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WIMBLEDON: SHAPOVALOV REACHES SEMI-FINALS AS HUKACZ STUNS FEDERER

DENIS SHAPOVALOV (CAN) TENNIS - THE CHAMPIONSHIPS - WIMBLEDON - ALL ENGLAND LAWN TENNIS AND CROQUET CLUB - ATP - WTA - ITF - WIMBLEDON - SW19 - LONDON - GREAT BRITAIN - 2021 © TENNIS PHOTO NETWORK

Denis Shapovalov showed he is ready to challenge for the Wimbledon title by booking his first grand slam semi-final with a five-set win over Karen Khachanov.

The Canadian won the boys’ crown in 2016 and is giving himself the best chance of replicating that in the men’s draw with an epic 6-4 3-6 5-7 6-1 6-4 victory over the Russian.

His biggest test is now to come as he faces world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the last four on Friday.

But the 22-year-old proved he belongs on the biggest stage, coming from two sets to one down with his trademark flamboyance, and is likely to be a contender at this tournament for years to come.

He is one of two men who made it through to the last eight that have won the junior title.

So it only seemed a matter of time until he made an impact in the men’s draw and had got to this point playing some eye-catching tennis, which he brought on to Court One.

He forced four break points at 3-3 in the opening set, which Khachanov was able to wriggle out of, but there was no escape in the next service game as he took the break with a crisp volley after a smart approach.

He quickly served out the first set in his next service game and that appeared the perfect platform for him.

But Khachanov had other ideas and, as Shapovalov’s forehand went missing in action, he quickly reeled off four successive games to put a tight grip on the second set.

Shapovalov’s level came some of the way back and he regained one break but Khachanov steely averted any further comeback attempt to level the match up.

The third set was a titanic battle with both men peppering winners from the baseline, but it was Khachanov who edged it, stealing a break at 5-5 and then serving it out.

Shapovalov was staring down the barrel but immediately came out firing and dominated the fourth set, reeling off five successive games to win it 6-1 and take the match to a decider.

Khachanov’s heart must have sunk at that point, following his gruelling five-set battle with Sebastian Korda on Monday and the last thing he needed was his opponent stepping it up a level.

He almost made a breakthrough at 2-2 but Khachanov recovered from 0-40 to hold but Shapovalov kept coming back and the match was won in the ninth game of the decider.

After squandering three more break points, he finally won his fourth when Khachanov drifted a forehand long, allowing him to serve it out.

“It was super tough, especially in the fifth, missing those break points and then having the craziest game of my life,” Shapovalov said in his on-court interview.

“I was in a similar position in the US Open in the quarter-final and I started that fifth set a little bit slow so I told myself I wanted to start quick and play every point as hard as I can in the fifth set. Luck was on my side.”

Meanwhile, Roger Federer’s hopes of winning a ninth title were ended by a quarter-final loss to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.

The 39-year-old had played himself into form through the first week at the All England Club to raise hopes of an improbable trophy run after two knee operations and a month short of his 40th birthday.

But Hurkacz is a top-20 player and 15 years Federer’s junior, and was simply too good on the day for his opponent, who suffered a straight-sets loss at Wimbledon for the first time in 19 years.

After a poor first set in breezy conditions, Federer led 4-1 in the second but he could not find his timing and Hurkacz kept his wonderfully to win 6-3 7-6 (4) 6-0, handing the Swiss his first ever bagel at Wimbledon.

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ROGER FEDERER EASES PAST LORENZO SONEGO TO REACH WIMBLEDON QUARTER FINALS

Roger Federer made short work of Lorenzo Sonego to ease into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

The eight-time champion survived a testing first set to eventually swat aside the 23rd seed 7-5 6-4 6-2.

Federer served for the first set at 5-4 only for Sonego to break the Swiss great back.

Federer had another break point when the rain came, causing a delay while the roof was closed and, on the resumption, he did not even have to hit a shot to win the game as Sonego double-faulted.

From then on it was plain sailing for the 20-time grand slam champion on Centre Court.

“I’m extremely happy,” he said. “It was tricky conditions inside and outside and Lorenzo is a tough player but I felt after the first set I was able to control things. I couldn’t be more excited to be in the quarter-finals.”

Federer, who turns 40 next month, must wait until Tuesday to find out who his next opponent is.

Second seed Daniil Medvedev was two sets to one up and 3-4, on serve, in the fourth when his match against Hubert Hurkacz was curtailed by rain.

“These guys are young, they can recover, it’s not a problem for them,” smiled Federer. “Hopefully it rains again – I’m kidding!”

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WIMBLEDON: NOVAK DJOKOVIC BREEZES INTO QUARTER FINALS

Novak Djokovic in action against Denis Kudla on day five of Wimbledon at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon. Picture date: Friday July 2, 2021.

