Where does Rafael Nadal rank in his last hurrah? Can anyone beat Iga Swiatek in the women's field? We divided the French Open contenders into five tiers.
From 2002 to 2004, the French Open men's draw was an absolute free-for-all. The No. 1 seed lost in the third round twice and the fourth round once. Only three of 12 semifinalists were seeded in the top six. Three different players -- Albert Costa,arrived at Roland Garros and removed all mystery from the proceedings. He rolled to the title, then did so again in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Honestly? I did not expect those numbers to be that close. Again, this counts seven more hypothetical wins at Roland Garros over the next two weeks, but if she pulls that off, she'll basically be matching an unmatchable pace. That is a jarring thought. And it earns her a tier to herself on this list.We've learned a lot this spring about just how hard it is to maintain elite form.
At the moment, you have to hope for a similar plot line for Coco Gauff. After double-faulting 5.1% of the time and holding serve at a 73.4% clip in 2023, she's now at 8.9% and 69.9%, respectively, in 2024. In three clay-court events, those numbers are 11.3% and 64.1%. That she still reached the semifinals in Rome despite handing opponents so many free points was a reasonably encouraging sign. Her ability to win ugly has completely changed her trajectory over the past 10 months or so.
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