French Open 2022: Stefanos Tsitsipas could upset the elite and win title, says Gaurav Natekar

As
the
second
Grand
Slam
of
the
season
begins
at
Roland
Garros
on
Sunday
(May
22)
in
the
Parisian
clay,
fans
and
aficionados
are
not
looking
beyond
the
Big
Two
for
title
challengers.

However,
India’s
former
No
1
tennis
player
Gaurav
Natekar
has
a
different
take
and
has
chosen
his
pick
for
the
tournament.

French
Open:
Djokovic,
Alcaraz
and
Nadal
all
on
same
side
of
draw
at
Roland
Garros

“The
top
half
of
the
men’s
draw
is
heavily
loaded.
Rafa
(Nadal),
Novak
(Djokovic),
Carlos
(Alcaraz),
Stan
(Wawrinka),
Diego
Schwartzman…
are
all
on
the
same
half
of
he
draw.
It
remains
to
be
seen
who’ll
can
come
through.

“With
Nadal
and
Djokovic
drawn
on
the
same
half,
a
dream
final
is
out
of
question
now.
And
don’t
take
it
for
granted
that
the
Big
Two
are
going
to
meet
in
quarterfinals.
Therefore
a
bunch
of
exciting
youngsters
who
can
create
an
upset,”
Natekar
told
a
select
group
of
journalists
in
a
virtual
media
interaction
hosted
by

Sony
Sports
Network,
who
have
the
official
broadcast
rights
of
French
Open
2022
in
India.

So,
does
Natekar
see
a
potential
dark-horse
who
can
come
through
from
the
bottom
half,
especially
considering
the
fact
that
French
Open
is
known
for
unheralded
champions?
Natekar
feels
so,
and
thinks
Stefanos
Tsitsipas
is
the
man
to
do
it.

“I
had
said
a
couple
of
years
ago
that
Stefanos
is
the
best
among
the
emerging
players
and
I
still
stick
to
my
stand.
He
came
close
to
winning
a
Grand
Slam
last
year
(The
Greek
player
lost
to
Djokovic
in
French
Open
2021
final
despite
winning
the
first
two
sets).
Though
he’s
coming
off
an
injury,
he
has
enough
experience
to
win
it.
If
there’s
one
player
who
can
upset
the
applecart
then
it’s
probably
Tsitsipas,”
Natekar,
the
double
gold
medalist
at
1994
Asian
Games,
said.

Much
has
been
said
about
Alcaraz,
after
the
19-year-old’s
recent
exploits
which
saw
the
Spaniard
win
Madrid
Open,
where
he
defeated
both
Nadal
and
Djokovic
en
route
to
the
title.
Some
pundits
have
even
tipped
Alcaraz
to
go
the
distance
in
Paris,
though
Natekar
diffe.

Stop
comparing
him
to
me’
–
Nadal
refuses
to
pile
pressure
on
Alcaraz

“Carlos
has
never
progressed
beyond
the
third-round
in
a
Grand
Slam.
So
first,
he
should
get
the
monkey
off
his
back.
Playing
a
Grand
Slam
requires
a
very
different
mentality
and
French
Open
is
the
toughest
of
the
Grand
Slams.

“He’ll
dig
deep
in
Roland
Garros,
But
I
don’t
see
him
winning
the
tournament.
His
time
will
come,
but
he
has
to
wait.
I’m
sure
in
the
years
to
come,
he’ll
be
the
flag-bearer
of
men’s
tennis.”

Seven-time
national
champion
Natekar,
said
Russian
Daniil
Medvedev
could
also
pose
a
challenge.

“The
good
thing
about
Medvedev
is
that
he
plays
and
wins
matches
when
he
isn’t
on
form.
Clay
may
not
be
his
favourite
surface.
But,
still
he
can
be
really
dangerous,”
Natekar
said.

Djokovic
is
one
title
away
from
equalling
Nadal’s
record
21
Grand
Slams
and
has
sounded
early
warning
to
his
rival
by
winning
in
Rome,
where
he
beat
Tsitsipas
in
the
final.

Natekar
said
the
Serb
will
end
up
with
minimum
25
Grand
Slams
in
his
career.

“Djokovic
has
a
few
more
years
and
Grand
Slams
to
play
compared
to
Nadal.
So
he’ll
easily
end
up
with
say,
something
like
25
Grand
Slams.

French
Open
2022:
Rafael
Nadal
will
rule
again,
predicts
India
star
Purav
Raja

“As
far
as
Rafa
is
concerned,
for
him,
it’ll
be
like
one
match,
or
rather
one
set
at
a
time,
since
he’s
coming
back
from
an
injury,”

Natekar
was
spot
on
when
asked
to
pick
the
favourite
in
the
women’s
draw.

“Anybody
who
doesn’t
pick
Iga
Swaitek
as
the
favourite
isn’t
living
on
this
planet.
The
Pole
has
had
an
amazing
run
in
recent
times.
Iga
has
already
won
the
French
Open
once,
is
the
WTA
world
No
1
and
is
on
a
28-match
winning
streak.

“Players
like
defending
champion
Barbora
Krejcikova,
Paula
Badosa
all
have
a
chance,
but
Iga
definitely
has
the
edge.
There’s
lot
of
depth
in
women’s
tennis.
We’ve
seen
that
in
some
years,
the
four
Slams
are
won
by
four
different
players,”
he
added.

Former
world
No
1
Naomi
Osaka
is
back
in
Paris,
after
battling
her
recent
issues
related
with
mental
stress.
While
sympathising
with
the
Japanese
star,
Natekar
said
issues
pertaining
to
mental
stress
have
been
plaguing
the
sport
for
many
years.

“It
has
been
there
before
as
well.
Only
difference
now
is
that
it
has
come
more
to
the
forefront
and
multiplied
many
folds
because
of
social
media.
Pressure
is
part
and
parcel
of
the
game.

“One
has
to
strike
a
balance
here
as
that’s
the
beauty
of
any
sport
–
be
it
tennis,
golf,
badminton
or
swimming
–
you’re
playing
against
yourself
in
your
mind
after
a
certain
point
and
you
must
be
able
to
handle
those
external
factors,”
Natekar
concluded.

Watch
French
Open
2022
Live
from
Roland-Garros
Live
(May
22
to
June
5)
on
SONY
SIX,
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TEN
2
(English),
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TEN
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and
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TEN
4
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&
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