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[ad_1] PARIS: Iga Swiatek can become the first back-to-back women's champion at the French Open in 16 years if she can shake off a worrying injury. Elsewhere, rivals battle inconsistent form and bruised confidence ahead of the season's second Grand Slam tournament which gets underway in Paris on Sunday. AFP Sports looks at three talking points in the women's singles: World number one Iga Swiatek is already a three-time major winner after capturing the 2020 and 2022 French Opens as well as the 2022 US Open. Now the 21-year-old Pole attempts to become the first back-to-back women's champion at Roland Garros since Justine Henin won three on the bounce from 2005-2007. It is a challenge which has defied some of the greats. Maria Sharapova was champion in 2012 but then ended runner-up 12 months later. Serena Williams swept to the title in 2015 before falling short in the 2016 final. Since Henin's triple, Francesca Schiavone also joined the near-miss club...

[ad_1] PARIS: Despite finally clinching a first clay court title in his ninth year as a professional, Daniil Medvedev warned Friday that getting too "cocky" will undermine his assault on the French Open. The world number two arrives in Paris after securing his fifth title of 2023, the 20th of his career but first ever on the sport's most demanding surface, in Rome last weekend. With 14-time champion Rafael Nadal absent from Roland Garros for the first time since 2004, Medvedev's name is being mentioned as a possible championship successor to the great Spaniard. "For sure, maybe I have more expectation than I usually had in Roland Garros," the eccentric 27-year-old said. "But I know that it's also tricky and you have to kind of use this confidence, but not get cocky because that's where the danger is. "Sometimes you think, Oh, well, I played so well, now it's going to be easy. Then the first round you have problems. You get...

[ad_1] PARIS: Reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek will attempt to become the first woman to successfully defend the title in Paris in 16 years on Saturday when she faces surprise finalist Karolina Muchova. World number one Swiatek is bidding for a third Roland Garros crown in four years and fourth Grand Slam title following her 2022 US Open victory. Justine Henin was the last woman to win back-to-back French Open titles when she captured her third in a row and fourth in total in 2007. Swiatek, 22, has yet to drop a set in this tournament but will be wary of her Czech opponent who knocked out second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals after recovering from 2-5 and match point down in the final set. Swiatek's last-four win over Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil coupled with Sabalenka's agonising defeat ensured the Pole will remain at number one heading into the grass-court part of the season. She is the youngest woman since Monica Seles in the early 1990s to r...

[ad_1] PARIS: The French Open gets underway at Roland Garros on Sunday without injured 14-time champion Rafael Nadal who is absent for the first time since 2004. Iga Swiatek, meanwhile, aims to become the first champion to successfully defend the women's title since Justine Henin in 2007. AFP Sport looks at the top seeds' rivals looking to create first round shocks: Ranked at 159 in the world, 21-year-old Italian Flavio Cobolli has the unenviable task of taking on world number one and US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz after coming through qualifying at Roland Garros. Cobolli, who made the quarter-finals on clay in the ATP event at Munich in April, is playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time. Has already been a champion at Roland Garros – in 2020, he teamed with Switzerland's Dominic Stricker to win the boys' doubles. A former US Open junior champion, Brazil's Thiago Seyboth Wild is ranked 172 and had to play the qualifiers in Paris. ...

[ad_1] PARIS: Twelve months ago, a despondent Wu Yibing was retiring with injury from a low-level clay court tournament in Italy, earning a meagre 530 euros ($570) for his troubles. Fast-forward a year and 23-year-old Wu is his country's highest-ranked male player at 59 in the world and about to spearhead a landmark assault at the French Open where it has been 86 years since a Chinese man last played in the main draw. Wu will not be alone when the season's second major gets underway on Sunday as Zhang Zhizhen is also guaranteed a spot. Shang Juncheng can make it three Chinese men in the tournament if he gets through the final qualifying round on Thursday. "The excitement in China around the top Chinese male players is palpable now and there is strong media interest linked to the breakthrough of these players on tour," ATP executive vice-president Alison Lee told AFP. Kho Sin-Khie and Choy Wai-Chuen were the last men to represent China in the French capi...

[ad_1] PARIS: Novak Djokovic admits "history is hovering" over him as he takes on Casper Ruud in the French Open final on Sunday with a men's record 23rd Grand Slam title tantalisingly close. The 36-year-old Serb can set numerous landmarks in what will be his seventh championship match at Roland Garros. As well as breaking the 22-Slam tie he shares with Rafael Nadal, he can become both the tournament's oldest champion and the only man to win all four majors on at least three occasions. "The only thing I can say is that I'm very focused. History is always something that's hovering over me," said Djokovic , the 2016 and 2021 winner in Paris and now the oldest finalist in 93 years. Djokovic, playing his 34th Grand Slam final, can also return to the world number one ranking with victory over Ruud, replacing Carlos Alcaraz, the man he defeated in the semi-finals. Victory on Sunday would place him once again halfway to an historic calendar Gr...