File photo of Rohan Bopanna (left) and Matthew Ebden.© X (formerly Twitter)
The much-anticipated French Open 2024 tennis tournament gets underway at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France on Monday. The main draw matches at the second grand slam of the year begin on May 26. Sumit Nagal secured his place in the main draw of the men’s singles thanks to his career-high world ranking of 80. He is the first Indian male player to qualify for the French Open main draw since Prajnesh Gunneswaran in 2019.
The 26-year-old Nagal recently stunned world No. 38 Matteo Arnaldi at the Monte Carlo Masters where he became the first Indian tennis player to qualify for the main draw of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in 42 years.
The centre of attention in the men’s singles will be the ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal of Spain and Serbia’s world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Nadal had missed the French Open last year for the first time since 2004 due to an abdominal muscle tear.
The Spaniard has won a record 14 French Open titles while his Serbian opponent won his record 24th Grand Slam men’s singles title at the French Open last year to get past Nadal. It was Djokovic’s third title victory at the Roland Garros. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have played many memorable matches at the Roland Garros over the years.
World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain is also expected to be a strong contender. He had made it to the semi-final last year before losing to eventual champion Djokovic.
Former US champion Daniil Medvedev and former Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner are also in the mix along with two-time French Open runners-up and world No. 6 Casper Ruud.
In the men’s doubles, veteran Rohan Bopanna, ranked fourth in the world, and his world No. 3 Matthew Ebden of Australia will be among the title favourites. They are the reigning Australian Open champions and are the second-seeded pair behind Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina.
Yuki Bhambri will partner Albano Olivetti of France while Sumit Nagal will also compete in the men’s doubles along with Sebastian Ofner of Austria. Anirudh Chandrasekar-Arjun Kadhe and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli-Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha are the two all-Indian pairs in this category.
Action in the women’s singles is expected to be led by world No. 1 and three-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek of Poland.
Swiatek won the French Open in 2022 and 2023 and is arriving at the Roland Garros after winning the Madrid Open earlier this month. However, the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina are all in contention for the top prize.
Indian tennis players at French Open 2024
Men’s singles: Sumit Nagal
Men’s doubles: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden (AUS), Yuki Bhambri-Albano Olivetti (FRA), Sumit Nagal-Sebastian Ofner (AUT), Sriram Balaji-Miguel Angel Reyes Varela (MEX), Anirudh Chandrasekar-Arjun Kadhe, Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli-Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha.
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