Novak Djokovic will bid for a record-breaking twenty third Grand Slam title at a French Open with out his outdated rival Rafael Nadal for the primary time since 2004.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Novak Djokovic will bid for a record-breaking twenty third Grand Slam title at a French Open with out his outdated rival Rafael Nadal for the primary time since 2004, whereas Iga Swiatek makes an attempt to turn out to be the primary lady to defend the title in 16 years.
Serbian veteran Djokovic won’t be the favorite for the title, although, after combating an elbow damage and failing to get previous the quarter-finals in any of his three clay-court occasions up to now this season.
Carlos Alcaraz received the Barcelona and Madrid Opens en path to taking up from Djokovic as world primary, whereas Daniil Medvedev is seeded second for Roland Garros after his maiden clay triumph in Rome.
But Djokovic will know this can be a huge alternative to interrupt out of his tie with 14-time French Open winner Nadal at the highest of the all-time checklist of most males’s Slam singles titles.
The two-time champion has misplaced eight of his 10 French Open conferences with Nadal who’s lacking this yr’s version because of a hip damage he suffered at the Australian Open.
Djokovic and Alcaraz are seeded to satisfy within the semi-finals after being positioned in the identical half of the draw.
“I felt bad when I hear that Rafa was not able to play here in Roland Garros,” mentioned Alcaraz on Friday.
“I always want to watch the best players in the world playing the tournaments.”
The 36-year-old Djokovic may additionally must get previous Monte Carlo Masters champion Andrey Rublev within the quarters.
The different aspect of the draw seems large open, with in-form Medvedev the best seed regardless of by no means having beforehand obtained previous the quarter-finals on the Paris clay.
The Russian misplaced within the first spherical on every of his first 4 visits earlier than making the quarters in 2021.
“I also don’t want to put too much pressure on myself, in a way,” mentioned Medvedev.
“But what happened in Rome was amazing, especially beating a lot of good players.”
Danish teenager Holger Rune, who made a shock run to final yr’s quarter-finals, may face Casper Ruud within the final eight in a rematch of a bad-tempered assembly 12 months in the past.
Ruud went on to be thrashed within the last by Nadal and in addition misplaced the US Open showpiece match to Alcaraz.
But the Norwegian world quantity 4 has struggled for kind this yr, solely reaching the quarters in two of the ten tournaments he has performed.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who misplaced the 2021 last to Djokovic after being two units up, might be among the many probably contenders however has not received a title but this time period — the longest he has needed to anticipate a trophy in a season since 2018.
‘New Big three?’
The winner of the ladies’s singles is anticipated to be one of many trio of reigning champion Swiatek, Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.
They have received the final 4 Grand Slam titles between them and at least certainly one of them has featured in each WTA 1000 last this season.
Swiatek, who turns 22 in the course of the match, would be the favorite as she chases a 3rd Roland Garros triumph and a primary profitable girls’s title defence since Justine Henin received her third French Open in a row in 2007.
The Polish star retired from her Italian Open quarter-final towards Rybakina with a thigh damage however skilled at Roland Garros on Wednesday.
“Luckily nothing serious happened, so I had couple of days off,” she mentioned Friday.
“I’m still recovering from the thigh injury, but I’ll be good for my first round.”
Wimbledon champion Rybakina, ranked fourth, has already received the Rome and Indian Wells titles in 2023 and will face Swiatek within the Roland Garros semis.
“If I play my best, which it’s impossible to play every time good and feel great, but I feel for sure no matter the surface, if I play my best, I can beat anyone,” she mentioned.
Other title hopefuls embrace final yr’s runner-up Coco Gauff, Tunisian Ons Jabeur and world quantity three Jessica Pegula.
