Night session first up for Murray at Roland Garros
ANDY MURRAY is set to serve up more late-night drama today. The Scot’s first-round meeting with old rival Stan Wawrinka at the French Open has been chosen for the first night session of the tournament and will not start before 7.15pm UK time.
If the match is anything like their epic five-setter in the semi-finals in 2017, which Murray lost after a fourand-a-half-hour battle, it will be another long night for the two-time Wimbledon champion.
Seven years on the three-time Grand-Slam winners, now with a combined age of 76, will play each other for the 24th time in their illustrious careers.
Great Britain’s Jack Draper is also in action on day one, facing Dutch qualifier Jesper De Jong.
Rafael Nadal, meanwhile has revealed this year’s French Open, may not be his last after all.
The 14-time Roland Garros champion had previously said he expects to retire after the current season.
But Nadal, 37, performed something of a volte-face in Paris yesterday by not ruling out a return.
The Spaniard said: “In terms if that’s going to be my last Roland Garros, it’s a long answer, but I think I need to answer that, because we’re going to avoid future questions since the beginning – so I’m going to do it.
“As I said, it’s a big, big chance that it’s going to be my last Roland Garros, but if I have to tell you it’s 100 per cent my last Roland Garros, sorry, but I will not, because I cannot predict what’s going on. I hope you understand.
“Myself, I have been going through a long process of recovery with a very difficult injury, almost two years of suffering, a recovering process that seems like I feel better now.
“I am not a guy that reacts because I lost there or I lost in the other place, no? I react about my personal feelings, and my personal feelings are better now than one month-and-a-half ago, without a doubt.
“So in some way I don’t want to close, 100 per cent, the door, because of a very simple thing.
“First thing, I am enjoying playing tennis. Second thing, I am travelling with the family. They are enjoying and I am enjoying sharing all this process with them.
“And the third thing, I was not able to explore yet the proper way how I will be able to play in more or less healthy conditions, playing without limitation. So give me some time. Maybe in one month-and-a-half I say ‘Okay it’s enough, I can’t keep going’, but today in some way I cannot guarantee that that’s going to be the last one. But of course it’s a big chance.”
Nadal, unseeded this year for the first time, faces world No.4 Alexander Zverev in the first round tomorrow.
“Of course on paper it’s not the best draw,” he added. “I play against one of the toughest opponents possible, and at the same time, he came here winning the last event and it’s a
Masters 1000. It’s not a small one. So just, yeah, what can I do? That’s the draw. Just try to be ready for it.”
Today, former world No.1 Naomi Osaka is first up on Philippe-Chatrier against Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti, and she is hoping to be inspired by her daughter as she continues taking baby steps on clay.
Osaka has been reunited with Shai at Roland Garros and revealed the 11-month-old walked for the first time on Friday.
“I was really happy about that,” said Osaka. “We’re going to practice some more when I get back. But yeah, it’s really cool to have her here, just to see how much she’s grown and how many things she’s doing differently. It’s kind of surreal. Yeah, I am learning a lot of lessons through motherhood, and I hope that I can remember to apply them on the tennis court.”
Four-time grand-slam winner Osaka, who returned to competing after maternity leave in January, has never progressed past the third round in Paris. But the 26-year-old did get three clay-court wins under her belt in Rome this month.
“At this point I feel pretty comfortable on clay to the point where I don’t know if I’ll be a little confused my first day back on a hard court,” she added. “But I also think it’s because I have been in Europe for what feels like a very long time already. But, yeah, I think clay is fun. You get to slide around.”
British No.1 Katie Boulter faces a tough opener against former world No.2 Paula Badosa, who has slipped down the rankings due to injuries.
The pair have become close friends, with Badosa saying: “When I was injured, she was checking on me. I think a long time ago she had a similar injury. So we are good friends. She’s a nice person. Really happy how she started the year. I think she’s playing very well. She’s a dangerous player.”
Boulter and Badosa have another thing in common – love doubles – with both dating fellow tennis players.
Boulter’s partner is Australian Alex De Minaur while Badosa recently got back together with Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Badosa added: “I think one of the things that I didn’t like or we didn’t like is that it was very public, so now we want to keep things a little bit more on our own. I still understand that it’s not going to be easy because we are two public people, and people will ask, but we want to keep it more for ourselves because it’s never easy to combine our careers to that.
“Let’s just try to keep it simple for both of us, because I think it helps and it’s healthier.”
Of course on paper it’s not the best draw.
I play against one of the toughest opponents possible. So just, yeah, what can I do? That’s the draw