5 (+1) Plotlines to Ponder: Grass Season Edition

Hope that you relished reading our fortnight of French Open coverage as much as we relished writing it! We thought that the clay season was a bit more eventful than usual this year, and we’re expecting just as many engaging narratives when the action shifts to grass. Here are five (plus one, of course!) with which we seek to stoke your anticipation…

1) Will momentum continue from clay, or rewind to Miami? A dramatic contrast to the protracted wars of attrition waged on the red dirt of Roland Garros, the first-strike tennis played on grass typically favors those who excel on the hard courts. Recently, however, the accelerating speed of the clay and the decelerating speed of the grass have diminished the gulf between them, aiding Nadal in his “Channel Slam” of 2008. We imagine that powerful baseliners Stosur, Berdych, and Soderling will build upon their outstanding Roland Garros runs to wreak havoc at the All England Club, but they also shone on the North American hard courts. Among those who might struggle to reproduce their recent achievements are clay aficionados such as Jankovic, Kirilenko, Ferrer, and Verdasco, while Radwanska, Bartoli, Roddick, and Ljubicic should rekindle their hard-court form after ineffectual clay campaigns. A rare Spaniard who has preferred Wimbledon to Roland Garros is Feliciano Lopez, whose serve-and-volley style has led to several first-round losses in Paris but two quarterfinal appearances in London. As the grass season unfolds, it’ll be intriguing to observe how (or whether) the clay season fits into the fast-court narrative that overshadows it.

Click here to read the rest of the plotlines!