It almost seemed surreal to see Sara Errani in the French Open qualifying draw. Just five years, she was one match from winning the French Open before Maria Sharapova beat her 6-3, 6-2. She had beaten French Open champion Ana Ivanovic in the Third Round, two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Round of 16, future two-time grand slam champion Angelique Kerber in the Quarterfinals, and US Open champion Sam Stosur in the Semifinals. That was a very impressive run. In addition, Sara has won three Australian Opens, a French Open, and Wimbledon with former doubles partner Roberta Vinci.
At Roland Garros, Errani backed up this success with a Semifinals showing in the 2013 French Open, and then reaching the Quarterfinals at the 2014 and 2015 French Open. These is some serious success at one major, and after reaching the Quarterfinals as recently as two years, it is definitely a shock to see Errani in the qualifying draw this year.
Errani's slide down the rankings came soon after the biggest title of her career, winning a Premier event in Dubai. After her title in Dubai, she lost four of her next six matches, made the semis of Charleston, and then proceeded to lose every match for the rest of the clay court season up to the French Open, including a shocking First Round loss to Tsetvana Pironkova at Roland Garros.
The grass court season was not successful for Errani, going 1-2, and she had middling results for the rest of the season, which included First Round losses in four of her final five tournaments of 2016, including at the US Open. 2017 has not been great to Sara either, as she lost in her first match of the season at Brisbane, had to withdraw from the Second Round of the Australian Open before her match against Ekaterina Makarova, and proceeded to lose in the Second Round of her next three tournaments, even on the clay of Charleston. Not great results from Errani, and given her horrendous form to end 2016, it seemed as if she would be playing in qualifying of the French Open.
Errani showed glimpses through some of the clay court season that she could eventually gain back her form. She made the Quarterfinals of Bogota, and later in the clay court season, made the Semifinals of Rabat. But, there were also moments this clay court season where you wondered if Errani would never be close to the player she was in the past. Errani lost in the Second Round of Istanbul to Elise Mertens, the First Round of qualifying in Madrid to Pauline Parmentier, and the First Round of Rome to Alize Cornet (which she got a wildcard in order to get into the main draw without playing qualifying).
So, when the qualifying draw came out, while it seemed like Errani would be able to get through the draw without much trouble, you could never be certain given her erratic form. However, Sara's form in qualifying has been spectacular. In her First Round match in the qualifying draw, Errani played a French wildcard, Sara Cakarevic. And Errani played up to her abilities and competed like the former Roland Garros Finalist that she is, destroying Cakarevic 6-1, 6-0. It was very clear at that point that Errani would be on her game and would be nearly impossible to beat in qualifying.
Sara continued her good form in the Second Round of qualifying when she played Veronika Kudermetova. Errani destroyed Kudermetova, as well, winning 6-1, 6-2. This means that, after her first two qualifying matches, Errani only lost four games. Then, in the Final Qualifying Round, Sara beat Nicole Gibbs 6-3, 6-0. This gave Errani to 6-0 sets in qualifying to along with two 6-1 sets. No opponent got more than three games in a set, or in a match, against Errani during French Open qualifying.
I really think that winning so easily during French Open qualifying will be a turning point in the year for Errani. Watching Errani play for much of last year and this year so far, much of the problem with Errani's game is that she has lost a tremendous amount of confidence. She isn't hitting her groundstrokes with the authority that she once did, and this affects both the depth on her groundstrokes, and has also damaged her fighting spirit. The Errani that I saw, for instance, lose to Christina McHale in Brisbane and Johanna Larsson in Bogota was not the Errani that I had watched a couple years ago. She had lost both her fighting spirit and the depth on her groundstrokes, and I have a feeling it has been largely a confidence issue for Sara.
I truly believe that not just winning in qualifying, but dominating in every match she played, will give Errani a lot of confidence. Just a few weeks ago, Sara was the one losing 6-0 in a set, in the semis of Rabat, which could have caused her to lose some of the confidence she had gained over the course of the week. But to come to a place where she has won the doubles title and made the singles Final, and to play so well over the course of three matches, it signals good things in Errani's future in Paris.
So, now Sara moves onto the main draw. She will open up against Misaki Doi, who was having a good week in Nuremberg, before retiring in the Semifinals against Kiki Bertens. Overall, that is a pretty good draw for Errani, and I expect her to come through that match and set up a tough Second Round match against, most likely, Kristina Mladenovic, who has had a great year so far.
But, no matter the results in the main draw of the French Open, I can't help but to think that Errani is on the right track in turning her year around. I believe Sara will gain a lot of confidence from the qualifying event in Paris, and this will be crucial to her success for the rest of the season, and even in a broader sense, for the rest of her career. Based on her results in qualifying, Sara Errani is ready for the main draw of the French Open.
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