Brad Gilbert shares why Rafael Nadal is the French Open favorite
In an interview to TennisNow, the ESPN pundit Brad Gilbert commented on the Rafael Nadal's shape heading into the French Open. The American said: "If you go back, 2014 Rafa didn’t play invincible in Monte Carlo or Barcelona and he still won Paris. So I think it’s most important that he’s peaking for Paris. You can have an amazing clay-court season and win everything, but if you don’t win the French it’s not as great of a season. But if Rafa doesn’t win any of the lead-up tournaments and he wins Paris—like what Pete (Sampras) did at the ’95 Open. Andre (Agassi) won 26 in a row, but that doesn’t win the Open. So I do think that he’s much more difficult to beat in best-of-five and he’s looked a lot better this week in Rome. And the guys he’s lost to, each one of them has all played freaking great. Fognini, Thiem and Tsitsipas—it’s like he didn’t lose to guys that weren’t playing great ball."
"He’s trying for his second Djoker Slam so it doesn’t matter what happened. If he gets it right now and wins Paris, it’s the second time he’s held all four (Slams) at the same time. I mean, nothing else needs to be said. Champions are remembered by these majors and he’s putting himself in an incredible position. Look where he was just a year ago. He was just starting to find his game in Rome last year, which got way better on the grass. Now, 12 months later, he’s an amazing position heading into Paris"
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2JTR91h
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