Tennis: Alcaraz headlines as French Open gets glimpse of future

PARIS, France -- Carlos Alcaraz headlines the first day of the French Open on Sunday as the teenage Spanish sensation gives Roland Garros a glimpse of the future of Grand Slam tennis.

The 19-year-old, bidding to become just the eighth teenager to capture a major men's title, is widely tipped to end the dominance of 13-time champion Rafael Nadal and two-time winner Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz is the tour's dominant player in 2022, winning a season-leading 28 matches with just three losses.

Three of his titles have come on clay in Rio, Barcelona and Madrid where he defeated Nadal, Djokovic and world number three Alexander Zverev to take the title.

On Sunday, Alcaraz begins his French Open campaign against Argentine lucky loser Juan Ignacio Londero, ranked at 141 but who made the last 16 in 2019.

Alcaraz was ranked 97 this time last year. He was only two when Nadal won the first of his 13 French Opens in 2005 but he made his mark at the 2021 tournament where he came through qualifying to reach the third round.

"He definitely is special," admitted Djokovic of Alcaraz who also claimed the prestigious Miami Masters earlier in the year.

Top seed Djokovic, who turns 35 on Sunday, and fifth-seeded Nadal, with 41 Grand Slam titles between them, are not in action on the first day.

Also sitting out the opening program is women's world number one Iga Swiatek, the 2020 champion in Paris, who is on a 28-match win streak, having won five successive tournaments.

German third seed Alexander Zverev, a semi-finalist in 2021 when he gave up a two sets lead to Stefanos Tsitsipas, begins his bid for a maiden Slam title against Austria' Sebastian Ofner, ranked at 218.

Ofner, without a win on the main tour since July last year, has come through qualifying at Roland Garros for the first time in five attempts.

Two-time runner-up Dominic Thiem, whose ranking has slipped to 194 after a lengthy battle with a wrist injury, plays Hugo Dellien of Bolivia.

Thiem has yet to win a match since his return in March.

Opening proceedings on Court Philippe Chatrier is Tunisia's Ons Jabeur who faces Poland's 56th-ranked Magda Linette.

Jabeur, the first Arab or African player to capture a WTA 1000 title with her victory in Madrid, has dreams of replicating her 2011 junior triumph on the Parisian clay.

The 27-year-old has made three clay finals this season -- losing to Belinda Bencic in Charleston and Swiatek in Rome -- and boasts a tour-leading 17 claycourt wins this season.

Also in action on Sunday is Greek fourth seed Maria Sakkari against Clara Burel of France.

Sakkari was a semi-finalist at the French Open in 2021 where she was defeated in three sets by eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova.

Agence France-Presse

French Open: One and done for home hope Tsonga

World number 91 Olivo was one game away from victory when their match was halted due to darkness on Tuesday, but he broke the 12th seed immediately when play resumed to advance 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4.

The 25-year-old is making his Roland Garros main draw debut and will meet Britain’s Kyle Edmund for a place in the last 32.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Djokovic finally wins French Open, beating Murray in final

PARIS — Novak Djokovic became the first man in nearly a half-century to win four consecutive major championships and finally earned an elusive French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, beating Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday.

This was the top-seeded Djokovic’s 12th appearance at Roland Garros, and his fourth final, and after being stymied over and over in years past, he managed to cast aside a shaky opening set to dominate No. 2 Murray the rest of the way, buoyed by a supportive crowd that repeatedly chanted his nickname, “No-le!”

When his victory was over, Djokovic took a racket to etch a heart in the red clay that had given him such heartache in the past and dropped down on his back.

Since losing the 2015 final in Paris, Djokovic has won 28 Grand Slam matches in a row, from Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, to the Australian Open in January, and now, at long last, the French Open.

The last man to hold all four major titles simultaneously was Rod Laver in 1969, when he earned a calendar-year Grand Slam. Djokovic now can set his sights on that ultimate tennis achievement, because he is halfway there.

The 29-year-old Serb’s first French Open trophy goes alongside six from the Australian Open, three from Wimbledon and two from the U.S. Open to give him a total of 12. Among men, only Roger Federer (with 17), Rafael Nadal (14) and Pete Sampras (14) own more.

On Sunday — the weather overcast but dry, unlike so much of the rainy past two weeks — the first choruses of “No-le! No-le!” accompanied Djokovic’s entrance to the court. They returned when an announcer introduced Djokovic during the warmup period. And again when he skipped from sideline to baseline to receive in the opening game — and, louder still, when Djokovic broke two-time major champion Murray to start.

All in all, it sounded as if this were Belgrade, rather than a neutral site.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Nadal back in Paris, no title to defend, no Federer to face

PARIS — Through the years, Rafael Nadal grew accustomed to a couple of givens at the French Open: He would arrive as the defending champion, and Roger Federer would be somewhere in the draw, often awaiting a showdown in the final.

