to win all four in the same year is quite extraordinary. She will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the best ever tennis players and dominant champions - it's just a shame about her personality!

Cricket

6. That over...

We've all experienced the feeling where we want the world to open up and swallow us, but I certainly expect that Ben Stokes will have felt this more strongly than most earlier this year. To set the scene, England's cricket team, despite being roundly written off at the beginning of the tournament, and largely underwhelming in the early rounds, managed to perform a Leicester-esque run to the final. In their way stood West Indies, who had already beaten them before.

Having set a disappointing 155/9 in their 20 overs, England were seen as strong underdogs. However, a West Indian batting collapse put England on the brink of reclaiming the title they held in 2010. Step forward Ben Stokes, or more accurately Carlos Brathwaite. With an outlandish 19 required from six balls, Brathwaite smashed four successive sixes off the medium-pacer to claim the title for the West Indies in one of the most dramatic finishes.

Rugby

7. A typically English World Cup

Now, from a dramatic failure to an absolute aborration. The saying 'all good things come to an end' was emphatically proven on home soil last autumn, with our rugby team emulating the performances of the footballing side, and exiting early. The fact that it was a home World Cup only serves to make this point more humiliating, with England becoming the first home nation in the history of the tournament to fail to make it out of the group stages.

Others

8. Mayweather/Pacquiao - Can super fights ever live up to the hype?

When the news that unbeaten Floyd Mayweather, widely considered the greatest pound for pound boxer on the face of the planet, was to fight Filipino great Manny Pacquiao, the fight world went mad. Expectations that this was set to be the greatest fight of all time were far far wide of the mark, however. All I can say is that I am glad I didn't stay up to watch it. From what I've seen, it was 12 rounds of Floyd applying his typical counter punching style, and Pacquiao treading water while he attempted to connect.

Quite often, the best fights do not involve two high ranked individuals, as 'super fights' tend to come with a lot of additional pressure. A high profile loss, especially in emphatic circumstances, can have  a dramatic effect on a boxer's legacy, so it is unsurprising that neither of them left it all in the ring.

It may well have an impact the next time the boxing organisers want to arrange a fight of this size too!

9. Tyson Fury offends everyone

Staying with boxing, Manchester's Tyson Fury shocked the world with his decision win over Wladimir Klitschko. However, rather than just enjoying his victory and rising fame, Fury decided to take a new and different approach - offend everyone he can.

In between making sexist, racist, transgenderist and homophobic statements in public, Fury has also suggested that performance-enhancing drugs should be permitted in boxing. Though he has apologised for any offence caused, I'm still not quite sure how genuine that is. An isolated incident may be able to be forgiven, but multiple occasions makes it a lot less likely that it is true regret.

10. MMA explodes

Last, but by no means least, is the emergence of a sport until recently I had no real knowledge of. Perhaps it is my own ignorance, but it is only in the last few months that the world of MMA has taken an sort of impact on my consciousness. However, ever since watching my first few fights, I have become addicted, and have spent more hours than I care to mention watching old videos and current events.

I'm sure I will be writing enough on this sport in the near future, but the main reason the sport has exploded in this part of the world in the last 12-18 months is Irishman Conor McGregor. Having sensationally burst onto the UFC scene, he captured the company's Featherweight championship in December 2015, beating Brazilian legend Jose Aldo, unbeaten in the last 10 years, in just 13 seconds.

Having lost to Nate Diaz at UFC 196, choosing to go up two weight classes to take on the Stockton native, McGregor has become a global superstar, spending hours on interviews and media to hype fights and talk trash. However, this spectacularly backfired a couple of months ago, with an argument with the UFC over the amount of mandatory PR the Irishman had to do caused McGregor to post the following on Twitter:

Well, the MMA world went mad. Such was the reaction from the fans, McGregor was forced to retract the statement 48 hours later, stating that it had all been a demonstration of the pull and influence that he has over social.

Despite numerous negotiations, the issue seems to be ongoing, despite the announcement that the rematch between McGregor and Diaz is set for UFC 202 - a month later than originally planned.

So there's my top 10 sporting memories over the last 12 months - have I missed any? And what are yours?

The Hungarian Grand Prix 2013: 'Miracle' Maiden Win For Hamilton

                         With the spectre of gender equality being the main topic of conversation in Formula 1 over the last two weeks, the Hungarian Grand Prix gave the sport a chance to escape the controversy. With Red Bull dominating the first two practice sessions, however, fears were raised that this weekend was going to be the most boring of the season. Fortunately, this was not the case. This blog post will review the events of the weekend in Hungary, but first, I wanted to give my own view on the issue that has dominated Formula 1 news over the past few weeks.

