PARIS (AP) 鈥� Jannik Sinner won’t have the crowd on his side when he starts his quest for a career Grand Slam at the French Open.
Sinner was on Thursday drawn a French opponent in the first round 鈥� Clement Tabur, ranked a career-high 165th. Tabur received the wild card vacated by former champion Stan Wawrinka, who gained a late automatic entry.
With two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz , Sinner is the overwhelming men’s favorite on the red clay of Roland Garros, where play starts on Sunday.
The Italian is unbeaten in three months. He’s won 29 straight matches and dropped just three sets. The French Open is the only major Sinner hasn鈥檛 won. Sinner had three match points in last year’s final but match.
In the women’s draw, is trying to become just the third woman to successfully defend the Roland Garros title this century after Justine Henin and Iga Swi膮tek. Gauff will start her campaign against fellow American Taylor Townsend, a doubles specialist.
Gauff said at the draw she was 鈥渁s ready as you can be.鈥�
鈥淚 feel I had a good tournament in Rome, similar to the preparation I had last year, so I feel really ready.鈥�
In the absence of Alcaraz, who will , Sinner has claimed all three clay Masters trophies in , , and . Sinner has the fifth longest winning run in the ATP Tour era (since 1990). Novak Djokovic has the record of 43 straight wins in 2010-11.
With his historic Rome title 鈥� first homegrown men’s champion in 50 years 鈥� Sinner became the second man after Djokovic to win all nine Masters, the biggest tournaments outside the .
Djokovic continues to chase an unprecedented 25th major title. But the Roland Garros champion from 2016, 2021, and 2023 is in Paris with only this season and only three tournaments all year because of a shoulder injury. The 38-year-old will take on Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round. Djokovic couldn’t meet Sinner until the final.
No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev, still looking for his first major crown after making it to the 2024 final in Paris, will be up against another local player, Benjamin Bonzi.
Home favorite Arthur Fils, the highest-ranked French player at No. 19, opens against in a mouthwatering contest.
Gauff aiming for back to back
came with a victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final a year ago.
Just like last year, Gauff was the , losing in the final to Elina Svitolina. She is No. 4 and seeded to meet No. 1 Sabalenka in the semifinals.
While Sabalenka remains unbeatable at times on hard courts, she is still perfecting her game on clay. She was in the Madrid Open quarterfinals and lost in the third round at the Italian Open to .
Sabalenka appeared visibly bothered by lower back pain in Rome. Her first-round opponent is Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, a Spaniard ranked 51st.
Elena Rybakina, ranked No. 2 and this year鈥檚 , is in the same half of the draw as No. 3 Swi膮tek.
Rybakina has mixed results on clay. She has reached the French quarterfinals twice. She starts against Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia.
Swi膮tek, the four-time French Open champion, lost to Svitolina in the Rome semifinals and is still reshaping her game under who used to work with Rafael Nadal. at Roland Garros ended in the semifinals last year with a loss to Sabalenka. She opens against Emerson Jones of Australia, a wild card.
Svitolina, who is from , claimed the for her first WTA 1000 trophy in eight years 鈥� and is back in the top 10 after a maternity leave. But she鈥檚 never been past the semifinals of a Grand Slam, and never past the quarterfinals at the French Open. Svitolina takes on Anna Bondar in the first round.
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