Nadal's Parisian procession threatened by long lay-off

Paris

RAFAEL Nadal has the perfect chance to equal Roger Federer's record 20 Grand Slam titles at the French Open he has made his own, but for once the conditions are stacked against the undisputed "King of Clay" heading into the rescheduled tournament, which begins on Sunday.

A record 12-time winner at Roland Garros, Nadal usually lands in Paris in May fresh from romping through the clay court season from Monte Carlo to Rome, before pummelling the pretenders to his crown.

Three of his French Open crowns have been achieved without even dropping a set.

But this time he heads for the French capital after playing only three matches in the last six months because of the Covid-19 pandemic that prompted his decision to sit out the US Open over concerns about the virus.

He resumed with a couple of wins against Dusan Lajovic and Pablo Carreno Busta in the Italian Open last week but the rustiness of the long lay-off was evident during his shock quarter-final defeat to Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.

Nadal made 30 unforced errors against Schwartzman and surrendered his serve five times in the straight sets defeat, explaining the loss as due to a "completely special and unpredictable year".

Lack of match practice

For six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker, Nadal's scant preparation could prove costly. "Even a Rafael Nadal needs match practice, and that's missing this year," Becker said. "He remains my No 1 for the title, but I think the others' chances are much better this year. This year is different."

While there are doubts about Nadal's form, his two closest competitors Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic will be better prepared. Federer is missing the tournament because he is recovering from knee surgery.

Thiem, beaten by Nadal in the last two Roland Garros finals, will be feeling confident after winning the US Open to finally land a first career Grand Slam, while world No 1 Djokovic went on to beat Schwartzman in the Italian Open final.

Nadal has had the better off Djokovic on clay in recent years but he will have to cope with different conditions this time due to a cooler climate than the usual warmth and the addition of night games.

Leading contenders

In the women's draw, former champion Simona Halep arrives as the player to beat in a women's draw missing title holder Ashleigh Barty and recent US Open winner Naomi Osaka, two of the world's top three.

Serena Williams can never be discounted as she launches another bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles crown, but Roland Garros is the American's least successful major despite her wins in 2002, 2013 and 2015.

Garbine Muguruza, who defeated Williams in the 2016 final, is another contender while fellow former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka is hoping to take the momentum from her run to the US Open final into the clay swing.

Last year's runner-up Marketa Vondrousova will again target a deep run in Paris having rediscovered some form at last week's Italian Open, where she made the semi-finals before losing to compatriot Karolina Pliskova.

The fourth-ranked Czech retired from the final with a thigh injury after dropping the first set to Halep, who extended her winning run to 14 matches after capturing a second consecutive title coming out of lockdown.

Pliskova, the second seed in Paris, said Halep was undoubtedly the favourite for a tournament pushed back from its traditional spring slot for the first time in its history due to the coronavirus.

She added: "I think she's (Halep) going to be the (top) favourite from the women's tournament, because I think also the way she played, she played already (won) Prague on clay. She won this tournament (the Italian Open)."

Halep, who also won in Dubai before the five-month tour suspension, spent the break working hard on her fitness, but said the global health crisis had given her a fresh outlook on tennis.

No woman has successfully defended the French Open title since Justine Henin won three times in a row between 2005 and 2007, a trend set to continue with Barty pulling out over the coronavirus fears that also prompted her to skip the US Open.

A sore hamstring has sidelined three-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, while Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open winner, will miss the tournament as well. The Canadian hasn't played since hurting her knee last October at the WTA Finals.

Despite the notable absentees, the field here is stronger than the US Open where six of the world's top 10 players skipped the event, with the return of Halep, Elina Svitolina, Kiki Bertens and Belinda Bencic.

"As I said always, many girls from the top 10, top 15 have a chance to win a Grand Slam," said Halep. "Roland Garros is very open, because it's clay court but it's a little bit faster, so also the big hitters can win it easy."

The Romanian holds a 20-2 record this season and is unbeaten since January - her only losses came to Aryna Sabalenka in Adelaide and to Muguruza in the Australian Open semi-finals.

As for Williams, who turns 39 on Saturday, she has not added to her Grand Slam haul since winning the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant. The window of opportunity is closing for her to finally match Margaret Court's total, with an unmistakeable sense of an opportunity gone begging after her semi-final exit at Flushing Meadows.

Williams withdrew from the Rome event with an Achilles strain, meaning she will arrive in the French capital without having played on clay this year. REUTERS, AFP