After two classic semi-finals, we’re expecting the French Open decider between Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas to be a one-sided affair. The Serbian superstar looks pumped up as he targets a 19th grand slam title, whereas his Greek opponent will be competing in a maiden major final.
Barbora Krejcikova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will both be appearing in their first grand slam final at this year’s French Open. Each player has had to come through some epic battles and another close contest is on the cards, with the pair ranked 32 and 33 in the WTA ratings.
Naomi Osaka and Jennifer Brady produced a thrilling semi-final at the US Open last year and neutrals will hope for more of the same when they meet in the Australian Open women’s singles final. Osaka triumphed 7-6 3-6 6-3 in New York so Brady may feel she has more of a chance than odds of 18/5 suggest.
Stefanos Tsitsipas looked to be on his way out of the Australian Open after losing the first two sets against Rafael Nadal but is now one win away from a maiden grand slam final. While Tsitsipas produced a stunning comeback to beat the Spaniard, Daniil Medvedev had no such drama as he cruised to a straight-sets victory over Andrey Rublev.
With age having already begun to catch up with some of the sport’s superstars, it is likely that we will see a first-time tennis Grand Slam winner in 2021, so we’ve run the rule over the five most likely candidates on each tour based on their recent performances.
To commemorate the end of the ATP Finals’ 12-year stay in London, we have analysed what it has taken to win the tournament in this period and what this could mean for the outcome of its final staging this year.
After a fortnight dogged by dodgy weather and tough conditions, the French Open has thrown up the men’s singles final everyone was hoping for. King of clay Rafael Nadal will bid to reign supreme at Roland Garros for the 13th time, while world No 1 Novak Djokovic is unbeaten in 2020.
Iga Swiatek has simply been on a different level to any other female player at this year’s French Open and is taken to brush aside Sofia Kenin in the women’s singles final. Australian Open champion Kenin will try to turn this contest into a battle of wills, but we fear she will be totally outgunned.
As the world of sport continues to recover from the disruption of the first wave of COVID-19 that brought it to a virtual halt in the Spring, we’ve picked out five major sports and looked at how they responded, with regards to making changes to this year’s sporting calendar.
Dominic Thiem heads into the US Open final in much better form than Alexander Zverev and is fancied to dominate their clash at Flushing Meadows. Both men are trying to secure a first grand slam title, but the Austrian seems far more assured of holding his nerve in the New York decider.
The women’s final at the US Open is a battle between former world number ones and a high-class contest is anticipated between Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka. Both players came through tough semi-finals in three sets here and another close encounter seems on the cards.
This mouthwatering clash would have made an ideal final instead of the last four as it pits tournament favourite Daniil Medvedev against Dominic Thiem, the highest-ranked player left in the draw. A close encounter seems on the cards, with plenty of twists and turns.
Victoria Azarenka lost out to Serena Williams in the 2012 and 2013 US Open finals but is fancied to gain some revenge in this year’s semis. The 31-year-old from Belarus has looked in imperious form at Flushing Meadows, whereas Williams has had to battle through a series of gruelling encounters.
Alexander Zverev is fast becoming a man for the big occasion and is tipped to reach the US Open final by seeing off Pablo Carreno Busta. The German has put a poor run of form on the ATP Tour behind him at Flushing Meadows and can have too many weapons for his game, but outgunned opponent.