PARIS: The first round of the French Open starts on Sunday, with Novak Djokovic beginning his hunt for a fourth crown and a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title when he takes on home hope Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, while world number three Alexander Zverev faces Benjamin Bonzi.

The claycourt Grand Slam starts under a shadow, with some players deciding to restrict their appearances at Friday’s and Saturday’s traditional pre-tournament media days amid growing tensions over prize money and player influence.

Djokovic has played just one match since Indian Wells in March and the 39-year-old will need to quickly shake off any rust when he meets Mpetshi Perricard for the first time in his career in his opening match.

The Serbian has spent the last two years trying to capture a 25th major crown that would move him past Margaret Court to take sole possession of the all-time record, but that quest looks in danger of being prolonged.

“I wanted to play more but my body was not allowing me. I was going through rehabilitation process for my injury,” Djokovic told reporters.

“If I’m able to somehow maintain a level of freshness and progress... then I feel like I have always a very good chance. I have proven that in Australia this year where I was close to winning another Slam. I always have that belief in me when I’m on the court.”

In the women’s section, Russian Mirra Andreeva has had a strong clay season, winning the Linz Open and reaching her first WTA 1000 final at the Madrid Open, while also making it to the semi-finals in Stuttgart and quarter-finals in Rome.

The 19-year-old begins against world number 200 Fiona Ferro of France, and should face little trouble if she can prevent the home fans from affecting her like they did in her quarter-final defeat to Lois Boisson at last year’s tournament.

“Obviously the crowd is going to support her (Ferro) as much as they can, and that’s totally okay,” Andreeva said.

“I have some experience even from last year when I played quarters, so I pretty much know what to expect... We will see how it’s going to go, but I hope they’re not going to be too hard on me.”

Meanwhile, men’s second seed Zverev has been on the verge of a maiden Grand Slam title at many points over his career, reaching three finals and falling just short, and if the German is to finally accomplish the feat the French Open looks to be his best bet.

The 29-year-old reached the final in Paris in 2024 and has made it to at least the quarter-final stage in seven of the past eight editions, putting him among the favourites this year, especially in the absence of injured world number two Carlos Alcaraz.

Zverev begins his campaign against Bonzi, who could prove a tricky customer however, with the Frenchman being one of only three players to have taken a set off world number one Jannik Sinner during the Italians incredible 29-match winning streak.

Fixtures (prefix number denotes seeding):

COURT PHILIPPE CHATRIER (play begins at 1000 GMT): Sinja Kraus (Austria) v 11-Belinda Bencic (Switzerland); Benjamin Bonzi (France) v 2-Alexander Zverev (Germany); 8-Mirra Andreeva (Russia) v Fiona Ferro (France); Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (France) v 3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia).

COURT SUZANNE LENGLEN (play begins at 0900 GMT): 13-Karen Khachanov (Russia) v Arthur Gea (France); 26-Hailey Baptiste (United States) v Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic); 7-Taylor Fritz (US) v Nishesh Basavareddy (US); Ksenia Efremova (France) v 18-Sorana Cirstea (Romania).

COURT SIMONNE MATHIEU (play begins at 0900 GMT): 15-Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) v Oksana Selekhmeteva (Russia); Katie Volynets (US) v Clara Burel (France); Titouan Droguet (France) v 26-Jakub Mensik (Czech Republic); 28-Joao Fonseca (Brazil) v Luka Pavlovic (France).

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2026