Novak Djokovic eased into his 50th grand slam quarter-final with a straight-sets victory over Cristian Garin on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

The world number one made it 18 consecutive slam wins as he chases a third title of the year and 12 consecutive sets taken at the All England Club this year with a 6-2 6-4 6-2 success.

Had he been able to pick an opponent for a last-16 clash at Wimbledon, he could have done a lot worse than Chilean Garin who, despite being seeded 17th, is a clay-court specialist and had never won a match at SW19 prior to this year.

He had benefited from a kind draw to make it this far and he got a taste of the afternoon he was in for as Djokovic won the first eight points of the match and raced through the opening set.

Garin dug in well at the start of the second, holding his own in rallies a lot better and forcing Djokovic into a few uncomfortable moments.

Play was stopped in the fifth game as rain began to fall but it was so brief the players had barely sat down before they were back out on court.

Djokovic began to ramp up the pressure and, after failing to take five break points through the first seven games of the set, he found a way through to make it 5-4 and did not look back.

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ANDY MURRAY’S WIMBLEDON COMEBACK ENDS WITH THIRD-ROUND LOSS TO DENIS SHAPALOV

Andy Murray’s Wimbledon comeback ended in the third round with a straight-sets defeat by Denis Shapovalov.

By winning back-to-back matches at a grand slam for the first time since his hip problems started in 2017, the two-time Wimbledon champion had Centre Court dreaming of British wins once again.

But 10th seed Shapovalov was a step up from Nikoloz Basilashvili and Oscar Otte, and Murray was comfortably beaten 6-4 6-2 6-2 to complete a miserable day for British players on Centre following Dan Evans’ loss to Sebastian Korda.

That means Cameron Norrie, who takes on Roger Federer on Saturday, is once again flying the British flag solo for the men, with Emma Raducanu the only home woman left in the singles draw.

Murray spoke after his five-set win over Otte on Wednesday about how slippery he had found Centre Court, and he changed his shoes after falling twice in the opening two games here.

Extra grip did not translate to any kind of hold on the match, though, as Shapovalov drove vicious groundstrokes deep into the court, exploiting his opponent’s lack of weight of shot, to move into a 5-1 lead.

From there Murray mounted a comeback, hitting through the ball better and putting doubt in the mind of Shapovalov, who missed one chance to serve it out and then found himself under intense pressure the second time.

Murray had three chances to get back to 5-5 but the 22-year-old Canadian held firm each time, saving the third with a superb stop volley.

Shapovalov has long been regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in the game, with his explosive one-handed backhand and all-court game.

The Canadian won the junior title at the All England Club in 2016, the same year Murray lifted the men’s trophy for the second time.

The momentum going into the second set appeared to favour Murray but again he made a bad start, dropping serve with a double fault and then going a double break down.

The 34-year-old was pulling off some fine shots but not consistently while his movement simply was not sharp enough to keep him in long rallies.

Murray tried to stage another comeback but Shapovalov, who fell over numerous times on the slick surface, saved a succession of break points at 1-4 and had no problems serving out the set this time.

That was the cue for the closing of the roof, which had been the catalyst for Murray to turn things around against Basilashvili and Otte, but it was a very different story this time, with Shapovalov racing through the third set to set up a fourth-round clash against eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

The crowd tried to pull Murray back into the contest but this was Shapovalov’s night, the Scot offering a lingering wave as he headed off the stage.

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ROGER FEDERER KNOCKS CAMERON NORRIE OUT OF WIMBLEDON

ROGER FEDERER (SUI) TENNIS - THE CHAMPIONSHIPS -WIMBLEDON - ALL ENGLAND LAWN TENNIS AND CROQUET CLUB - ATP - WTA - ITF - WIMBLEDON - SW19 - LONDON - GREAT BRITAIN - 2019 © TENNIS PHOTO NETWORK

Cameron Norrie found his path at a grand slam blocked by a tennis giant once again as he fell in the third round of Wimbledon to Roger Federer.

The British number two was playing in the last 32 for the third consecutive slam but, after losing to Rafael Nadal at both the Australian and French Opens, this time it was Federer who defeated him 6-4 6-4 5-7 6-4.

Federer looked to be cruising through to the fourth round at two sets ahead only for Norrie to break to love to clinch the third. That was as good as it got, though, with the sixth seed wrapping up victory in two hours and 34 minutes.

Norrie follows Andy Murray and Dan Evans out of the tournament so, having had three men through to the third round of the singles at Wimbledon for the first time since 1999, British interest is now at an end.

There can be no disgrace, of course, in losing to the only man who has lifted the trophy eight times here and, barring a few loose moments, Federer looked as sharp as he has so far this tournament.

Norrie has been one of the stars of the ATP Tour this season, reaching three finals. The 25-year-old is a supreme athlete but lacks big weapons and often beats players by grinding them down, actively trying to make matches as physical as possible.

