This unique edition of the 2020 French Open is about to commence among so much uncertainty but one: the favorite is still Rafael Nadal!
This year the Roland Garros will start in September instead of being staged in between May and June because of the Coronavirus pandemic. While Wimbledon was called the slam off, the organization of the French Open decided to try to keep the its major alive and postpone it later in the year.
Who is the favorite?
At 34 years of age, Rafael Nadal is still widely considered as the favorite to win his 13th Roland Garros (!!!) and match Roger Federer’s record of 20 slams. However, the King of Clay didn’t impress in Rome where he was widely expected to win the Internazionali d’Italia for the 10th time. Instead, Rafa lost to an inspired Diego Schwartzman 6-2 7-5.
According to the experts, to date, Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem are the favorites after the Spaniard. Novak Djokovic hasn’t lost a single match this year with the exception of when he defaulted at the recent US Open. Dominic Thiem has just won his 1st slam in New York and he was the runner-up the last 2 years at the Roland Garros and he seems to be a predestined to conquer the slam in Paris.
What about Stefanos Tsitsipas?
The Greek sensation didn’t have a fantastic comeback after the resuming of the tennis tours. He reached the semifinals at the Western and Southern Open, but then he crashed out from the US Open at the hands of Borna Coric after wasting 6 match points when he was leading the Croatian rather comfortably. In the following tournament in Rome, Stefanos lost in the opening match at the hands of Jannik Sinner playing rather lousy tennis for his huge standards. The Roland Garros qualifications are about to end and soon the main draw will be out with the possibility to consult the tennis betting odds for the upcoming matches.
Rafael Nadal in 2020
Now the world no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 19th of September when he was overcome by Diego Schwartzman 6-2 7-5 in the quarter in Rome.
This season Rafael has a 15-4 win-loss record. The Spaniard clinched 1 title in Acapulco.
Novak Djokovic in 2020
Currently ranked no.1, the Serbian played his last match on the 21st of September when he beat Diego Schwartzman 7-5 6-3 in the final in Rome to win his 81st career title.
This year Novak has a 31-1 win-loss record. Novak clinched 4 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open, in Dubai, in New York and in Rome.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic played each other 55 times. The head to head is 29-26 for Djokovic. The last time that they locked horns, Novak Djokovic won 6-2 7-64 in the final in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney (ATP Cup) on the 12th of January 2020.
Dominic Thiem in 2020
Ranked world no.3 (career-high), the Austrian played his last match on the 13th of September when he beat Alexander Zverev 2-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-66 in the final of the U.S. Open to win his 17th career title.
Currently, this season Dominic has a 16-5 win-loss record. Dominic conquered 1 title at the U.S. Open. Dominic was the finalist at the Australian Open.
Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2020
Currently the world no.6, Tsitsipas played his last match on the 16th of September when he surrendered to Jannik Sinner 6-1 6-79 6-2 in the 2nd round in Rome.
This season Stefanos has a 16-8 win-loss record. Tsitsipas clinched 1 title in Marseille. Stefanos was the finalist in Dubai.
Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas played each other 7 times. The head to head is 4-3 for Thiem. The last time that they competed against each other, Stefanos Tsitsipas won 6-3 7-66 in the 2nd round in Toronto (Rogers Cup) in August 2018.
