To the west of Paris, on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, Roland Garros begins today.

Two of our best tennis players, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari, are taking part in the main draw, and they didn’t draw. But both have shown that clay is the surface that suits them, and they’ll have to prove it at an event that, as far as the male picture is concerned, is missing the title’s chief contemporary…bodyguard.

The Roland Garros stadium was built in 1928 and named after the adventurous hero pilot of the First World War. This is because René Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon and Henri Cochet, who were the four winners of the cup held in the USA in 1927, wanted to defend their title outside the United States of America.

They were called the Four Musketeers and the Philadelphia Four. In their honor, in 1981, the cup awarded to the winner of the men’s singles title is “Coupe des Mousquetaires”, which means “Musketeers’ Cup”. In contrast, the Women’s Cup, like the satellite court built in the 1990s, is named after champion Suzanne Lenglen.

We can say that the modern bodyguard of the trophy is Rafa Nadal. The Spaniard has won the title 14 times. This is an unprecedented record that has not been repeated in any Grand Slam tournament in the history of the sport. However, the foot of the 36-year-old tennis player this time will not set foot on the dirt surface of his favorite stadium.

Injury problems prevented him from being in the condition he wanted and he pulled out. According to his statements, he will try to return next season and defend his title one last time. Even Roger Federer has said he will miss Rafa Nadal at this year’s Grand Slam.

And this year, two Greeks were among the best in the world.

Stefanos Tsitsipas ended up on the same side of the board as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcarat. If he reaches the quarter-finals and the Spaniard has the same streak, they will face each other. The winner will face Novak Djokovic, unless, of course, the Serbian sports superstar falls victim to injury, surprise, or… “got hit by the match umpire).

Kalovelonis: Stefanos soil suits him. I attribute him to the favorites – Panagopoulou: Maria showed what she is capable of.

“The soil suits Stefanos. I include it in my favorites. I would say the favorites are Djokovic, Alkarat, Stefanos, Rooney and Rudd. No predictions can be made on the ground. Clay is slower and you don’t rely on 100% pitch like you would on grass. Thus the advantage is reduced. On grass, the ball spins more slowly. In the soil, the exchanges are more numerous. At least 7-8. So you need to run more. Clay sets last longer on average. Grass and plastic are almost the same. When the ball hits the grass, you need a better reaction,” former champion and current coach Giorgos Kalovelonis told K.

Former tennis champion Deniz Panagopoulou on the same wavelength: “Stefanos’ course on clay speaks for itself. Despite being an aggressive clay player, he seems to dominate with his shots and especially his forehand as well as his serve. His course this year on clay is very good, as he has many hours of play on his feet, which will be very useful in Roland Garros matches. I will definitely include him among the top favorites for the championship if he plays to his strengths and focuses his game.”

For Maria Sakkari, hard times will begin with the premiere. The top Greek tennis player will face Karolina Muchova (No. 42) of Czech Republic, who reached 19th place in the Australian Open semi-finals and two Wimbledon quarter-finals. Our champion met Mukhova last year as well. They met in the 2nd round and the Czech Republic defeated our champion and knocked her out of the continuation of the institution.

If Maria Sakkari manages to reach the 2nd round, she will play the winner of the Pontoroska-Ponce match, and in the third round she will face Irina Begu.

In the 1/8 finals, she will face Belinda Bencic and Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals. Our champion is on the same side as world No. 2 Arina Sobolenko, but in order to play together, they both need to reach the semi-finals. On the other side and at number 1 on the board Iga Sviontek. Bandosa pulled out of the tournament due to injury.

“Maria usually has a good record in the top ten athletes in the world. She has shown that she can go far in such an event and that she has learned how to wrestle and therefore she can achieve high results,” emphasized Ms. Panagopoulou, while Mr. Kalovelonis added: “Maria may not have played very well, but I I think it will take shape. Of course, he took part in quite strong tournaments. I would also put her in the top five. Of course, the draw that happened to her is pretty hard.”

Increase in the amount of remuneration

This year the prize fund of the tournament will be increased. The organizers announced that they will distribute a total of 49.6 million euros, which is 12.3% more than last year. Singles bonuses will increase by 9.1% compared to 2022, with male and female winners receiving €2.3m each.

Roland Garros will end on June 11th.

Djokovic favorite in absence of Nadal

With Rafa Nadal out of competition, the men’s table looks without… a bodyguard, as the Spaniard leads the Roland Garros conquests with 14.

Of course, this is what Novak Djokovic is fighting for, as he wants to increase his… clay collection. He has only lifted the trophy twice, in 2016 and 2021. Former tennis player and current coach Giorgos Kalovelonis also sees the Serbian as a favorite for the trophy.
Hungry and eager to have a course similar to that of his compatriot Nadal, Carlos Alcarat looks ready for a dynamic course in Grand Slams as well.

At the 2022 French Open, he reached the quarter-finals. The 20-year-old is in first place in the world rankings, and in order to stay there, he will have to prove his worth also on the courts. G. Kalovelonis, in addition to Stefanos Tsitsipas, also includes Rudd and Rooney as favorites, who are in 4th and 6th place in the world rankings. Norwegian Kasper Rud is 24 years old and reached the final last year. There he fell on… Sifunu Nadal and bowed. Rooney’s run at Roland Garros last year ended in the semi-finals.

Svetek, Sobolenko

In women, Iga Swiotek takes first place in the world ranking. The tennis player from Poland already has two trophies with Roland Garros (2020, 2022) and now wants to do it for the third time.

Arina Sobolenko is in second place in the world ranking. The 25-year-old Belarusian added her first Grand Slam trophy to her collection a few months ago when she won the title at the Australian Open.

As for her past performances at Roland Garros, she reached the third round three times. She is in excellent condition and looks capable of both expanding her trophy box and stopping Swiontek.