It has truly been a difficult year globally, with the coronavirus pandemic causing mass cancellations of events and lockdown for many. One being the Grand National, which has to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Fans are now already looking ahead to the Grand National 2021, which is going to be a special event. Sport has been one of the major industries affected, with sporting virtually all grinding to a halt. Many are now looking at ways to kick start again, with the UFC already producing a very successful return with their event in Florida.
Tennis is another sport that is likely to be one of the first to return, as they can easily maintain the social distancing. The tennis season has already kicked off, with Novak Djokovic landing the Australian Open for the second year in succession and his fourth in the last six years. He will now be hoping for further success at both the U.S Open and the French Open later this calendar year. Unfortunately, he will be unable to look to win a third Wimbledon in succession, with the tournament being cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The French Open is usually held in the early period of the year, but this has now been moved and is set to take place between September 20th and October 4th. The tournament itself could also be held behind closed doors and without fans, with the date fast approaching. It now sets up for a nervous wait for fans, who will be hoping championship tennis can return soon enough.
If the French Open does go ahead as expected, then it sets up to be a fascinating championships, with Rafael Nadal looking to win his fourth in succession and add to his 12 titles at Roland Garros to date. The 19 time Grand slam winner is without a doubt the greatest clay court player in history, with his record backing this up. He was an impressive winner of the 2019 edition, beating Dominic Thiem in the final, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. Nadal will now go into the 2020 French Open as the overwhelming favourite and is going to take all the beating.
The biggest challengers to Nadal in 2020 are again likely to be both Thiem and Novak Djokovic. Thiem is currently ranked number three in the world and has already picked up 16 singles career titles to date. He appears close to a major title, and will be expected to challenge into the latter stages of the competition.
Novak on the other hand is the world number one and continues to pick up Grand slam titles, as he goes in search of topping the all-time list. Djokovic has had the least success at the French Open, with just one title to date, which came back in 2016. He reached the semi-finals last year, before losing out to Thiem but will again be expected and hopeful of potentially winning the competition this time around.
Let’s now hope it goes and ahead and tennis returns.
