Marine of Tennis Notebook has become a regular contributor to Women's Tennis Blog. Now she's making French Open predictions. Do you agree with her?
As we are nearing Roland Garros, tennis enthusiasts are starting to make first predictions about who has got what it takes to win the title. What is interesting about this debate is that there is some hesitation about who to pick as a favorite. The reason is quite simple: No.1 player in the world has won all kinds of tournaments … apart from a Grand Slam.
When Kim Clijsters became a No.1 in 2003, "a No.1 player without a slam" was a new phenomenon in WTA. Her accomplishment was a beginning of the debate which starts off regularly when someone happens to be (un)lucky enough to make it to the top spot "slamless".
The debate opened again with JJ achieving that, and has become pretty intense during the time when Dinara Safina became No.1. We all know what pressure of expectations and constant criticism did with Safina and even though things changed with the arrival of more self-assured Caroline Wozniacki, many people still frown at the No.1 without a Grand Slam crown.
The question "who is the best player in WTA" has become somewhat difficult to answer and therefore it nowadays produces mixed answers, although people tend to select the same couple of names.
So, who is the best player nowadays and who is the most likely to win Roland Garros 2011?
Here are my picks:
1. Caroline Wozniacki– Her performance has shown that she is a No.1 for a reason. Wozniacki goes far or all the way in most of the events she enters and even in Grand Slams rarely leaves before quarterfinals. Read more »