                           During the 'young driver' test scheduled for last week at Silverstone, Williams opted to run 30-year-old Susie Wolff, making her the first female driver to run in an official Formula 1 test for 10 years. This sparked great debate, with the BBC Sport website having only the news that a woman would be running a test at Silverstone as their F1 news on the front page. Despite what feminists across the country would have us believe, in my opinion this is a much lesser story than it has been made out to be. I do not hold the same, slightly bigoted views, of Sir Stirling Moss, that women lack the 'necessary mental attributes for Formula 1'. There are two logical reasons behind my view. Firstly, the accusations of nepotism. The fact that Susie Wolff, the Williams test driver, is married to Toto Wolff, the Executive Director of Mercedes, is suspicious enough. It becomes even more suspicious when you learn that he also holds 16% of the shares in Williams, giving him adequate sway to suggest potential test drivers.

                             However, argument one is irrelevant without argument two. I am a great believer that jobs should be earned on merit, meaning that the best driver gets the drives in the Formula 1 teams. I recognise that with the influx of cash and sponsors that this is often not the case, which is a shame. I also believe that positive discrimination is not 'positive' as its name suggests, but can often be as sexist and discriminatory as the alleged treatment of women in the first place. In such a competitive economy, reserving jobs for any gender, race, or ethnic group, which may result in a second-rate candidate being selected over the best, is unacceptable. The results of the Silverstone test reinforce my point. Had Susie Wolff blown the rest of the field away, setting faster times than her male counterparts, then I would absolutely say that this was newsworthy, and she would be a name to remember for the future (though the fact that she is 30 kind of makes a mockery of the 'young' part of the 'young driver test'). This would also have made my initial argument of nepotism irrelevant, as she could rightly have claimed to be there on merit. The fact remains that she was not, setting a pace a second off race driver Maldonado, and, even worse, 0.4 seconds slower than her fellow male test driver, who had less experience than herself in the same car. We do not make a massive issue of male drivers who set slower times than their male counterparts. Women say they want equality, so why should a female race driver who is slower be given any more airtime? It would be good to see a female Formula 1 driver, but when, and only when, the individual is fast enough to merit the drive.

                               Moving back to the events of this weekend, qualifying proved to be a major shock, based on the results from practice. Q1 gave us initial indications of the end result, with both of the Mercedes looking strong. With Vettel appearing to be off the pace, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton took advantage, finishing in a strong 1/2 for the German team. Romain Grosjean, who had also looked strong in practice, finished 3rd, giving Lotus hope for a positive qualifying session. Red Bull had further problems in the shape of Mark Webber, who suffered firstly from an electrical problem, and then with a failure of the KERS system. This ensured that he would not be challenging for the pole, forcing him to withdraw from Q3. The main shock in Q1 was the disappearance of Paul di Resta. The Scot, whose team had been performing well in qualifying at the start of the season, struggled with the new Kevlar-lined Pirelli compounds, and found himself in 18th. Force India's loss was McLaren and Williams's gain. The two teams have made significant improvements since Silverstone, which we can only assume is to be attributed to a better handling of the new tyres. Q2 saw a continuation in the trend, with Mercedes once again securing a 1/2 finish, beating out the improved Vettel. Q2 will be best remember for the incredibly tight finish on the bubble at the end, with 8th to 12th all within the 1:20.5 bracket. This time, it was Sergio Perez who was the beneficiary, the Mexican fighting back from a crash in P3 to get into the top 10 for the first time this season. Q3 saw Vettel out of the traps early, to set a stunning 1:19.5, the fastest time of the day. This threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the pack. Could Mercedes respond? Rosberg crossed the line first of the pair, with his effort only good enough for 4th. But Hamilton is supreme around the Hungaroring, winning on 3 of his 6 races there. His 1:19.3 managed to beat Vettel's last-ditch attempt by 0.04 seconds to secure the most unlikely of poles. His third in a row, but could he now go and convert it into a victory?

