French Open 2017

French Open

With the Roland Garros 2017 set to kick off on Sunday in Paris, SI's tennis experts and writers Jon Wertheim, Richard Deitsch, Stanley Kay and Jamie Lisanti discuss this year’s top storylines and predict the winners.

French Open 2017

What qualifier or other player do you see being a dark horse this year?

Jon Wertheim: Maria Sharapova would have been the obvious answer but we’ll have to wait for Wimbledon for that….Lucie Safarova was a finalist two years ago. Mostly on account of injury and illness she has fallen and will likely not be seeded. Similarly Genie Bouchard was a top five player not all that long ago. She’s taken her share of losses since but—as she showed in Madrid against the aforementioned Sharapova—she is still capable of top shelf tennis.

French Open Live Stream

As for the men, does Juan Martin del Potro qualify as a dark horse. No? Okay, we’ll take a pair of Pablo Honeys—Carreno Busta of Spain and Cuevas of Uruguay—instead.

French Open 2017 Live Stream

Richard Deitsch: Roberto Bautista Agut has played quality matches in Munich, Rome and Madrid, even if those runs ultimately ended against higher seeds. He took the first set from Novak last year in the fourth round before losing in four including 7-5 in the final set. If his draw is good, I could see a nice second week result

French Open Tennis 2017

French Open Tennis

Jamie Lisanti: Keep an eye on Juan Martin del Potro. After skipping the Australian Open in January, del Potro returned to the court in February. His match-play has been limited (thanks to some early round run-ins with the links of Djokovic and Federer) but the Argentinean will return to Roland Garros for the first time since 2012 with some solid clay-court wins under his belt. In Rome, he took out Grigor Dimitrov, Kyle Edmund and Kei Nishikori before losing to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. Del Potro will likely be one of the last seeded players in the draw, but never count out a former French Open semifinalist—if he can get past the expected early-round clash with a top seed, he’s certainly capable of stirring up the draw.

The French Open
French Open 2017 Live Stream
French Open 2017 Live 
French Open Live

On the women’s side, I like Svetlana Kuznetsova. She’s not your typical dark horse. But she’s a veteran, former French Open champ and all-around badass. My motto for the next two weeks? “Pain doesn’t kill me. I kill the pain.”

French Open Tennis

Stanley Kay: Does Juan Martin del Potro count? He hasn’t played a French Open since 2012, and he’s going to be a low seed. He played well in Rome, beating Grigor Dimitrov, Kyle Edmund and Kei Nishikori before falling to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. Del Potro could very well play a top player early in the tournament because of his seed, and he’s certainly capable of taking out anybody. While the clay dilutes his powerful forehand a bit, the slower surface also gives him greater ability to run around his backhands. 
Random player to watch: Pablo Cuevas. He’s 31, but he had a good clay season, losing to Dominic Thiem in close matches in both Madrid and Rome. In Madrid, he beat Thomas Bellucci, Nicolas Mahut, Benoit Paire and Alexander Zverev before losing to Thiem. I was impressed, and I think Cuevas could carry some momentum into Paris and at least make the fourth round, which would be his best career finish at a Slam.
Venus Williams isn’t a typical dark horse, but she’s certainly not a favorite to win. With the field pretty wide open and no little sister, I think Venus can make a serious run at her first French Open title. 
Anett Kontaveit impressed me in Rome by qualifying for the tournament before reaching the quarterfinals, beating Angelique Kerber in straight sets along the way. The 21-year-old Estonian looks like she could be a future star, and based on her form I think she could make some noise at Roland Garros.