French Open review: Men's Singles report card

The men’s Tennis circuit in the last 3 years has been dominated by the Top 4 that has constituted of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. Outside of these players, there have been a number of earnest performers who have challenged the Top 4 and managed to sneak through to the odd Grand Slam semi-final and that rare final. The French Open threw up one such situation in which due to the absence of a key pillar in Andy Murray and the premature meeting of Nadal and Djokovic, David Ferrer managed to ride his way into the Roland Garros final. However, that is not to take away any credit from Ferrer whose performance in the semi-finals of the clay court Grand slam proved his worth as he steamrolled crowd favorite Tsonga 6-1, 7-6, 6-2. He thoroughly deserved his place in the final even though it eventually proved to be a one-sided affair.

Rafael Nadal

The King of clay once again proved that whatever the condition of form or whoever the opponent maybe, he still reigns supreme and remains unchallenged on clay. His record 8th title at the Roland Garros confirms him as one of the greats of the game. Coming back from a 7-month injury break, he defied many of his critics who had dubbed Djokovic the favorite going into the semi-final. Nadal was on top of his game against Ferrer as he made the most narrow and accurate forehand winners. He receives an A+ Grade in our report card; he will be the standard by which we will humbly assess the performance of some of his colleagues at the French Open.