Au revoir! The French Open have not really started and say goodbye. In any case, the world’s largest clay court tennis tournament will begin with a large farewell ceremony on the first day of the tournament, because this Sunday will be missing from one that has shaped this tournament like no other: Rafael Nadal. Before exactly 20 years, the Spaniard opened in Paris for the first time and left a large silver cup in his luggage two weeks later. It was the beginning of an era with 14 wins in 19 tournament participation, which ended in the first year with the first round against German Alexander Zverev. Nadal ended in October. Those who use the freedom for themselves? Now the organizers want to appreciate their extraordinary career. Nadal should no longer bring a tennis racket, but maybe eat one or two tears. But farewells don’t always have to be sad. They also create space that can be played. Two decades of pure dominance are over. Who uses the freedom for themselves? If this question had been asked a few weeks ago, the answer to it would have been as difficult to find as a weak point in Nadal’s sandplace. The most world ranking Jannik Sinner was a three -month doping lock. Carlos Alcaraz said injured for the tournament in Madrid. And Alexander Zverev seemed out of shape. External content activated behind it frolicked in the world rankings with Taylor Fritz and Jack Draper, two players who grew up on Hardcourt and the red ash did not call their favorite covering. And Novak Djokovic, who got old and stumbled into the stumbling, was also not a clear favorite as the strong clay court players Lorenzo Musetti or Casper Ruud, who can be trusted, but still lacks the last punch in the very big games. Boris Becker, who will analyze the tournament for Eurosport. Colleagues of him comment in a similar way, giving the previous year’s winner the greatest chances. Even the world ranking Sinner said despite his strong comeback at the tournament in Rome after the defeat in the final against Alcaraz that he was currently the best player on sand. One of everyone else, you already know that from Nadal – everything in the old? What can change for a year! 2024 the field of men seemed so balanced and open as rare. At least six players were granted greater chances of title. The women had a clear favorite with the Polish clay court dominator Iga świątek, who in the end also took the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen home. Now the way to the title in the men only seems to go through Carlos Alcaraz, who plays the most variable. And for women, the four -time tournament winner świątek is in such a form crisis that more than a handful of players around Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff can calculate opportunities for the title. What can change a year! Nobody is in the French capital yet. The tournament didn’t even start. But compared to last year, the Paris tennis tennis is a wrong world. Send the revenge? Alexander Zverev caught a tricky lot with Learner Tien.DPadabei is far from agreed that Alcaraz will stroll through this tournament like the tourists through the Parc du Champs de Mars on the Eiffel Tower. In the first round, the Spaniard should actually meet the former top ten player Kei Nishikori. However, he had to cancel injured. Now it is against the Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri. Ben Shelton or Stefanos Tsitsipas could already wait in the round of 16, but in the quarterfinals Ruud.Schlier the way to the final should be for the upper half of the tableau, in which Sinner, Zverev, Draper and Djokovic frolks. Sinner has to go against a Frenchman in the first and, if successful in the second round, the audience will have against himself. Zverev also caught a tricky lot with Learner Tien. The 19-year-old American is one of the young savages, Zverev added a painful defeat in the round of 16 of the Acapulco’s round of 16 at the end of February. Submit the German revenge? In addition to Zverev, eight other German players are in the main field. As the best German woman currently, Eva Lys, who has recently appeared in the top 60 as the world as 59th in the world, is dealing with the American Peyton Stearns. There shouldn’t be the only interesting duel in the first round: the four-time Grand Slam tournament winner Naomi Osaka meets top ten player Paula Badosa. For the men, the American Ben Shelton has to make it against the Italian Lorenzo Sonego. When both were the last time it was about the semi-finals at the Australian Open. Nadal may be missing, at least the favorite role is clear to the gentlemen-but the first round promises: in Paris it is by no means boring. The 23-year-old prevailed on Saturday in the final on the Rothenbaum against the Russian Andrej Rublew 6: 2, 6: 4. For Cobolli, part of the “Golden Generation” around Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti of the same age, it was the only second tournament victory ever. Previously, he had also triumphed on sand in Budapest, and the world ranking of the world ranking listen had dispensed with participation in Hamburg after his comeback tournament in Rome after three months of doping. Germany’s number one Alexander Zverev, on the other hand, had traveled to his home tournament at short notice, but weakened by an infection in the round of 16. (SID)
