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A23
SPORTS Thursday 24 May 2018

FRENCH OPEN '18: From Serena

and Rafa to rain, what to know

By HOWARD FENDRICH on Sept. 1, then dealt with the men's draw. No other
PARIS (AP) — As usual, all medical complications, man has won more than
eyes are on Serena Williams, and while she originally six French Open titles in the
no matter what — whether had hoped to be back on professional era. The man
she's attending the most tour by the Australian Open nicknamed the "King of
talked-about wedding of this January, that did not Clay" has been nearly un-
the year or practicing at work out. beatable on the surface,
Roland Garros. Williams, a 36-year-old even winning 50 sets in a
That she recently engaged American, has played only row until a recent setback. In this Jan. 28, 2017, file photo, Serena Williams holds her trophy
in those two activities on four official singles match- Nadal turns 32 on June 3, after defeating her sister Venus in the women's singles final at
consecutive days, in differ- es in the early portion of but he's never looked bet- the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Aus-
ent countries, highlighted her comeback and pulled ter on red clay. tralia.
what a star she is, in and out out of clay-court warmup NO FEDERER, NO MURRAY Associated Press
of tennis, and added to the events in Madrid and Rome Skipping the French Open
buzz that Williams will, in- in May. She is ranked 453rd worked out well for 2009 years, after missing the 2016 augurate a second retract-
deed, return to play at the this week. champion Roger Federer tournament while serving a able roof at this year's U.S.
French Open, which is what "It's going to be great to in 2017, so why not do it drug suspension, then be- Open, and the All England
her coach has vowed. see if she's back," defend- again? He's healthy but ing denied the wild-card Club is working on a sec-
Main-draw action begins ing French Open champi- sitting out this portion of entry she would have ond such setup for Wim-
Sunday in what would be on Jelena Ostapenko said. the season for the second needed in 2017 because bledon — allowing those
Williams' first Grand Slam Everyone surely will be straight year in a bid to be her post-punishment rank- two sites to join the at-the-
tournament in more than a watching. rested and refreshed for ing was too low to earn an forefront Australian Open
year. Here is what else to know the grass, instead of put- automatic berth in the field. as Grand Slam tourna-
The owner of 23 major sin- about before play starts on ting his 36-year-old body Given that she's won the ments with multiple courts
gles titles, a record for the the red clay courts of the through the grind required French Open twice, part of that can be covered, the
50-year Open era, Williams year's second Grand Slam on the clay. Andy Murray, a career Grand Slam, and French Open really seems
hasn't played on one of tournament: the 2016 runner-up, is re- won a trio of three-setters behind the times when it
her sport's most prestigious DOES IT GO TO 11? covering from hip surgery. this month in Rome, includ- comes to dealing with rain.
stages since winning the Rafael Nadal's attempt to MORE RETURNS ing against Ostapenko. An- The French tennis federa-
Australian Open in January extend his record by win- Maria Sharapova will be other familiar face back in tion has talked about fixing
2017, while pregnant. She ning an 11th title in Paris getting back on the clay of the draw: Victoria Azaren- this for years, and there are
gave birth to a daughter will be the main focus of Paris for the first time in two ka, who gave birth to a son supposedly firm plans finally
last year. in place, but there still is no
DJOKOVIC'S FORM way to play when rain gets
It's been a while since the heavy at Roland Garros.q
world has seen Novak
Djokovic at his best after a
series of right arm problems
interrupted a career that hit
its zenith at the 2016 French
Open, when he won his
fourth Grand Slam title in a
row. After taking half of last
year off, then struggling a
lot so far this year, Djokov-
ic looked a lot closer to
himself in Rome, where he
competed well before los-
ing to Nadal in their 51st ca-
reer matchup. "I don't think
that there was too much of
a difference," Djokovic said
after that setback, "which
is great for me, great news
for me."
In this May 19, 2018, file photo, Spain's Rafael Nadal, left, hugs Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the end RAINING ON THE PARADE
of their semifinal match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome.
Associated Press Now that the U.S. Tennis
Association is going to in-