What the Weather Means for the French Open

The weather is often just brought up in causal conversation and isn’t usually something you base your method of work upon. It’s the the complete opposite when it comes to tennis, especially on clay.

A dry sunny day could mean topspin high rising balls that are out of your strike zone, while a damp court on a muggy day would lead to low, slow balls. It doesn’t seem like that much of a difference on television, but for the player it could make all the difference.

This years French Open seems to be graced with an abundance of sun and heat, interspersed with days of rain. According to weather forecasts it is supposed to rain on the Monday and Tuesday of the first week, and the Tuesday and Friday of the second week.

Here’s a quick over view of how the weather could effect some of the top contenders.

Men

Nadal: Nadal will play his best on the dry fast courts of a sunny day. His topspin will be at it’s max, and the clay will slow down the ball a little bit compared to hard courts, and that will be just enough for Nadal to run down balls.

Djokovic: Djokovic should be able to handle both slow and fast courts, but in a match up against a player like Nadal, moist courts would be his best bet.

Zverev: With his aggressive baseline style, fast courts would help Zverev to dictate points, and because of his height, the ball would be in his strike zone. On the flip side, slower courts may give Zverev time to hit the ball harder, though it would involve a lot of bending.

Wawrinka: Wawrinka’s huge topspin backhand should perform its best on fast bouncy clay courts, and since Wawrinka does happen to stand a good few feet behind the baseline, he should be able to handle those high bouncy balls in return. Wawrinka also seems to have the hang of returning those higher balls on the backhand side.

Thiem: Dominic happens to be known for his aggressive style of play, and powerful one handed backhand. Although a fast court would enhance Thiem’s aggressive style of play, high rising balls may negatively effect his single handed backhand.

Women

Halep: Because of lack of power, it seems like Halep would shine when the courts are dry, fast and bouncy. Her topspin would only be enhanced because of the dry clay. It should decrease the intensity with which hard hitting players can push her around.

Svitolina: Elina has a mix of both power and spin, as well as a consistency in results. It seems like Elina would do well with fast courts since she does have both power and spin, but slower wet courts may give her just the amount of time she needs to bash the ball into a corner.

Mladenovic: Kristina is a flatter harder player, so the fast dry courts would be to her advantage. Her height would also make it easy for the high balls to be right in her strike zone.

Kerber: Kerber hasn’t been having the best clay season, and since she has a more topspin game than Mladenovic, dry courts would be to her advantage. Kerber does have power, but maybe not enough for a slower wet court.

Muguruza: As the last year French Open champion it seems like Garbine should be able to handle both fast and slow courts. Muguruza does seem to be error prone though, and wet weather that leads to less spinny and slow balls may reduce those errors.

Karolina Pliskova: Karolina is an ace machine, so fast courts may be the best for her serves. High rising balls on the fast courts would also be around her hitting zone since she stands at 6ft 1 inch. Pliskova also seems to have a trouble with low, balls so damp courts wouldn’t be the best situation for her.

It seems like there are pros and cons to both types of weather for each player.