Serena, Nadal and rain the focus
Despite some top stars missing there will be no shortage of excitement on the hallowed red clay
PARIS: As usual, all eyes are on Serena Williams, no matter what - whether she’s attending the most talked-about wedding of the year or practicing at Roland Garros.
That she recently engaged in those two activities on consecutive days, in different countries, highlighted what a star she is, in and out of tennis, and added to the buzz that Williams will, indeed, return to play at the French Open, which is what her coach has vowed.
Main-draw action begins Sunday in what would be Williams’ first Grand Slam tournament in more than a year.
The owner of 23 major singles titles, a record for the 50-year Open era, Williams hasn’t played on one of her sport’s most prestigious stages since winning the Australian Open in January 2017, while pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter on Sept. 1, then dealt with medical complications, and while she originally had hoped to be back on tour by the Australian Open this January, that did not work out.
Williams, 36, has played only four official singles matches in the early portion of her comeback and pulled out of clay-court warmup events in Madrid and Rome in May. She is ranked 453rd this week.
Here is what else to know about before play starts on the red clay courts .
RAFA’S TITLE QUEST
Rafael Nadal’s attempt to extend his record by winning an 11th title in Paris will be the main focus of the men’s draw. No other man has won more than six French Open titles in the professional era. The man nicknamed the “King of Clay” has been nearly unbeatable on the surface, even winning 50 sets in a row until a recent setback.
RETURN OF MARIA
Maria Sharapova will be getting back on the clay of Paris for the first time in two years, after missing the 2016 tournament while serving a drug suspension, then being denied the wild-card entry she would have needed in 2017 because her post-punishment ranking was too low to earn an automatic berth in the field. Given that she’s won the French Open twice, part of a career Grand Slam, and won a trio of three-setters in Rome
DJOKOVIC’S FORM
It’s been a while since the world has seen Novak Djokovic at his best. He looked a lot closer to himself in Rome, where he competed well before losing to Nadal.
NO COVER FROM RAIN
Now that the US Tennis Association is going to inaugurate a second retractable roof at US Open, and the All England Club is working on a second such setup for Wimbledon - allowing those two sites to join the Australian Open with multiple courts that can be covered, the French Open really seems behind the times when it comes to dealing with rain.
PRAJNESH WINS
India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran inched closer to a maiden Grand Slam appearance by reaching the final round of qualifiers, beating 32nd seed Marcelo Arevalo 6-4, 6-1. The left-hander will face the winner of the match between 13th seed Elias Ymer and Facundo Bagnis.