Federer, on the other hand, looks to race through matches as quickly as he can and his speed of play has a suffocating effect on opponents.

That was certainly the case for Norrie when he was broken in the seventh game of the first set, with the crowd split down the middle in terms of who to support.

Norrie had two chances to break in the second game of the second set but they were gone in the blink of an eye, and Federer forged ahead moments later.

Tim Henman back in 2001 is the only British player to have beaten Federer in Wimbledon – Murray beat him on Centre Court in the Olympic final in 2012 – and there appeared very little chance of Norrie becoming the second until the end of the third set.

After missing a chance to break Norrie and lead 6-5, Federer wobbled, spraying a succession of errors and dropping serve to love.

Norrie whipped up the crowd as he sensed an opportunity, and he broke straight back when Federer moved 3-2 ahead, but another break for the Swiss at 4-4 proved decisive.

Federer, who is through to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the 18th time and will next take on Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, said: “I’m super relieved. It was a tough battle with Cam. A little extra round but he deserved that third set.

“I thought he played excellent today and for me I felt I was really able to keep a very high level of play. He got the good break at the end of the third that cost me the set but overall I can be very happy with how I played.

“I guess this one’s special because I’m almost 40. At this point it’s all a bonus and we’ll see how far I can go here.”

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NOVAK DJOKOVIC EASES INTO THIRD ROUND AT WIMBLEDON

Novak Djokovic looked in ominous form during a second-round victory over Kevin Anderson to stay on course for a third straight Wimbledon title.

The world number one produced a scintillating display against the South African in what was a repeat of the 2018 final at the All England Club.

A straight-sets victory proved enough for Djokovic to claim the Championship three years ago and he again made light work of the big-serving Anderson to progress into round three with a 6-3 6-3 6-3 win.

The Serbian, who is looking to draw level with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on 20 grand slams, experienced some difficulties on the slippery Centre Court surface but a standing ovation at the end provided a clear indicator of who came out on top.

Denis Shapovalov, the 10th seed, joined the top seed in the third round with a walkover after Pablo Andujar had to withdraw with a rib injury.

Elsewhere in SW19, the wet weather during the first two days saw a number of first round ties still to be completed and there were several notable results.

Queen’s Club winner Matteo Berrettini backed up his exploits from earlier in the month with victory over Guido Pella on Court Three.

The Italian seventh seed was pegged back in the second set before he was able to progress with a 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-0 win.

Nick Kyrgios edged a thriller against the 21st seed Ugo Humbert after he clinched the decider 9-7 with their match suspended at 11pm on Tuesday night. A fall briefly threatened to derail the Australian’s hopes but he was quickly back on his feet to finish the job.

Home favourite Cameron Norrie, who finished runner-up at Queen’s Club, won his first-round tie with Lucas Pouille 6-7 (6) 7-5 6-2 7-5.

The Great Britain ace resumed after he had lost the opening set on Tuesday night and quickly got into his stride to continue his good recent run on grass.

Sam Querrey, who reached the semi-finals four years ago, claimed the scalp of Pablo Carreno Busta – the 11th seed – in straight-sets and 12th seed Casper Ruud was also dumped out after he lost in five to Jordan Thompson.

Another decider was required between Gael Monfils, seeded 13th, and Christopher O’Connell and it was the former who prevailed 4-6 6-2 7-6 (5) 4-6 6-4.

The 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov had less trouble against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco on his way to a 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 success and Lorenzo Sonego, seeded 23 at the Championships, also progressed with relative ease.

It was not the case for Aslan Karatsev (20) and John Isner (28), who saw their Wimbledon challenges end in the first round, but Marin Cilic and Taylor Fritz – the 32nd and 31st seeds respectively – made it through following straight-set wins.

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 16th seed, enjoyed his SW19 return and also progressed against Thiago Monteiro.

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WIMBLEDON: ANDY MURRAY BATTLES BACK TO DEFEAT GERMAN, OSCAR OTTE TO REACH THIRD ROUND

Andy Murray created more moments to savour on a raucous Centre Court as he battled from two sets to one down to defeat Oscar Otte and reach the third round of a grand slam for the first time in four years.

Not since the 34-year-old limped through to the quarter-finals here in 2017, before his two hip operations and what he thought would be the end of his career, had Murray won two matches at a slam.

And it did not look likely to happen here either when, labouring and frustrated, he saw a lead erased and then reversed by German qualifier Otte, making his Wimbledon debut.

But Murray has come back from worse situations on the lawns of SW19 and, after a break for the roof to be closed, he found some of the old magic to win 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-2 and set up a third-round clash with 10th seed Denis Shapovalov.

Murray has spent much of the past four years rehabbing from a succession of injury issues, and he said: “A lot of what I’m doing now is harder than a lot of the stuff I was doing when I was in my mid-20s in many ways because of the physical issues that I have had and stuff.

