Novak Djokovic’s French Open Chase
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-french-open-roland-garros.html?_r=0PARIS — Respecting the schedule that Novak Djokovic laid out in January, it is now time for dessert.
So will he finally get to taste some at the French Open?
Many a great tennis champion has skidded to a halt at Roland Garros. Those who have tried, tried some more and ultimately failed to win the world’s premier clay-court event include Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, Bill Tilden, John McEnroe, Pancho Gonzales, John Newcombe, Stefan Edberg and Djokovic’s coach, Boris Becker.
“I lost to guys who were better than me on clay; there is no mystery,” Becker said in an interview last week.
Becker, at his best on faster surfaces, reached three French Open semifinals but never won any tour-level tournament on clay. Djokovic is in a different class as one of the most successful clay-court players in history.
His career winning percentage on the surface, 79.7 percent, is the fifth best in the Open era for players with more than 200 matches. And since the French championships became open to non-French players in 1925, no other man has had as impressive a record in Paris without finding a way to win the title at least once.
Any tennis fans in TBR? Thoughts/predictions for this year's French Open?
