Nadal back for more

PARIS, May 26 

“Jeu, set et match Rafa Nadal.” The words are likely to be heard seven times at the French Open as the Spanish juggernaut guns for a record-extending 11th title at Roland Garros. Nadal, who has a 79-2 win-loss record on the Parisian clay, enters his title defence after a stellar season on his favourite surface.

He won at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, claimed a record 50 consecutive sets, then bounced back from defeat in Madrid to take the title in Rome. His last defeat at Roland Garros came in 2015 when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

While upset by Dominic Thiem in Madrid earlier this month, he will be harder to beat in the best-of-five sets. “Nadal is always the favourite, then I come behind with four or five other players,” said Thiem, who ended Nadal’s 50-set winning streak.

The 24-year-old Austrian is the only player to beat Nadal on clay in the last two years but he was thrashed in straight sets by the Spaniard in last year’s French Open semifinals. Still, Henri Leconte, the 1988 runner-up, feels Nadal could be vulnerable. If Thiem cannot deliver, the 21-year-old Alexander Zverev might be the man in the absence of Roger Federer, who is skipping the claycourt season. Zverev lost to Nadal in the Rome final but showed the full potential of his game when he took the second set 6-1 before fading away. — Reuters

The Clay Slam

French only

The tournament started in 1891. It was limited to members of French clubs. Women’s singles matches were added to the tournament in 1897. In 1925, the tournament was opened to international competitors 

Pilot Roland

The venue is named after French fighter pilot Roland Garros, who was the first man to fly over the Mediterranean Sea

Smallest

Roland Garros is the smallest of all the Grand Slam venues. It is less than half the size of any of the others

Clay?

The clay surface isn’t actually made of clay. It is three inches of white limestone and a powdering of red brick dust

10 Rafa Nadal holds the record for the most men’s singles titles

7 Chris Evert has the most women’s singles titles

Defending Champs

Men’s singles: Rafa Nadal

Women’s singles: Jelena Ostapenko

Main matches on Sunday

Men: Viktor Troicki (Serbia) vs 4-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria); 15-Lucas Pouille (France) vs Daniil Medvedev (Russia); Elliot Benchetrit (France) vs 32-Gael Monfils (France); 19-Kei Nishikori (Japan) vs Maxime Janvier (France); Ricardas Berankis (Lithuania) vs 

2-Alexander Zverev (Germany); 8-David Goffin (Belgium) vs Robin Haase (Netherlands) 

Women: 32-Alize Cornet (France) vs Sara Errani (Italy); 5-Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) vs Kateryna Kozlova (Ukraine); Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia) vs 4-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine); Qiang Wang (China) v 9-Venus Williams (US); Kurumi Nara (Japan) vs 26-Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic); 22-Johanna Konta (Britain) vs Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan)