Naomi Osaka and Carlos Alcaraz bring the curtain up on the French Open on Sunday as Roland Garros prepares to bid a likely farewell to Rafael Nadal.
Osaka, a four-time major winner who has yet to get past the third round in Paris, is first up on the showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier against Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti.
Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon champion, then begins his campaign against J.J. Wolf of the United States, a lucky loser from qualifying. Andy Murray and his fellow three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka will close proceedings in the night session.
Japanese star Osaka, a former world number one, has endured a bittersweet relationship with the French capital. In 2021, she was fined for opting out of mandatory media commitments before withdrawing from the tournament in order to protect her mental health.
A year later, she fell in the first round before leaving the sport in September 2022 for 16 months to start a family. “I’m learning a lot of lessons through mother-hood, and I hope that I can remember to apply them on the tennis court,” said the 26-year-old.
Should she get past 48th-ranked Bronzetti, she will then likely run into top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek. Now up to 134 in the world after being outside the top 800 in January, Osaka is gradually learning to appreciate the demands of clay where it is harder to simply hit her opponents off the court.
“Just observing 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 made the semi-finals last year where he was defeated by Novak Djokovic, revealing later that the prospect of facing the world number one had caused so much tension that his body cramped up during the match.—AFP
