The French Open begins Sunday with a 16-match schedule featuring former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and recent finalists Lucie Safarova and Simona Halep.

Two-time Wimbledon champion and former semifinalist Petra Kvitova is also in action.

The men are led by Top 10ers Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic along with Nick Kyrgios, John Isner and Grigor Dimitrov who faces Viktor Troicki in the match of the day.

Rain, though, is going to be factor …

Caroline Garcia and Kiki Bertens claimed some mojo by winning claycourt titles entering Roland Garros on Saturday.

Bertens, a qualifier, won the WTA title in Nurnberg, her second career title, defeating Mariana Duque-Marino 6-2, 6-2.

“I was serving good and going for my shots,” Bertens said. “I had really good length to my shots and so she couldn’t do much from the baseline.”

Both of Bertens’ titles have come as a qualifier after …

Dominic “The Thiem Machine” Thiem sent out a Roland Garros warning shot on Saturday, defeating Alex Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 for the ATP Nice title.

The two up-and-comers, part of the ATP’s crappy #NextGen campaign, which is apparently a step up from “New Balls,” battled for two sets before Zverev’s #NextGen autoobile ran out of gas as Thiem baked a third-set bagel.

Now it’s a matter of whether Thiem can recover for …

Stan remains The Man going into the French Open.

The defending Roland Garros holder won his first title in his home Switzerland on Saturday, beating Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-6(11) for the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open title on the red dirt.

“It’s a dream come true to be able to win a title in Switzerland, after all these tournaments,” Wawrinka said. “To be able to do it here in Geneva, in the …

Ahead of her third attempt to catch Steffi Graf and reach the 22 Grand Slam mark, Serena Williams is low key in her title defense. The 34-year-old ended a 9-month title drought winning Rome last week, so that certainly helped in making her feel that much better as she begins her title defense.

“Five, ten years ago I was defending and feeling that pressure,” Serena said. “Now I don’t have anything …

Victoria Azarenka is among the favorites to win the French Open after Serena Williams. But the Belarussian has only made the French Open semifinals once, and she admits clay she struggles on the clay.

“(It is) the most challenging just because of the specific movement that you have to adapt on the clay,” Azarenka said. “The sliding that I don’t use on the hard courts where I’m able to go with …

Rafael Nadal is back at his favorite tournament of the year. Despite his recent struggles, Nadal still says he finds the confidence at Roland Garros where he’s won 9 times and sports a 70-2 record.

“It’s true that I had a lot of success here and it’s true that I like the tournament,” Nadal said Friday at the French Open. “It feel a little bit like home because I have a …

It’s finally here. The French Open. And for Novak Djokovic it’s another chance at the only major title missing from his trophy cabinet and the one title that’s keeping him out of the GOAT conversation.

Djokovic has eyed the event ever since he lost in the final a year ago to Stan Wawrinka. So is he feeling the pressure? He says, no.

“I feel excited to participate in this year’s Roland Garros,” …

If world No. 1 Serena Williams is going to retain her French Open title she may need a little help from the upset gods.

Williams didn’t climb to favorites status until last week winning the Rome title on red clay, her first title of the year after failing to close the deal in two previous finals.

“Four tournaments, three finals isn’t bad for everyone else, I think,” Serena spun her year thus …

The draw is out! With Roger Federer not playing and Rafael Nadal assured of avoiding Novak Djokovic, there was little in the way of pure drama today, but the top two seeds have to be happy with the way things turned out. Djokovic and Andy Murray have never won the French Open, but this could as good of a chance as they will ever have. They gotta like their draws. …

Not really that surprising. Roger Federer’s back wasn’t good enough to go, or to risk it in what with Wimbledon and the Olympics this summer. So moments ago he withdrew from the French Open.

“I regret to announce that I have made the decision not to play in this year’s French Open,” Federer posted on Facebook. “I have been making steady progress with my overall fitness, but I am still not …

With the French Open draw now less than 24 hours away, here are my pre-draw favorites:

1. Novak Djokovic
He’s had a couple of clay losses, but he’s still head and shoulders above everyone else on a longer time frame. And the French is the goal of the season. He’ll have a nice, two early rounds to work back into form and if the conditions are warm and fast, that should help. …

Speculation yesterday that Roger Federer had already withdrawn from the French Open was proven wrong today when the Swiss hit the courts for a practice session Wednesday in Paris.

That doesn’t mean Federer, who has been battling a back injury since Madrid, won’t play the event. But for now, he’s still in.

Keep calm and… WAIT, @rogerfederer has arrived! He’s currently practicing on Court 1! 🇨🇭

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Just over a month ago, Novak Djokovic had the tennis world by the fingertips. Dominating the tour week-after-week with his record-breaking run. He was seemingly at the peak of his powers, with few true rivals, he looked absolutely unstoppable and invincible.

An early loss in Monte Carlo to Jiri Vesely, wasn’t great cause for concern. After all, he had just swept Indian Wells and Miami, so he was due for …

World No. 1 Serena Williams righted her ship last week with the Rome title, her first of the year and some momentum going into the defense of Roland Garros next week.

The last two weeks have been forgettable for the top seeds on the WTA tour as most made early exits in Madrid and Rome. Unseeded Dominika Cibulkova made the Madrid final, and unseeded Madison Keys the Rome final as the …