By The Italian Open 2024 has witnessed several developments that have fans believing that the tennis world could finally witness a first-time winner at the French Open 2024 after 8 years. The injuries and the unexpected losses witnessed in the early rounds have made Patrick McEnroe echo this sentiment too. However, the four picks that the ESPN pundit listed on X (formerly “Twitter”) to make the finals of the Roland Garros 2024 have resulted in a debate among tennis enthusiasts.
Patrick McEnroe is quite active in voicing his opinions on social media. The American legend recently claimed that the injuries sustained by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner coupled with the shocking losses suffered by Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic could result in these big names not lifting the title in Paris this time.
After stating that “The French Open plot thickens”, John McEnroe’s brother listed the four players who he believed could make a push to lift the La Coupe des Mousquetaires – Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, and Grigor Dimitrov. Interestingly, none of them have won a Grand Slam yet.
The tweet instantly gathered a lot of reactions. As expected, different people had varied opinions. Some also believe that it is unfair to snub the likes of Andrey Rublev, whose resurgence has shocked many following his Madrid Open 2024 win. While others believe that it could be either Grigor Dimitrov, Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune or Hubert Hurkacz also stand a strong chance this time at Roland Garros.
It seems rather bizarre that McEnroe didn’t display any faith in Andrey Rublev. But Rublev is not the only big name missing from his tweet. McEnroe didn’t even back any American to go the distance.
Patrick McEnroe snubs Americans among several other talented players
Taylor Fritz has been in the form of his life on the red dirt, making it to the finals of the BMW Open 2024 and the semifinals of the Madrid Open 2024. Even at the Italian Open 2024, Fritz is likely to make it to the quarterfinals as he is up against Grigor Dimitrov in their Round of 16 match on Tuesday.
The addition of Grigor Dimitrov doesn’t seem too accurate. Apart from the fact that the clay court is Dimitrov’s least successful (61.24% win record, per Tennis Live) surface to play on, the 32-year-old hasn’t even been in great form.
Following a Round of 16 loss against an exhausted Holger Rune at the Monte-Carlo Masters 2024, Dimitrov lost his opening-round clash against Jakub Mensik at the Madrid Open 2024.
Amongst other Americans, Ben Shelton’s win at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships 2024 also makes him a player to look out for. On the other hand, Tommy Paul’s latest performance in Rome in which he too made it to the Round of 16 after coming back from injury, is a good sign.
So the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud might not yet be in contention despite the events that have unfolded in the last couple of weeks. The French Open 2024 is still nearly 2 weeks away and a lot could happen even during this period. Time will tell whether Patrick McEnroe is proven right.
