Djokovic eyes history at French Open as Swiatek launches title defence
Novak Djokovic will bid for a record-breaking 23rd Grand
Slam title at a French Open without his old rival Rafael Nadal for the first
time since 2004, while Iga Swiatek attempts to become the first woman to defend
the title in 16 years.
Serbian veteran Djokovic will not be the favourite for the
title, though, after struggling with an elbow injury and failing to get past
the quarter-finals in any of his three clay-court events so far this season.
Carlos Alcaraz won the Barcelona and Madrid Opens en route
to taking over from Djokovic as world number one, while Daniil Medvedev is
seeded second for Roland Garros after his maiden clay triumph in Rome.
But Djokovic will know this is a massive opportunity to
break out of his tie with 14-time French Open winner Nadal at the top of the
all-time list of most men's Slam singles titles.
The two-time champion has lost eight of his 10 French Open
meetings with Nadal who is missing this year's edition due to a hip injury he
suffered at the Australian Open.
Djokovic and Alcaraz are seeded to meet in the semi-finals
after being placed in the same half of the draw.
"I felt bad when I hear that Rafa was not able to play
here in Roland Garros," said Alcaraz on Friday.
"I always want to watch the best players in the world
playing the tournaments."
The 36-year-old Djokovic may also have to get past Monte
Carlo Masters champion Andrey Rublev in the quarters.
The other side of the draw appears wide open, with in-form
Medvedev the highest seed despite never having previously got past the quarter-finals
on the Paris clay.
The Russian lost in the first round on each of his first
four visits before making the quarters in 2021.
"I also don't want to put too much pressure on myself,
in a way," said Medvedev.
"But what happened in Rome was amazing, especially beating
a lot of good players."
Danish youngster Holger Rune, who made a surprise run to
last year's quarter-finals, could face Casper Ruud in the last eight in a
rematch of a bad-tempered meeting 12 months ago.
Ruud went on to be thrashed in the final by Nadal and also
lost the US Open showpiece match to Alcaraz.
But the Norwegian world number four has struggled for form
this year, only reaching the quarters in two of the 10 tournaments he has
played.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost the 2021 final to Djokovic
after being two sets up, will be among the likely contenders but has not won a
title yet this term -- the longest he has had to wait for a trophy in a season
since 2018.
The winner of the women's singles is expected to be one of the trio of reigning champion Swiatek, Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.
They have won the last four Grand Slam titles between them
and at least one of them has featured in every WTA 1000 final this season.
Swiatek, who turns 22 during the tournament, will be the
favourite as she chases a third Roland Garros triumph and a first successful
women's title defence since Justine Henin won her third French Open in a row in
2007.
The Polish star retired from her Italian Open quarter-final
against Rybakina with a thigh injury but trained at Roland Garros on Wednesday.
"Luckily nothing serious happened, so I had couple of
days off," she said 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 won
the Rome and Indian Wells titles in 2023 and could face Swiatek in 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 said.
Other title hopefuls include last year's runner-up Coco Gauff, Tunisian Ons Jabeur and world number three Jessica Pegula.
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