French Open: Djokovic, Nadal launch Roland Garros bids as Swiatek puts streak on line

Defending champion Novak Djokovic and 13-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal start their Roland Garros campaigns on a star-studded Monday, while women’s favourite Iga Swiatek begins her quest for a second title in three attempts.

Unseeded Naomi Osaka faces a tough first-round test as she returns to Paris a year on from her dramatic withdrawal after she was fined and threatened with a grand slam ban for refusing to honour media commitments.

In the opening women’s singles match, China’s Wang Xinyu suffered a tough loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, going down 6-4, 6-1 within the space of 90 minutes. In the men’s singles, Spanish teen Carlos Alcaraz passed his first test with flying colours, eliminating Juan Ignacio Londero after one hour and 50 minutes to reach the second round at the clay-court major.

Djokovic plays Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan in the first of 10 night sessions – introduced at Roland Garros last year when a pandemic curfew saw most late matches played in front of empty stands. It is the world number one’s first grand slam match since his high-profile deportation from Australia. He won his first title of the year at the Italian Open earlier this month.

“I feel I am always in that contention to fight for any grand slam trophy,” said Djokovic, who is seeded to meet Nadal in the quarter-finals and Spanish teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz in the last four.

Djokovic’s last match at a major was his loss to Daniil Medvedev in last year’s US Open final, a defeat which denied the Serb a calendar grand slam.

Nadal has yet to win a title on his beloved clay this season, but played down concerns over the chronic foot issue that resurfaced in Rome.

“There is nothing to recover,” said Nadal who faces Australia’s Jordan Thompson.