The expert who picked Stan Wawrinka to win the 2014 Australian Open believes Nadal is vulnerable at the French Open 2019.
The four premier clay court events including Monte Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open, Madrid Masters, and Rome Masters have been won by different players this year. We, therefore, believe that the French Open this year is a little more open than it was in the past few years. Rafael Nadal is the favorite at Roland Garros but by a slight margin, and can be taken down by Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, and even Tsitsipas and an in-form Fabio Fognini.
The main contenders for the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
The main contenders for the Coupe des Mousquetaires this year are Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, and Novak Djokovic, and Nadal with a minuscule lead over the other two. Both Thiem and Djokovic, however, can and have beaten Nadal on the clay and can certainly do it again at Roland Garros in 2019.
Roger Federer is a threat and not a contender at the French Open 2019.
The biggest threat to the contenders is Roger Federer this year. He, for a change, is not the target but a marksman this time around and gets to play without pressure. A free-flowing Federer, as we know, can accomplish just about anything, including an upset of Rafa, Novak, or Thiem. Stefanos Tsitsipas is another viable threat capable of dismissing any of the contenders on a good day. Fabio Fognini, we believe, is done with his best showing for the summer and may make an appearance in the fall sometime.
Nadal seems a little vulnerable this year.
Nadal won the Italian Open in style by serving Djokovic a bagel in the finals. He is back, but not back enough. Luckily for Rafa, his draw until the quarter has no-one who can dethrone him, and that should provide Nadal enough time and match-play to find his groove. Nadal, however, has lost to too many on his favorite surface this year and seems vulnerable, on a bad day, to an in-form Thiem, Djokovic, Tsitsipas, Fognini, and the evergreen Federer.
Sean Calvert – also believe that Nadal is vulnerable this year.
Sean Calvert of Sportline called Dominic Thiem winning the 2019 Indian Wells at 80-1, and Stan Wawrinka the Australian Open 2014 at 60-1 and believes that Nadal is vulnerable this year. “Nadal heads to Roland Garros in search of an unprecedented 12th Coupe des Mousquetaires,” Calvert told SportsLine. “But despite winning the Italian Open, it hasn’t been a consistently strong clay swing for him… ‘What I’ve seen through much of his clay swing is an aging and slower version of Nadal who no longer looks capable of fending off an elite attacking opponent.”
Conclusion: Predicting the 2019 French Open winner is a little more complicated this year. It’d, however, be safe to bet on Nadal, Djokovic, and Thiem.