FRENCH OPEN
Nadal to miss French Open, 2024 likely to be last year of career
Holder Rafa Nadal will miss the French Open after failing to regain full fitness from a hip injury suffered at the Australian Open in January, and the 14-times Roland Garros winner added he expects to retire following the 2024 season.
Nadal, who has dominated the claycourt season for close to two decades, has competed at Roland Garros every year since claiming the first of his 22 majors in Paris in 2005.
“I’ll look to be 100% ready for next year, which I believe will be the last year of my professional career,” Nadal told a news conference at his tennis academy in Mallorca, Spain.
“The evolution of the injury I sustained in Australia has not gone as I would have liked. I have lost goals along the way, and Roland Garros becomes impossible.”
Nadal said he needs to stop playing for the foreseeable future to make a full recovery and return for what he anticipates will be his farewell season.
“I’ll not establish a date for my return. I’ll see how my body responds and take it from there,” said the 36-year-old, who is tied with Novak Djokovic with a men’s record 22 slam titles. “If I keep playing at this moment, I don’t think I can be there next year.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back in the highest level and compete for Grand Slams. What I will try to do is to give myself the opportunity to go back to what could be my final year competing at the highest level.”
The French Open runs from May 28 to June 11.
French Open organisers said on Twitter: “We can’t imagine how hard this decision was. We’ll definitely miss you at this year’s Roland Garros. Take care of yourself to come back stronger on court. Hoping to see you next year in Paris.”
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who is set to reclaim the top ranking before the French Open, and world number three Daniil Medvedev said they hoped for a swift return to court for Nadal.
“Very painful and sad for everyone that you can’t be at Roland Garros or play more this year,” Alcaraz wrote on Twitter. “I hope that 2024 will be a great season for you and that you can say goodbye like the great champion you are.”
Medvedev said the French Open draw would now be wide open.
“Even if he wouldn’t be 100% physically, but decided to play, he’d be a favourite,” Medvedev said in an on-court interview at the Italian Open.
“Hopefully he can come back, play some more Slams… He’s an amazing player, amazing athlete, one of the best in history.”
HIP PROBLEM
Nadal overcame a niggling foot injury to beat Casper Ruud in last year’s French Open final. But he has struggled with his latest issue and has not competed since January after hurting his hip flexor in his second-round match against Mackenzie McDonald that effectively ended his Melbourne Park title defence.
Nadal was initially set to miss up to eight weeks but skipped claycourt tournaments in Madrid and Rome to build his fitness after being ruled out of events at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona earlier this season.
In March, Nadal fell out of the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time since 2005 and is currently 14th.
Nadal’s 14 French Open titles are the most by any player at a single major. He boasts a stunning 112-3 record in Paris and is widely regarded as the ‘King of Clay’.
“With what that tournament is for me, you can imagine how difficult it is,” Nadal said. “I need to put a stop to my sporting career for a while. I will try to regenerate my body during these months.”
Nadal added one of his goals for next year was to compete at the Paris Olympics, when the tennis tournament will be staged at Roland Garros.
“It’s an extra motivation to focus in my return,” he said. “I went through some very difficult years and I think it’s time to take better care of my body, I have suffered a lot with injuries… What will happen next year I don’t know.
“Roland Garros will always be Roland Garros with or without me … there will be a new champion and I’m sure the tournament will be a big success.”
-Reuters
The first round of the French Open starts on Sunday, with Novak Djokovic beginning his hunt for a fourth crown and a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title when he takes on home hope Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, while world number three Alexander Zverev faces Benjamin Bonzi.
The claycourt Grand Slam starts under a shadow, with some players deciding to restrict their appearances at Friday’s and Saturday’s traditional pre-tournament media days amid growing tensions over prize money and player influence.
TOP MEN’S MATCH: DJOKOVIC V MPETSHI PERRICARD
Djokovic has played just one match since Indian Wells in March, and the 39-year-old will need to quickly shake off any rust when he meets Mpetshi Perricard for the first time in his career in his opening match.
The Serbian has spent the last two years trying to capture a 25th major crown that would move him past Margaret Court to take sole possession of the record, but that quest looks in danger of being prolonged.
“I wanted to play more , but my body was not allowing me. I was going through the rehabilitation process for my injury,” Djokovic told reporters.
“If I’m able to somehow maintain a level of freshness and progress… then I feel like I have always had a very good chance. I have proven that in Australia this year, where I was close to winning another Slam. I always have that belief in me when I’m on the court.”
TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: ANDREEVA V FERRO
Russian Mirra Andreeva has had a strong clay season, winning the Linz Open and reaching her first WTA 1000 final at the Madrid Open, while also making it to the semi-finals in Stuttgart and quarter-finals in Rome.
The 19-year-old begins against world number 200 Fiona Ferro of France, and should face little trouble if she can prevent the home fans from affecting her as they did in her quarter-final defeat to Lois Boisson at last year’s tournament.
“Obviously, the crowd is going to support her (Ferro) as much as they can, and that’s totally okay,” Andreeva said.
“I have some experience even from last year when I played quarters, so I pretty much know what to expect… We will see how it’s going to go, but I hope they’re not going to be too hard on me.”
CAN ZVEREV JOIN GRAND SLAM CLUB?
Zverev has been on the verge of a maiden Grand Slam title at many points over his career, reaching three finals and falling just short, and if the German is to finally accomplish the feat, the French Open looks to be his best bet.
The 29-year-old reached the final in Paris in 2024 and has made it to at least the quarter-final stage in seven of the past eight editions, putting him among the favourites this year, especially in the absence of injured world number two Carlos Alcaraz.
Zverev begins his campaign against Bonzi, who could prove a tricky customer; however, with the Frenchman being one of only three players to have taken a set off world number one Jannik Sinner during the Italian’s incredible 29-match winning streak.
FRENCH OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON SUNDAY (prefix number denotes seeding):
COURT PHILIPPE CHATRIER (play begins at 1000 GMT)
- Sinja Kraus (Austria) v 11-Belinda Bencic (Switzerland)
- Benjamin Bonzi (France) v 2-Alexander Zverev (Germany)
- 8-Mirra Andreeva (Russia) v Fiona Ferro (France)
- Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (France) v 3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
- COURT SUZANNE LENGLEN (play begins at 0900 GMT)
- 13-Karen Khachanov (Russia) v Arthur Gea (France)
- 26-Hailey Baptiste (United States) v Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic)
- 7-Taylor Fritz (U.S.) v Nishesh Basavareddy (U.S.)
- Ksenia Efremova (France) v 18-Sorana Cirstea (Romania)
- COURT SIMONNE MATHIEU (play begins at 0900 GMT)
- 15-Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) v Oksana Selekhmeteva (Russia)
- Katie Volynets (U.S.) v Clara Burel (France)
- Titouan Droguet (France) v 26-Jakub Mensik (Czech Republic)
- 28-Joao Fonseca (Brazil) v Luka Pavlovic (France)
-Reuters
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Venus Williams will compete in doubles at the French Open later this month, organisers confirmed on Wednesday.
Williams, 45, will partner with Hailey Baptiste, 24, for the clay-court tournament at Roland Garros, which begins on May 24 in Paris.
Williams, however, will not compete in the singles tournament.
She was a wild-card entry at the Australian Open, where she lost in three sets during the first round to Serbia’s Olga Danilovic.
Williams is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles. She has won seven Grand Slam titles in singles and 14 in doubles, including the French Open in doubles in 1999 and 2010.
-Reuters
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Newly-crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff, the first Black American to win the title in a decade, said on Saturday her victory in Paris was for people back home who looked like her and struggled amid ongoing political turmoil.
Gauff battled from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 and lift her first French Open crown and her second Grand Slam title after the 2023 U.S. Open.
She is the first Black American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015.
“It means a lot (to win the title), and obviously there’s a lot going on in our country right now with things — like, everything, yeah. I’m sure you guys know,” she said, smiling but without elaborating further.
“But just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of, I guess, people that look like me in America who maybe don’t feel as supported during this time period, and so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people.”
There has been ongoing political turmoil in the United States following the election of President Donald Trump last year.
Trump’s first few months in office have featured an unapologetic assault on diversity and inclusion efforts, unravelling decades-old policies to remedy historical injustices for marginalised groups in a matter of weeks.
In his second term, Trump revoked a landmark 1965 executive order mandating equal employment opportunities for all, slashed environmental actions to protect communities of colour and ordered the gutting of an agency that helped fund minority and women-owned businesses.
The actions have alarmed advocates, who say they effectively erase decades of hard-fought progress on levelling the playing field for marginalised communities.
“I remember after the election and everything, it kind of felt a down period a little bit and my mom told me during Riyadh (in November 2024) ‘just try to win the tournament, just to give something for people to smile for’.
“So that’s what I was thinking about today when holding that (trophy).
“Then seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. You know, some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic and things like that, but I’m definitely patriotic and proud to be American, and I’m proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support.”
Trump has previously denied claims he has employed racist attacks and an agenda throughout his political career.
-Reuters
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