2020 French Open report one: Welcome to Paris
The experiences at the U.S. Open and other events contributed to the conditions in Paris where American, Serena Williams, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic are chasing career records.
Victoria Azarenka denied Serena the finals in New York where Novak Djokovic’s out-of-character reaction led to his disqualification. Nadal opted out of New York, but his warm-up in Rome was upset in his first loss to Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman. Djokovic barely escaped a similar fate and clinched the fifth Italian Open title that took him one past Nadal’s 37 Masters Titles.
Naomi Osaka’s hamstring is still sore, so she won’t have enough time to prepare for the clay.
The French authorities have limited access to only 1,000 spectators each day of the fortnight. Some players tested positive for COVID-19 and were dropped from the list of competitors.