Blog by Cedric Pioline - Part 2
Posted on April 22, 2009
I saw that Roger Federer lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in Monte Carlo. That’s got to hurt, losing to another Swiss player. I remember when I was French Number One it was so difficult to lose to another French guy.
I have to say I don’t really understand his decision to go to Monte Carlo straight after getting married. If it was me I’d want to go away for a few days with my wife and enjoy the moment, then when you come back to the Tour you’re ready to put 100% of your energy into tennis. So I was pretty surprised to see that he went to Monte Carlo. I don’t really understand that decision.
Nadal’s obviously the favourite for the French Open again this year. The few matches I’ve seen him play on clay already he’s looked incredible. There are a few others to watch like Novak Djokovic and Fernando Verdasco but I’m definitely picking Rafa. Wimbledon’s a bit more tricky. I think we might have a new champion there this year, not Rafa or Roger. I think there’s a good chance it could be a certain Scottish lad!
These days the transition between different court surfaces isn’t as difficult as I was when I was playing on the Tour, because they’ve slowed down all the faster surfaces. Even hard courts and indoor courts are slower now than they were ten years ago, and the transition from clay to grass is a lot easier than it was. I wonder if Rafa would have won Wimbledon if the grass was still as fast as it was ten or fifteen years ago.
Cedric