Tennis Recap (French Open)

The second Grand Slam of 2012 is over with Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal winning the two events and it won't be long until the third Major starts at Wimbledon towards the end of the month.

While the daily picks only produced a small profit by the end of the tournament, catching both winners in the outright markets have really upped the profits at the end of the tournament. I only received a bonus by picking the Men's Champion to lose less than 3 sets at the tournament and Rafael Nadal's serene progress through the draw has also brought that pick in.

Below are a few thoughts from the event and I will also update the profit/loss from the French Open and the overall season results.


Putting Maria Sharapova's Grand Slam in perspective: All of the hype, particularly on the British channels, about Maria Sharapova's completing the career Grand Slam is absolutely ridiculous if you ask me.


It is a great achievement, there is no doubt about that, but it seriously needs to be put into perspective compared to some of her peers including the Williams sisters. First things first, the surfaces no longer have the differences that they used to and that makes it easier for players to make the adjustments when moving from the hard to the clay and then to the grass courts, well at least easier than they used to.


Secondly, this is only the fourth Major that Sharapova has now won and that is far short of the expectations people had when she won Wimbledon at 17. Compare that to players like Justine Henin (7 Grand Slams), Venus Williams (7 Grand Slams) and Serena Williams (13 Grand Slams) and you see there is plenty of room for the Russian before she can be considered alongside the greats of yesteryear.


I also wasn't impressed with some of the commentators comparing Sharapova's achievement to Serena Williams when she won the 'Serena Slam'... The BIG difference is Serena won all 4 Majors consecutively, not over the space of 8 years and that has to be stated- of course, I would revise this whole thing if Sharapova goes on and wins Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open and then we could start speaking about this achievement at the same level as Serena's.




Rafael Nadal is the 'King of Clay': Rafael Nadal completed his seventh win at the French Open and he remains the ultimate player on the surface and I think he has underlined his position as the best player to have played on the dirt in the history of the game.


However, he can consider himself a touch fortunate that the match was called off when it was on Sunday evening as he was completely on the ropes despite being up 2-1 in sets... That break gave him the chance to find his place mentally and allowed him to get back to what he wanted to do.


I still think he needed to finish the match in four sets, something he did do in the end, as I would have favoured Novak Djokovic heavily if it had gone the distance. It was a shame that he couldn't have forced a tie-break to prolong the drama, while a double-fault was the most disappointing ending to the Final.


However, there was enough in the match to suggest that Djokovic should be the favourite to win the event at Wimbledon depending on the draw of course.




Is Roger Federer suffering with some sort of injury: I have said during the French Open that Roger Federer has not looked himself and he did mention that he had a niggle before the event in Rome... My question would be how much is actually suffering?


Federer is not the kind of player that will openly say what is bothering him, but it will be interesting to see how he goes at Halle before making any judgements on how he will perform at Wimbledon.


He is still one of the top players on the grass and he is going to be a real threat if he is fit, but I want to see him remove my doubts before he is under consideration to possibly win Wimbledon.




Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could be a real dark horse at Wimbledon: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga surprised many, including me, with his run to the French Open Quarter Finals and he was so close to beating Novak Djokovic that I think the Frenchman could be a real threat at Wimbledon if he has not allowed that defeat to mentally linger.


Tsonga proved last year when he beat Roger Federer in the Quarter Final at Wimbledon that he can really beat the big players on this surface and I think he could take advantage if he gets a decent draw.


His mental resolve will be tested at Queens this week and it will give me an insight into how he is feeling. I also hope Tsonga does not go to Eastbourne as he did last season and instead takes the week off to get ready for Wimbledon and make sure his batteries are recharged... If he does that, I think Tsonga is ready for a deep run.






French Open Daily Picks: 22-23, + 3.36 Units (75 Units Staked)


French Open Outright Picks: + 18.11 Units (14 Units Staked)


French Open 2012: + 21.47 Units (89 Units Staked)




Season 2012 Update: + 57.98 Units (492 Units Staked, 11.78% Yield)