This time around, neither is the case.

Federer withdrew a few days before Sunday’s start of the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, ending his record run of 65 consecutive major appearances.

“For the fans, for the tournament, for the world (of) tennis, in general, is … very negative news, no?” Nadal said.

Nadal won the title at Roland Garros every year from 2005-08 and from 2010-14 — a record nine in all, beating Federer in four of those finals — but returns to town trying to earn back the trophy after relinquishing it in 2015.

He is seeded fourth.

“It’s a tournament that I know I can play well,” said Nadal, who lost in the quarterfinals to Novak Djokovic a year ago. “If I am playing well, I know I can do good things.”

Nadal, who owns 14 major championships in all, could face No. 1 Djokovic in about two weeks in the semifinals — on what would be the Spaniard’s 30th birthday.

Asked about that milestone, Nadal waxed philosophical.

“You know, time never stops. Nobody stops the time,” he said. “That’s not a good thing, but at the same time, I am happy with my life. I enjoyed all these years on the tour, and I hope to keep enjoying the next couple of years.”

After dealing with health problems and a crisis of confidence last season, Nadal has been playing better on his favorite red clay of late.

He is 19-4 on the surface this season, including titles at Monte Carlo and Barcelona. Not bad, but not up to his old standards. In his past two tournaments, Nadal lost in the Madrid semifinals to Andy Murray, and the Rome quarterfinals to Djokovic.

“A lot of tournaments in a row playing well,” said Nadal, who faces Sam Groth in the first round in Paris. “I need to just keep going.”

Other things to know about the French Open, which begins Sunday:

Serena’s ‘drought’

Much was made of Serena Williams’ title in Rome last weekend being her first trophy in nine months. She does not consider that gap a big deal.

“I guess when you win all the time, if you go a couple of tournaments and don’t win them, it’s like you’re in a drought,” Williams said.

She is the defending champion and seeded No. 1 at Roland Garros, and another title would be her 22nd at a Grand Slam tournament, equaling Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era, which started in 1968.

Security stepped up

From patdowns at entrance gates to a 25 percent rise in the number of security agents, there is an obvious increase in protective measures at the tournament, about six months after terrorist attacks around the French capital.

“I notice more security pretty much everywhere,” No. 2-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska said.

Olympic push

A Grand Slam tournament is a Grand Slam tournament, so there is plenty at stake as always over the next 15 days, but there is an added incentive for some players: the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The ATP and WTA rankings of June 6 — the day after the men’s final in Paris — will be the basis for Summer Games qualification.

Doping talk

Two recent events put the topic of performance-enhancing drugs on the table in tennis.

Maria Sharapova’s positive test for meldonium and provisional suspension are keeping her out of the field at a tournament she won in 2012 and 2014.

And Nadal filed a defamation lawsuit in Paris last month against France’s former minister for health and sport, Roselyne Bachelot, after she said on a television show the player’s seven-month injury absence in 2012 probably was due to a positive drug test.

Cheating

A report about whether tennis was doing enough to investigate possible corruption stirred things up at the start of the Australian Open in January.

While the chatter has mostly subsided, the French Open revoked the wild-card entry granted to a French player, Constant Lestienne, because the Tennis Integrity Unit said he violated a rule.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Federer absence a ‘loss’ for French Open

World number one Novak Djokovic headed a cast of leading players expressing their disappointment on Friday at Roger Federer’s injury-enforced withdrawal from this year’s French Open.

Federer’s absence was a primary topic of conversation at Roland Garros with the 17-time major winner announcing he would miss the tournament after failing to recover from a back injury, bringing an end to his astonishing run of 65 consecutive Grand Slams.

“It’s definitely a loss for the tournament,” lamented Djokovic. “We’re definitely not used to seeing Roger skipping Grand Slams,” he added, with Federer missing a major tournament for the first time since the 1999 US Open.

“Obviously the nature of his injury is not light, and it kept him off this tournament that I’m sure that if there was any chance he could play he would participate.”

Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal said Federer’s absence was a blow to tennis fans, but the Spaniard admitted it wouldn’t personally impact his preparations.

“I think for me it is not changing much. But I understand that for the fans, for the tournament, for the world in tennis in general it’s very negative news,” said the world number five.

“Every tournament that a big player like him is not able to play is negative news for the world of tennis.”

Serena Williams, who like Federer will turn 35 later this year, hailed the Swiss star’s longevity and conceded it would be strange not to see the 2009 French Open champion in Paris.

“I think he plays most slams, so definitely — 65 in a row? That’s a lot.

“I think it’s just pretty awesome, but it means he cares about his future and the Olympics this year and Wimbledon and US Open. He probably wants to give himself the best chance. It’s a shame not to see him in the draw. He’s always such a staple.”

source: sports.inquirer.net