RECAP of 2008 French Open Predictions
The dust has finally settled at Roland Garros so it’s time for us to review our prognostications for the 2008 French Open and “come clean”…
• Rain will interrupt the first day of play
o Maybe we should have said the first week because there was a bit of rain over the first few days…• One male French player will reach the quarters at Roland Garros
o Gael Monfils had the tournament of his life so far by reaching the semis… can’t wait for the next act from this super-talented Frenchman• Two Americans, e.g. Serena Williams, James Blake will reach the quarters at the French Open
o There were a couple strong performances from American men, e.g., Robby Ginepri and Wayne Odesnik, but no one reached the quarters this year…• Neither Rafael Nadal nor Roger Federer will win the title at Roland Garros this year
o We were thrilled to be wrong with this one given the incredibly high-quality tennis that Rafael Nadal produced throughout the tournament…• A Russian woman will reach (at least) the semis
o Well… a couple Russian women reached the semis, i.e. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina, and Dinara kept it close in her first Grand Slam final…• One of the Serbian tennis stars, i.e. Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic or Jelena Jankovic will reach the French Open finals
o It was a banner French Open for the Serbs with Djokovic and Jankovic reaching the semis and Ivanovic winning the title and becoming Number One!• Both the men's and women's winners at Roland Garros will have two-handed backhands
o We were right with Nadal and Ivanovic winning, but hopefully there will be a few more one-handers in the mix in the future!• There will be no match-fixing or betting scandals during the 2008 French Open
o PHEW…
Five out of eight, i.e. 63%, right on the predictions… not a bad “first serve” percentage!
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