Who will be the Next "Hometown" Grand Slam Champion?
The sparkling play of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the 2008 Australian Open was bound to raise French hopes for a future French champion at Roland Garros. But who will be the next player to win his or her country’s Grand Slam title, e.g. a British player winning Wimbledon, a French player winning Roland Garros, an Aussie at the Australian Open or an American at the U.S. Open? On the men’s side, Lleyton Hewitt is a long shot for the
Australian Open at this point and there is no Australian on the horizon in the next year or two although Bernard Tomic may get there in a few years. The French now have Tsonga, as well as Richard Gasquet as serious contenders for the French Open title. For the Brits, Scotsman, Andy Murray remains the lone contender for a Wimbledon title. Meanwhile, the Americans have the veterans, Andy Roddick and James Blake as possible U.S. Open titlists. On the women’s side, there don’t appear to be any Aussie women ready to claim the Australian Open title in the next couple years although there are some players making progress, e.g. Alicia Molik, Casey Delacqua and Samantha Stosur. There are several French players capable of winning at Roland Garros including Amelie Mauresmo and Tatiana Golovin. Unfortunately, British women seem to still be in a “rebuilding” phase and therefore, it’s unlikely that a British woman will win the Wimbledon crown in the next couple years. For the Americans, there are several women capable of winning the title in 2008 including Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport. So who will be the next "hometown" Grand Slam Champion? Well.. it will be a man or woman from France!
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