Everything you need to know about 2018 French Open
What's the story
The second Grand Slam of the year- French Open is all set to start from Sunday, May 27 onwards at the Roland Garros. There is plenty of excitement in store as players would fight for the epic crown on clay. Will Rafa Nadal be able to defend his title? How will Serena Williams fare? Here is everything you need to know.
Comeback
Serena looks to shake off rust
23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams will be hoping to start well after featuring in just four matches in 2018 post her return from giving birth. The former world number one may be ranked 453rd in the world, but one cannot count her out. Serena kicks of her campaign against Czech Kristyna Pliskova. Serena's match fitness will be severely tested.
Women's singles
Halep leads women's singles charge
Romanian Simona Halep is seeded number one this time and is touted as the likely candidate to win the singles crown. Halep is eyeing her maiden Grand Slam. 2018 Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki will look to provide a stern challenge despite having a poor record on clay. World number 4, Elina Svitolina won the Italian Open recently and is another favorite.
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Women's top singles schedule on Sunday
(12) A Kerber vs M Barthel, (1) S Halep vs A Riske, S Kenin vs (21) N Osaka, E Tomljanovic vs (4) E Svitolina, Y Duan vs (7) C Garcia, (28) M Sharapova vs R Hogenkamp, Q Wang vs (9) V Williams.
King of clay
Will Nadal be supreme again?
With no Roger Federer and Andy Murray, Spaniard Rafael Nadal is once again the prime favorite. Nadal, a 10-time French Open winner, will go into the tourney as the defending champion. Recently he won an eighth title in Rome. Rafa begins his title defence against Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov in the 1st round.
Djoker
Djokovic out to put away injury woes
Serbian Djokovic has dropped down the rankings (22) after suffering an elbow injury. The former world number one recently reached the semis of Italian Open where he lost to Rafa. The 12-time Slam champion needs to start strongly and take his time. Besides Djokovic, Swiss maestro Stan Wawrinka, Croatia's Marin Cilic and 21-year-old Alexander Zverev are other big names in fray.
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Men's singles schedule on Sunday
Y Bhambri vs Y Lu, J Chardy vs (17) T Berdych, G Lopez vs (23) S Wawrinka, R Silva vs (20) N Djokovic, (7) D Thiem vs I Ivashka, (1) R Nadal vs A Dolgopolov, J Zopp vs (14) J Sock, (21) Kyrgios vs Tomic.
Timings
Timings, TV listings - 2018 French Open
The 1st round men's singles matches are stated to start at 2:30 PM on Sunday. The French Open singles champion prize money is a staggering €2.2 million. The runners-up will get a sum of €1.12 million euros. The matches will be telecast In India on Neo Sports channel.