                                  From the lights out, Hamilton managed to navigate the opening turn without losing a place, unlike in Germany. If Mercedes thought they had had a good start, they were sadly mistaken. Rosberg ran wide at Turn 3, before clipping Massa. This saw the German tumble down the field, going from 4th to 12th in just one lap. After trading fastest laps with Vettel, Hamilton eventually managed to break the vital DRS 1 second window on lap 8, ensuring that Vettel did not have the advantage in straight line speed. Vettel's inability to catch Hamilton was dropping him back into the clutches of the impressive Grosjean, and soon the young Frenchman was on the triple-World Champion's tail. Behind that trio, the Ferraris were struggling to keep up with the pace, heaping further pressure on Alonso's title aspirations. Hamilton's lightning-fast start had appeared to catch up with him when he had to dive into the pits on lap 9 for a fresh set of tyres. Rejoining behind Button, he quickly dispatched his fellow Brit on fresher rubber the following lap. This would prove to be the most critical pass of the race.

                                   Hamilton's early stop seemingly handed the advantage to Vettel, as it suggested that the Mercedes struggled with tyre wear. However, just two laps later, Vettel's tyres went 'off the cliff', and he was forced into the pit lane. He too, rejoined just behind McLaren's Button, except he found it far more difficult to pass the Englishman. After the first round of pit stops, the order was the same, but Vettel being held up behind Button allowed Lewis Hamilton to scamper clear at the front, and backed the Red Bull man into Grosjean, Alonso and even his teammate. Eventually, on lap 24, after 13 laps of trying, the German passed Button, but by this point Hamilton was already 11 seconds up the road. Vettel's pass left space for Grosjean, who took full advantage, only to bang wheels with the McLaren and force the Frenchman onto the escape road, cutting the chicane. This would have devastating consequences on the Lotus's race. Just a few laps later, he was handed a drive through penalty for 'exceeding the track's limits', dropping him into 8th.

                                     With Hamilton now in clean air, he could attempt to peg the gap. However, a rampant Vettel began eating into the considerable lead, and with Hamilton still unsure about Vettel's strategy, he knew he had to keep pushing. The Mercedes man pitted for a second time on lap 32, rejoining behind Mark Webber. This had potentially serious consequences, as the Red Bull man could easily back up the leader into his team mate. Fortunately for the Brit, he pulled an outrageous passing manoeuvere around the outside of the Aussie at Turn 2, once again giving himself a clean track ahead. Vettel's race strategy seemed certain once he had pitted just two laps later, as going a full half distance on a single set of tyres would have been highly unlikely. With Hamilton's lead now out to 15 seconds, a maiden race victory looked in the bag for the Stevenage-born man. The fight was now on for the podium places. With Raikkonen and Webber both 2-stopping, and with Grosjean now out of contention, both had a chance at 3rd, or even 2nd.

                                        Hamilton's final pit stop, on lap 50, meant that he had a seemingly comfortable run to the line. However, Vettel's pace once the Brit had stopped, forced the Mercedes to up his game again. Taking well over a second a lap out of him, Vettel rapidly brought the gap down to 10 seconds, and left Hamilton concerned once more. Lap 56 would have been a sight for sore eyes then, as the German finally pitted. As he made his final stop, it became obvious that the intended target with those laps was not to catch Hamilton, but to avoid slipping behind Raikkonen! He rejoined a full 5 seconds behind the Lotus man, but was now on fresher tyres. Quickly reeling in the Finn, he relentlessly attempted to pass, a pass which would have handed him another vital three points in the title race. However, despite the German's best efforts, Kimi kept him at bay for the remaining laps. Up front, Hamilton, who looked to be cruising, would have had a nervy last few laps when he learnt that his team mate, Nico Rosberg, had been forced to retire with an engine problem. This capped an incredibly disappointing Sunday for Nico, who had looked on course for a podium before the first lap incidents. Fortunately for Lewis, no such problems occurred, and he took the chequered flag in Hungary by a full 10 seconds from Kimi Raikkonen, with Vettel having to settle for third.

                                          A maiden Mercedes win for Lewis Hamilton, who, after so many pole positions, has finally converted one into a race win on Sunday. A mature drive, especially considering his personal circumstances, events that have been made all too public. Predictions of Lewis coming roaring back into the title picture are perhaps a tad premature, but I see no reason why we will not see that distinctive yellow crash helmet in the winner's enclosure more often this season.

                                

The 2013 French Open Finals: Same Old, Same Old?

