Sports
Naomi Osaka and Carlos Alcaraz raise the curtain at the French Open
Naomi Osaka and Carlos Alcaraz close the curtain on Sunday at the French Open as Roland Garros prepares for a likely farewell to Rafael Nadal. Osaka, a four-time major winner who has yet to progress past the third round in Paris, is up first on the showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier against Italy's Lucia Bronzetti. Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon champion, will then begin his campaign against JJ Wolf of the United States, a lucky loser from qualifying. Andy Murray and fellow three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka close out the evening session.
Japanese star Osaka, former world number one, has a bittersweet relationship with the French capital.
In 2021, she was fined for opting out of mandatory media obligations before withdrawing from the tournament to protect her mental health.
A year later, she fell in the first round before leaving the sport for 16 months in September 2022 to start a family.
“I'm learning a lot of lessons through motherhood, and I hope I can remember to apply them on the tennis court,” said the 26-year-old.
Should she get past 48th Bronzetti, she will likely face top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek.
Now ranked 134th in the world after being outside the top 800 in January, Osaka is gradually learning to appreciate the demands of clay, where it is more difficult to simply knock her opponents off the court.
'Like a dance'
“Just watching other players more, watching how they play, watching how they move. I think the clay court is a little bit like a dance,” she said.
World number three Alcaraz reached the semi-finals last year, where he was defeated by Novak Djokovic. He later revealed that the prospect of meeting the world number one had caused so much tension that his body tensed up during the match.
Wolf, ranked 107th, has won just one match on tour in 2024. His only other main draw appearance at the French Open last year ended in a first-round exit.
Wawrinka, the 39-year-old 2015 champion, and 2016 runner-up Murray will meet for the 23rd time, a rivalry that has included two semi-finals in Paris.
Murray is playing his final season on tour, but whether 14-time champion Nadal will join him later this year remains to be seen.
Nadal, who turns 38 on June 3, revealed on Saturday that he has not committed to retirement and wanted to “keep the door 100% open”.
He missed the 2023 tournament with an injury and his appearance in 2024 could be short-lived after he was drawn against fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev on Monday.
“There is a very good chance that this will be my last Roland Garros, but if I have to tell you that it is 100% my last Roland Garros, I'm sorry, but I won't. I can't predict what's going on,” said Nadal. Saturday.
The Spanish legend has recorded 112 wins in 115 matches at the tournament since his title-winning debut in 2005, when he was just 19.
'Feel better now'
He has 22 Grand Slam titles to his name, second only to Djokovic's 24 on the men's all-time list, but his career has been plagued by injuries.
Nadal has played just four tournaments since January last year after suffering a hip injury and then a muscle tear.
As a result, his ranking has dropped to 276 in the world rankings and he enters the French Open unseeded.
“I went through a long recovery process with a very difficult injury, which bothered me for almost two years, but I feel better now,” he added.
“Without a doubt, I have fewer restrictions than three or four weeks ago.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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