Whither Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber, reigning men and women’s No 1s in tennis?
With the year’s second grand slam, the French Open, starting in Paris on Sunday, these two should have been dominating discussions and hogging top positions on the list of pre-tournament favourites to be win the tournament. But, given their struggles this season, both Murray and Kerber might struggle to find a mention in the post-scriptum.
When was the last time two reigning world No 1s have showed up at a major as such long shots? And is there any hope of a redressal once the two weeks of the Roland Garros action commences?
Without meaning any disrespect to them, the answer will probably be a negative.
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Both Murray and Kerber have struggled to look the part since beginning 2017 in the respective top spots, and, if you believe their detractors, they have only managed to hold on to their position because fate has been kind to them.
Novak Djokovic, the men’s world No 2, is struggling for form and that has certainly helped Murray.
The Serbian has also carried the additional burden of defending 7,950 points in this first half of the season (up to the end of the French Open).
Kerber, on the other hand, has benefited from the absence of Serena Williams from the tour following the news of the American’s pregnancy.
She is 19-12 for the season, has played 11 tournaments and reached one final (Monterrey), but still sits at the top of the rankings.
The highest-ranked player Kerber has defeated this season is world No 25 Carla Suarez Navarro (Monterrey semi-final) and she has only one other win over a top 35 opponent – No 32 Timea Babos, in Madrid.
During her memorable run to the top in 2016, Kerber was 32-13 against players ranked 35 or higher, 24-9 against top 20 players and had a tour-leading 12 wins against top 10 players.
This year, she is 2-10 against top 35, 0-7 against top 20 and has yet to face a top 10 player.
Murray has fared slightly better. The Briton is 16-7 for the season, but has won a title in 2017 when he prevailed at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in March.
He is 6-4 against top 35, 3-2 against top 20 and 1-2 against top 10. His three other losses have come against No 50 Mischa Zverev (Australian Open), No 59 Borna Coric (Madrid) and No 129 Vasek Pospisil (Indian Wells). In the latest Race to London rankings, Murray sits at No 13.
Kerber occupies the same position on the WTA’s Porsche Race rankings. So what is the cause of their woes?
Murray does not believe it has anything to do with the pressures of being the No 1. Not in his case, at least.
“I just feel like I’m not playing well,” he said in Rome, after losing to Fabio Fognini in his opening match earlier this month.
“I don’t think it’s to do with the ranking, but I get asked about it every week. I’m just not playing good tennis, and I need to try to work out how to turn that around. I believe I will.”
A finalist at the French Open last year, Murray is also confident of proving his detractors wrong at Roland Garros, though he has lost three of his last four matches on clay.
Overall, he is 4-4 on the surface for this season. Last year, he had arrived in the French capital with a 12-2 record on European clay courts and the Rome Masters title in his locker.
“I know a lot of people think I have got no chance of doing anything at the French after the last couple of weeks, but I do think I can,” Murray said.
“It’s going to be tough, but I do think I can still do well there.”
Kerber does not have any such faith in her clay-court game.
She lost in the first round at Roland Garros last year and her best run in nine visits was halted at quarter-final stage, in 2012, so her malaise is unlikely to be altered in Paris.
“Everybody knows I’m not a clay-court specialist,” Kerber said in Rome. “I’m not feeling so well on this surface.
“I think my legs are always important for my game, but I really [am] not feeling so good on a clay court.”
The French Open, then, should be a huge test of character for both Murray and Kerber and should they succeed, or at least have a strong run in the tournament, their second half of the season could follow a completely different narrative.
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