             In the French Open preview post, I set out who I thought would be the most likely candidates for both the men's and women's championships, hoping for a surprise or two along the way. As the end of another Grand Slam draws ever nearer, it is clear from the four finalists that this has not happened. No Goran Ivanisevic-style surprise for us this time around, with the biggest shock being that it is clay-court specialist David Ferrer, and not Roger Federer, in the men's final with Rafa Nadal. The top four domination of the men's game seems set to continue, with only Federer's position being weakened by the events of the last two weeks. In the women's game, it is arguably even more predictable, as the family that have monopolised the game for the past decade and a half remain in control, albeit halved in power.

              With a little examination of the finalists and their run to the tournament's summit, we can see how monotonous today's game is. It could certainly be argued that has always been the case, especially in the men's game, with dominance from the likes of Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Becker, Agassi, Sampras, and more recently, Federer regularly characterising tennis. Therefore repeatedly seeing the same names perhaps should not be surprising. However, with the increased publicity and awareness of tennis in recent years, should we have expected to see more competition than experienced previously?

               I will begin with today's women's final, contested between pre-tournament favourite Serena Williams, and reigning champion Maria Sharapova. Beginning with Serena, her route to the final has been relatively simple. Crushing her first three opponents for the loss of just 6 games, she cruised into the second week, doing little to challenge the assertion that the tournament winner is practically pre-determined. Another straight-sets victory in the fourth round against the 15th seed, Roberta Vinci, suggests that even the top 20 is not particularly competitive, seeing the American into the quarter final without dropping a set. There she met Svetlana Kuznetsova, who, despite being unseeded, is considered a very dangerous player. So it proved, with Serena being pushed all the way to the full three sets, claiming a 6-3 victory in the 3rd. The loss of a set evidently angered Williams, as she destroyed 5th seed Sara Errani in the subsequent semi-final to progress to yet another final, eradicating the memories of last year's shocking 1st round exit at Roland Garros.

              Her opponent, Maria Sharapova, has had an altogether more strenuous passage to her second successive Parisian final. Despite winning all of her opening four matches without dropping a set, matching the achievement of Serena, she found it considerably more difficult than the American to whitewash opponents, conceding more and more games in each match she was involved in. The quarter final saw the Russian concede her first set of the tournament against Serb, Jelena Jankovic. A horrendous start saw the reigning champion lose the first set 6-0 to the world number 18, and though she recovered to win in three sets, she can ill-afford to reproduce this start against Serena. Her semi final also saw her lose a set, with Victoria Azarenka levelling the match after a strong start from Maria. Her battling third set victory shows that she certainly has the fight to challenge Serena. Whether a poor start would prove fatal is difficult to tell. Serena is definitely the favourite for today's final, but I would not count out Maria.

               Moving on to the men's final, it appears almost unnecessary to reveal that Rafa Nadal is in another French Open final, as his dominance of the Grand Slam is well documented. The 7-times winner has had a more difficult route to this year's centrepiece than many would have expected. In both his first, and second round matches, he could only manage to win in 4 sets, suggesting signs of a Lukas Rosol-esque repeat, and the shock tennis seemingly requires. Nevertheless, he stabilised in later rounds, progressing from there to the semi finals without dropping a set, including a particularly impressive performance against Stanislav Wawrinka in the quarter-finals. There he met world number 1 Novak Djokovic, and yesterday saw one of the best matches in French Open history. A rollercoaster semi-final, with both men having ample opportunity to claim victory, Nadal triumphed in a mammoth 4 and a half hour, 5 set encounter, winning the final set 9-7 to progress to his eighth Roland Garros final. His trials and tribulations along the way, however, suggests that it is becoming ever more difficult to remain successful in the men's game.

               In contrast, tomorrow will mark the inaugural Grand Slam final of David Ferrer's career. The clay court specialist has had a remarkably successful journey to the final, being the only one of the four finalists in either the men's or women's games not to drop a set. Bearing in mind the dominance of Rafa Nadal in recent years here, there are few who would have predicted that! Most impressive were his victories in the quarter and semi finals against firstly Tommy Robredo, whom he dispatched comfortably 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, and then home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. With an expectant home crowd, desperate for a French Grand Slam winner, to comprehensively beat the Frenchman 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 is highly impressive. To beat Nadal he will have to be at the top of his game, and get a touch of luck along the way, but with the form he is in, there is no reason why we can't see a significant shock tomorrow. It would certainly be nice to show that there is a bit of variety in the game.

