All eyes on Serena at French Open

Paris, May 23: As usual, all eyes are on Serena Williams, no matter what - whether she’s attending the most talked- about wedding of the year or practising 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 on 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, a 36- year- old American, has played only four official singles matches in the early portion of her comeback and pulled out of clay- court warm- up events in Madrid and Rome in May. She is ranked 453rd this week.

DOES IT GO TO 11? 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.

NO FEDERER, MURRAY Skipping the French Open worked out well for 2009 champion Roger Federer in 2017, so why not do it again? He’s healthy but sitting out this portion of the season for the second straight year in a bid to be rested and refreshed for the grass, instead of putting his 36- year- old body through the grind required on the clay. Andy Murray, the 2016 runnerup, is recovering from hip surgery.

MORE RETURNS 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 this month in Rome, including against Ostapenko.

DJOKOVIC’S FORM It’s been a while since the world has seen Novak Djokovic at his best after a series of right arm problems interrupted a career that hit its zenith at the 2016 French Open, when he won his fourth Grand Slam title in a row. After taking half of last year off, then struggling a lot so far this year.