Todd Woodbridge on the French Open contenders

Todd Woodbridge is a man who knows his stuff. So when Todd starts to talk about who he thinks could take home the French Open crown, it’s definitely worth paying attention to:

My instinct tells me that Rafa won’t win the French. Although he’s been playing some really great clay court tennis and he’s built his confidence, I’m not sure that he totally believes that he can go all of the way with it. He’s certainly not been the best clay courter of the season – if I look at the form of everybody, I think it’s actually Andy Murray who can lay claim to that.

Andy is a bit of an enigma as a player because he’s so honest. A lot of people have watched him and they don’t like it because of the way he is on the court, but he’s one of the most honest competitors out there.

He’s made some changes and I think that is good for him – I don’t think the Mauresmo coaching situation had been working for him for the last 12 months. I think there was behind the scenes pressure to maintain Amelie once she became pregnant, and that was a distraction. That distraction is now gone. And please don’t think I’m saying she wasn’t good for him – she was at the beginning. But when you introduce distractions it changes how things work.

I actually think Andy has a really good chance of winning it. I don’t think he’s under much pressure – in many ways I think he’s in a similar situation to when he won Wimbledon, where he believed that he could but people didn’t expect him to do it.

I do believe in bits of fate, though. Last year, when Novak was going into the French I thought there was too much pressure on him. The fact that his lead in was so impressive and so strong, it actually made it harder for him to win the tournament.

This year he has been the dominant player by a long way. But his season on the clay hasn’t been as perfect, and in a strange way that’s going to help him going into Roland Garros. It will relieve a bit of the pressure on him because it is not all about him winning. So yes, I really do think that it’s Novak’s tournament to win – or lose.

In terms of dark horses, we’re Australian and we always talk about Aussies, but the reality is that a dark horse is someone like a Nick Kyrgios. He’s beaten Wawrinka and Federer on clay – albeit at altitude. He is dynamic enough and consistent enough to be able to cause upsets. But he has to have things go his way. He has to win matches quickly; I’m not sure his body is ready to go seven matches to win so he needs to have some luck along the way.

Of the current next generation of players, I think the best clay courter is Dominic Thiem. He’s not dissimilar in style to Stan Wawrinka. He’s had the consistency over the past 18 months, had tournament wins, and his ranking has risen to make him another dark horse.

Another player – although I wouldn’t call him a dark horse – that could win if the stars align is Kei Nishikori. He’s been in the finals of a Slam and he’s consistent. You don’t think of him as a clay court player but when you watch him he’s solid as a rock. He certainly has the base I think to be able to sneak a Slam.

On the women’s side you can throw the coins in the air and see how they fall.

I truly believe that Simona Halep is a Grand Slam champion, but the biggest issue for her is coping with that expectation. She wins Madrid and then loses first round in Rome – that says to me that she’s not ready to win a Slam. However, her game is qualified and it should be there.

Serena obviously had a win in Rome, but we haven’t seen her a lot aside from that. Maybe she needed that break – I think mentally she needed to be away from the Tour, recharge and de-stress and decide whether she wants to be the greatest of all time. She’s obviously incredibly dangerous and the favourite for the title.

A winner of every Grand Slam doubles title at least once, Todd Woodbridge claimed 61 titles with Mark Woodforde and 83 in total (including Olympic gold).