               The game of tennis has always had dominating factors, but certainly with the increasing coverage and publicity, I would have expected to see a more competitive tournament. If we compare tennis to another sport that has seen a recent increase in publicity, like Formula 1, we see the dominance of certain players maintained in tennis, and a much more competitive and open field in the latter. This makes me wonder if we will ever see a truly competitive tennis tournament, without there being some element of pre-determined nature to them. Until we do, moments like Ivanisevic's at Wimbledon will continue to be tennis gold.   

2013 French Open: Can Nadal Be Stopped on Clay?

This weekend represents the start of this year’s second grand slam of the tennis season, as the great names of the modern game make their way to Roland Garros. This tournament signals the start of a busy summer for tennis, with two majors in the space of a month and a half. Whilst English fans often simply see Roland Garros as a pre-cursor to the ‘greatest major’ in Wimbledon, we must not forget that the Parisian competition offers the same amount of world ranking points. It is therefore only home bias, and to a certain extent, a feeling of inevitability over the winner of the men’s tournament, that forces that viewpoint.

 

In terms of British interest, we were dealt a serious, and potentially fatal, blow when British number 1 and world number 2 Andy Murray announced he would be withdrawing from the French Open, having suffered a recurrence of the back injury that had plagued him for the last couple of years. British fans will be looking anxiously at his progress, hoping that he will be fit to compete on the grass at Wimbledon. This leaves us mostly looking at the women’s draw for British hopes, with both Heather Watson and Laura Robson having significant successes in recent tournaments. Whilst winning the tournament outright may be too much to ask for these young prodigies, getting to the second week will certainly be the primary aim.

 

The winner of the men’s tournament has been practically pre-determined for the last 8 years, with clay specialist Rafael Nadal winning the tournament a record 7 out of the last 8 contests, and is the winner of the last 3. The Spaniard, ranked world number 4, will undoubtedly start this tournament as favourite, especially with Murray’s withdrawal. However, he has not had the most consistent season, suffering from injury, and we have also seen him exit big tournaments in shocks in the past. A five set defeat in that classic match against Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon last year gives us some element of doubt about simply handing him the trophy now.

 

The other prospective winners are fairly obvious. Roger Federer will once again be there or there about come the end of the tournament. The Swiss master has a never-say-die attitude that has allowed him to adapt his game to best suit his advancing age. You can never write off a man that has reached the final of every Grand Slam at least 5 times. Novak Djokovic is the other obvious choice for winner, but the Serbian has often found Roland Garros a tough nut to crack. It is the only Grand Slam he requires to complete his Career Grand Slam, and as a result will undoubtedly be driven, especially after his final defeat to Nadal last year. However, that final appearance was his first in Paris, and he does not have a particularly good record in the French capital. Outside of the top two, David Ferrer has always been considered to be good on clay, as Andy Murray has experienced to his cost in the past. Although the Spaniard has never reached a final at Roland Garros, a couple of fortunate results is all it would take to see the world number 5 to his inaugural Grand Slam final. Similarly, French hopes will largely be pinned on the likeable Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whose signature victory dance has endeared many of the fans to him. He has extinguished Roger Federer’s hopes on numerous occasions, making his case to be a viable contender for this title. The home fans will also be pushing the world number 8 on, which has an inevitable positive effect on the performance of the home players. No-one outside these players has a predictable chance of winning the French Open, but as we have seen, anything can happen over the next two weeks.

 

As far as the women’s tournament goes, the winner is slightly less predictable. Though Serena Williams has been made strong favourite for the title, there is less of a one-person domination than in the men’s game. Also, the fact that Serena herself was shocked with a round 1 defeat at Roland Garros last year means that she is not infallible at the Parisian tournament. A 54 minute 6-0, 6-1 victory in the first round this year, however, suggests she is back to her very best form. Last year’s winner, Maria Sharapova, should also be considered to be in with a chance of winning it. Though her recent form has not been fantastic, she often produces her best on the big occasions, and therefore cannot be written off. Other prospective winners include: the noisy Victoria Azarenka, winner of two Australian Open titles, Agnieska Radwanska, winner of last year’s Wimbledon, clay specialist Li Na, 2011 French Open champion and the feisty Aussie Samantha Stosur, amongst others. The women’s game is far more open than the men’s and promises to be a very entertaining contest.

 

The return of Grand Slam tennis to Europe truly signifies the start of summer. A fascinating (and sometimes noisy) few months will follow, with two of the greatest tournaments in modern tennis. Hopefully we will see very little rain, and therefore no need for the dreaded covers. The French Open promises to be a very intriguing contest in both fields, and one I will be glued to.