Almost a month to the day from Roland Garros, the presence of Rafael Nadal is more than uncertain. That of Novak Djokovic is safer even if the concern emerged last week when the Serb announced his withdrawal from the Masters 1000 in Madrid.
Rafael Nadal has not played a single match this year on clay. It is an anomaly before the second Grand Slam of the year which begins on May 28, which he has won 14 times. If on social networks, videos of the player in training have been published, the Mallorcan has assured that he is not yet ready to return to competition. After Monte Carlo, Barcelona, ????the “Bull of Manacor” announced its withdrawal from the Madrid tournament. No one knows when the Iberian champion will return, who assured that he could not “give any time limits”. In a video, he also explained that he was starting a new treatment in hopes of defending his chances in Paris.
Like Monte-Carlo, the Madrid Masters 1000 is in the process of suffering a succession of packages. Shortly after Rafael Nadal and a few days before Roland Garros, another tennis icon retired. This is Novak Djokovic. The Serb didn’t mention the reasons for his withdrawal. However, we had seen the world number 1 with discomfort in the right elbow. So far, “Nole” has suffered two defeats on clay, one in Monaco, the second in Banja Luka in Bosnia. Unlike his rival, his presence at Porte d’Auteuil raises fewer doubts despite his withdrawal from the Spanish tournament. Among the players absent from Madrid is also Jannik Sinner who has played a lot in recent weeks. The Italian was unable to play his quarter-final in Barcelona against Lorenzo Musetti. Matte Berrettini re-injured recently, Nick Kyrgios is still recovering like Marin Cilic. The Croatian, semi-finalist last year at Porte d’Auteuil still does not know if he will be there in Paris. The French capital may not see John Isner either, whose state of health is unknown. The American giant still dreams of a 500th success on the ATP circuit.
The presence of Carlos Alcaraz seems inevitable, especially since the player has just won the Barcelona tournament. Stefanos Tsitsipas who was in the final of the ATP 500 still competes in the tournaments preceding Roland Garros. Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev continue to play in competition every week like Andrey Rublev who has just won the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo and made a final in Banja Luka. Holger Rune also grabbed a title in Munich on Sunday 23 April. He will be one of the players to follow this year on Parisian soil. Among the French, the harvest is much less good, even if however, it will be necessary to watch closely, Luca Van Assche, victorious of a certain Stanislas Wawrinka in Bosnia at the age of only 18 years.
In addition, the Roland Garros tournament has published the list of players registered for the second Grand Slam of the season. Among the men, eleven French players qualified directly. they are all in the top 100 of the ATP rankings. Among them are Richard Gasquet, Benjamin Bonzi, Adrian Mannarino, Grégoire Barrère, Constant Lestienne, Corentin Moutet, Quentin Halys, Ugo Humbert, Arthur Rinderknech, Luca Van Assche and Alexandre Muller. Gaël Monfils and Jérémy Chardy, who have fallen back beyond 300th place in the world, are also registered through their protected ranking. Among women, there are very few French players. They are only three French to be qualified in the main draw with Caroline Garcia, Alizé Cornet and Océane Dodin (last entrant).
Amélie Mauresmo, director of the Roland Garros tournament, unveiled this Friday, April 21 the various new features that will take place in this 2023 edition of the French Open. First, a tribute to Yannick Noah will be organized to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his victory. The children’s charity day on the Saturday preceding the opening of the tournament will be renamed “Journée Yannick Noah” and a mural in his image will be erected.
The opening week will be set up, this concerns the qualifying week, during which spectators will also have the opportunity to see the training of the players from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the Philippe-Chatrier court.
In agreement and above all at the request of the players, the night session at Roland-Garros has been brought forward by 30 minutes to start at 8:30 p.m. so as not to end too late in the night in the event of a very long match.
Amélie Mauresmo announced the establishment of a company to fight against cyberbullying. In detail, all parasitic messages will be erased. “It’s great for the mental well-being of the players, welcomed Mauresmo. It cleanses the mind. Everyone will be able to present themselves more free on the court. I can’t wait to see the feelings of the players on this service.
At Roland Garros, the official program for each day, available on the official website, can sometimes be turned upside down. Indeed, if the schedule for the start of the day is quite clear, it is very difficult to count on the exact time of the end of the matches. The main constraints for the organizers: the weather and the sunset time. In fact, only the Philippe-Chatrier court has a retractable roof and can host matches at night. Other courts do not have lighting.
Roland-Garros 2023 begins with the main draw matches on Sunday May 28, 2023. The date for the men’s final, which traditionally closes the fortnight, is set for Sunday June 11, 2023.
The Roland Garros ticketing system (see the official site) is the same as previous editions. The objective of the organizers is to fill the courts “to full capacity”. For this, access to the stands has been reworked with the sale of 1,500 “annex-up” tickets which will allow ticket holders to attend matches on the annex courts but also to fill the boxes of the central court Philippe Chatrier , in case of low attendance. Often empty, the presidential stand will experience change in this 2022 edition. The organizers will give club volunteers the opportunity to attend matches from this stand, by inviting them regularly.
Roland Garros has been open to the general public since Wednesday March 15 with the ticket office accessible to all. Visitors and spectators can now buy tickets on the official Roland Garros website. They will have to choose the remaining ones because the presidents of the tennis clubs and the licensees have already taken tickets for this edition of Roland Garros. The limit is set at a maximum of 8 tickets for the 3 main courts, up to a limit of 4 places per session, including a maximum of 4 tickets for the following 4 days (Saturday June 3, Sunday June 4, Friday June 9 and Sunday June 11) and 12 tickets maximum for the annexes the first week, within the limit of 4 per day.
The overall prize pool for Roland-Garros 2023 is not known. That of 2022 was 43.6 million euros, or 7% more than in 2019. 2.2 million euros are promised to the winners of the singles tables. The organizers had promised to make an effort in the allocations for the qualified and eliminated from the first round. Something done for players who have not passed the qualifications with a 66% increase in the allocation allocated to the qualifications compared to 2019 and 30% compared to 2021.
In a press release, the French Tennis Federation indicated that “the increase in the allocation for the 1st round of the singles table and for qualifications makes it possible to support the populations of players who have suffered the most from the health crisis in recent years. years.”
Broadcasters of Roland Garros in 2022, France TV and Amazon Prime (subscribe to Amazon Prime Video) have renewed their contract until 2027. The French Tennis Federation has extended this collaboration in March 2023. France Télévisions will broadcast all the matches of the day while Amazon Prime will broadcast all 11 night sessions from the first Sunday to the last Wednesday of the tournament. It is also this channel that will offer its subscribers the poster of the day. The two media have reached an agreement. They will co-broadcast the semi-finals of the women’s and men’s singles, women’s and men’s doubles and the mixed doubles final.
Here is the list of winners of the French Open at Roland-Garros since the Open era
What is the women’s record at Roland-Garros?
