2011 French Open Tennis: Dangerous Floaters
When the 2011 French Open begins on the red clay tennis courts at Roland Garros, there are several talented unseeded players who could be tough opening round opponents,
might post big wins or could advance into the later rounds of the tournament… they include:
WOMEN:
o Ekaterina Makarova – Russian lefty with strong groundstrokes
o Lucie Safarova – Smooth-hitting Czech who is a former Grand Slam quarterfinalist
o Anabel Medina Garrigues – Solid Spanish clay courter with 10 career titles
o Kimiko Date-Krumm – Forty-year-old former Slam semifinalist who is looking for one last hurrah
o Magdalena Rybarikova – Czech who won a recent Challenger clay court event defeating Petra Kvitova in the final
o Alize Cornet – Frenchwoman who has shown promising results in the past
o Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez – Experienced Spanish lefty who has served and volleyed successfully on clay in the past
o Virginie Razzano – Veteran Frenchwoman playing in honor of her fiancé who died recently
o Sabine Lisicki – German qualifier on the comeback from injury
o Mirjana Lucic – Former teen phenom on the comeback a decade later
o Coco Vandeweghe – Talented American with a powerful game
MEN:
• Ivan Ljubicic – Experienced Croat formerly ranked in the top ten with the game to challenge many top players
• Xavier Malisse – Talented Belgian veteran who has played well during the clay court season
• Feliciano Lopez – Hard serving lefty who had match point against Roger Federer in Madrid
• Philipp Kohlschreiber – German with a beautiful one-handed backhand who defeated Novak Djokovic in the past at Roland Garros
• Kei Nishikori – Talented Japanese player on the comeback from injury
• Ernests Gulbis – Former quarterfinalist with the talent to beat top players
• Juan Monaco – Strong clay court game and working his way back into shape
• Nicolas Mahut – Serve and volleying Frenchman who played “the match” against John Isner at Wimbledon last year
• Juan Ignacio Chela – Veteran clay courter from Argentina
• Lleyton Hewitt – Former Number One and Slam champion on the comeback from injury
• Tommy Haas – Former Slam semifinalist coming back from surgery
WOMEN:
o Ekaterina Makarova – Russian lefty with strong groundstrokes
o Lucie Safarova – Smooth-hitting Czech who is a former Grand Slam quarterfinalist
o Anabel Medina Garrigues – Solid Spanish clay courter with 10 career titles
o Kimiko Date-Krumm – Forty-year-old former Slam semifinalist who is looking for one last hurrah
o Magdalena Rybarikova – Czech who won a recent Challenger clay court event defeating Petra Kvitova in the final
o Alize Cornet – Frenchwoman who has shown promising results in the past
o Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez – Experienced Spanish lefty who has served and volleyed successfully on clay in the past
o Virginie Razzano – Veteran Frenchwoman playing in honor of her fiancé who died recently
o Sabine Lisicki – German qualifier on the comeback from injury
o Mirjana Lucic – Former teen phenom on the comeback a decade later
o Coco Vandeweghe – Talented American with a powerful game
MEN:
• Ivan Ljubicic – Experienced Croat formerly ranked in the top ten with the game to challenge many top players
• Xavier Malisse – Talented Belgian veteran who has played well during the clay court season
• Feliciano Lopez – Hard serving lefty who had match point against Roger Federer in Madrid
• Philipp Kohlschreiber – German with a beautiful one-handed backhand who defeated Novak Djokovic in the past at Roland Garros
• Kei Nishikori – Talented Japanese player on the comeback from injury
• Ernests Gulbis – Former quarterfinalist with the talent to beat top players
• Juan Monaco – Strong clay court game and working his way back into shape
• Nicolas Mahut – Serve and volleying Frenchman who played “the match” against John Isner at Wimbledon last year
• Juan Ignacio Chela – Veteran clay courter from Argentina
• Lleyton Hewitt – Former Number One and Slam champion on the comeback from injury
• Tommy Haas – Former Slam semifinalist coming back from surgery
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