Location: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May-11 June |
Scope: Live text and radio commentaries of selected matches across BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website and app |
For the first time in nearly 20 years, the French Open begins this weekend with an added layer of intrigue.
14-time men’s champion Rafael Nadal has been sidelined by injury and two-time women’s champion Every Switek Not as strong as last year, the identities of both singles winners are very difficult to predict with any sense of certainty.
Nadal’s absence for the first time in 19 years will be keenly felt by organizers and fans alike, but his withdrawal has opened up the men’s draw further and given more players more incentive to win.
And there is an injury scare for Sviatek, whose position is challenging for the WTA world number one spot Arina Sabalenka And Elena Rybakina, leaves open.
Cameron Norrie, Ranked 14th, the nation’s players led the British charge in a venue that has had limited success this century. Either way Andy Murray Or Emma Radukanu Roland Garros will feature and no British women have qualified for the singles.
The clay-court tournament begins on May 28, concluding with the finals on June 10 and 11.
Nadal crown Alcaraz? Or will Djokovic win a record 23rd title?
While nothing is certain in sports, Nadal lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires is close to anything.
Not this year. Nadal, known as the ‘King of Clay’, who has lost just three of his 115 career matches at Roland Garros, has been ruled out by a chronic hip injury.
36 years old before last week’s announcement unable to play, Nadal had already fallen behind the Spanish world number one Carlos Alcaraz And 22-time major champion of Serbia Novak Djokovic A favorite in the eyes of many viewers.
After a strong start to the season, Alcaraz became just the fifth man since 2005 to claim the title.
After missing the Australian Open through injury, the 20-year-old US Open champion bounced back to win four of her next six tournaments – Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona and Madrid, while also reaching the Rio de Janeiro final and the Miami semis. Finals.
Back-to-back titles in Barcelona and Madrid helped extend Alcaraz’ record 20 wins from 21 matches on clay this season. Then came an unexpected twist in Rome.
Alcaraz lost to Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsson at the Italian Open in the last 32 and showed an uncharacteristic error in previous weeks.
Djokovic has won five of the last seven Grand Slam tournaments he has played in and knows a third win at Roland Garros would move him ahead of Nadal for most major men’s singles titles.
But their preparations are not smooth sailing.
The 36-year-old, who celebrated his birthday this week, missed the Madrid Open with an elbow injury and was not entirely comfortable in Rome before losing in the quarter-finals.
Nevertheless, Djokovic has the distinction, experience and history of winning major titles even in the face of adversity.
Who can challenge Alcaraz and Djokovic?
Russian Daniel Medvedev Ranked second behind Djokovic after winning his first career clay-court title in Rome.
Medvedev, 27, has long been seen as a hard-court specialist and few thought he would enjoy success on a surface he once described as fit only for “dogs playing in the dirt”.
A Danish youth Holger Rune, Having beaten Djokovic in Rome before losing to Medvedev, he has further showcased his talent with an impressive clay-court season and the 20-year-old world number six will go the distance in Paris.
of Norway Casper Rude, Losing to Nadal in last year’s final gave him a poor start to the season before reaching the semi-finals in Rome, but the 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas There is also the prospect of challenging again.
The 27-year-old Norrie, the 24th seed, has never gone past the third round Don Evans And Jack Draper Other Britons in the draw.
Murray, 36, Withdrawn over the weekend To prioritize the grass-court season in the build-up to Wimbledon.
Are we seeing the start of a new ‘Big Three’?
Over the years, since Serena Williams was in her prime, the women’s game has seen a revolving door of major champions.
In the past year, Switek has emerged as a dominant force, taking over as world number one when Australian Ashley Barty retired, then winning titles at Roland Garros and the US Open.
The 21-year-old from Poland is enjoying another successful season – understandably – not reaching the same heights last year when he won 37 games in a row.
Sviatek has won two titles so far in 2023 – Doha and Stuttgart – but is under increasing pressure from Belarus’ Sabalenka and Kazakhstan’s Rybakina.
With Sabalenka claiming her first major title at the Australian Open in January and Rybakina winning the Wimbledon title between Sviatek’s two major victories last year, the trio are fast becoming the WTA’s new ‘Big Three’.
Sabalenka, complementing her natural strength with improvements in her movement, has won more titles (three) and reached more finals (five) than anyone else this season.
On clay, the world number two lost to Switek in the Stuttgart final, before avenging that defeat by defeating her to win the Madrid trophy.
However, she suffered a shocking exit in Rome that led her to say she was “exhausted”.
Meanwhile, Rybakina has elevated herself to third favorite behind Sviatek and Sabalenka after winning the biggest clay-court title of her career in Rome.
The victory came under strange circumstances, however, as three of her six opponents retired through injury.
The deciding set of their quarter-finals involved Sviatek still on serve and Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in Saturday’s final when Rybakina led 6-4 1-0.
Rybakina had not previously been considered a force on red clay, but she always felt she could “play well on clay” and put her Rome success down to “experience and good preparation”.
Although she would have been in the top three along with Sviatek and Sabalenka had ranking points been awarded at Wimbledon – the victory lifted her to fourth in the world – and she will not face one of the top two players until the semi-finals. Roland Garros.
Who else can challenge?
While Sviatek, Sabalenka and Rybakina each lead one of the three major clay-court tournaments to Roland Garros, as well as the last four Grand Slams between them, several French Open champions have emerged from the shadows in recent years.
of Latvia Jelena Ostapenko The 20-year-old was unseeded in 2017 and her run to the Rome semi-finals is a reminder of just how successful she can be on the surface.
American teenagers Coco Gough The sixth seed could not make it back-to-back wins on European clay, losing to Sviatek in last year’s final, while the third seed Jessica Pegula – Gough’s doubles partner – has remained consistent this year.
The fifth seed Caroline Garcia Aiming to become the first French singles champion since Marie Pearce in 2000, has only reached the quarter-finals once in 2017 and lost in the last 32 in both Madrid and Rome.
From a British point of view, Radukanu Injured after surgery on her wrists and ankles, And seven other women failed to qualify, leaving the nation without representation in women’s singles at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2009 US Open.