“It’s tough obviously going out and playing matches of that length when you know you have not had many matches, not had loads of preparation. And not played a whole lot of grass-court tennis in four years.

“So it’s been tough. But that’s one of the reasons why I’m still playing is because of moments like that. Why would you want to give that up? The atmosphere, it was good the whole match, but especially the last hour and a half was brilliant. I still enjoy that.”

The two-time champion had awoken memories of times past against Nikoloz Basilashvili on Monday, salvaging a four-set victory under the roof after blowing a seemingly insurmountable lead in the third.

The big question was how well he had recovered physically and, although he began a little gingerly, he settled into the match well, making few errors and showing Otte the way around a grass court.

Murray broke the big-serving 27-year-old twice and seemed to be well on his way to round three when he moved 3-1 ahead in the second.

But a loose service game, coupled with a more aggressive approach from his opponent, turned the match completely on its head.

Otte, who led Alexander Zverev by two sets to love in the first round of the French Open, won four games in a row before serving out the second set, and it was a weary-looking Murray who was broken in the seventh game of the third.

The 34-year-old’s movement lacked sharpness and too often his shots did not have sufficient weight behind them to put Otte under any real pressure.

There was a worrying moment for Murray and his many fans inside Centre Court when he became the latest player to slip in the second game of the fourth set, letting out a cry and clutching his groin.

But there did not appear to be any lasting damage and two games later the match was paused so the roof could be closed.

Against Basilashvili, the closing of the roof had helped Murray turn the match back in his favour and there were positive signs on the resumption as the Scot found a bit more pop on his shots and in his legs and broke for 4-2.

The cheers turned to groans when Murray was unable to serve it out at 5-3 but he showed once again that his competitive desire knows no bounds by breaking again to force a decider.

There may not be many more opportunities for the Scot to experience such moments and he drank it all in as he broke to lead 3-0 then survived several long service games before clinching victory with a trademark lob.

Speaking to the crowd, Murray said with a slightly rueful smile: “I enjoyed the end, the middle part not so much. I had to do something differently.

“I started going for my shots more, started dictating more of the points. I think I played the right way the last couple of sets.

“I’m obviously tired. I fell over a couple of times, pretty slick courts. Considering everything, I feel all right. Hopefully I come out on Friday and play in another atmosphere like this and hopefully perform well.”

Murray engaged with several vocal fans during the match, and he said afterwards: “I hope the fans like it and don’t think that it’s a bit weird that I’m sort of staring at them and screaming at them for like an hour, but they seem to enjoy it as well.”

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NOVAK DJOKOVIC OVERCOMES RAFAEL NADAL IN FRENCH OPEN CLASSIC TO REACH FINAL

Rafael Nadal was beaten for just the third time at the French Open as Novak Djokovic won an extraordinary semi-final on a night of sporting drama at Roland Garros.

The great Spaniard went into the contest having won 105 of his previous 107 matches on the Parisian clay, losing only to Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and Djokovic in the last eight six years ago.

He had won all 13 of his previous semi-finals but, in a 58th match between the pair that was on a par with almost any that came before, Djokovic found the answers to the greatest challenge in sport to win 3-6 6-3 7-6 (4) 6-2.

It is the world number one who will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas – winner of a five-set contest with Alexander Zverev earlier on Friday – in the final on Sunday, bidding for a 19th grand slam title and to become the first man in the Open era to win each title at least twice.

Nadal had been trying to claim the outright men’s record with 21 slam titles and went in as a clear, albeit narrow, favourite, particularly given his drubbing of Djokovic in the final last October.

The first five games were a near carbon copy of that match, with Nadal finding the answer to everything Djokovic could throw at him and moving into a 5-0 lead, but from there it swerved off in a completely different direction entirely.

Djokovic not only avoided the love set but pulled three games back, sowing a few seeds of doubt in Nadal’s mind before the Spaniard took his seventh set point.

Those doubts were evident as Djokovic moved into a 2-0 lead and then, after Nadal had broken back, a 4-2 advantage.

The next game summed up what makes contests between these two some of the best in all sport. The points were spellbinding, the athleticism mind-blowing, with both men not only trying to deploy their weapons but to prevent the other doing likewise.

Nadal had three chances to break back but was denied on each occasion, as he was two games later when Djokovic served for the set, the Spaniard missing a routine backhand on break point and paying the penalty.

There was no doubt Djokovic was in the ascendancy and yet this was Nadal on clay in Paris and, as the Serbian knows better than anyone having lost to him here seven times, there is no tougher challenge.

A Djokovic break for 3-2 in the third set was immediately snuffed out by Nadal but the effort of doing so took it out of the 35-year-old, who promptly dropped his serve to love.

Djokovic survived another long game to hold for 5-3 and was at 30-0 trying to serve it out but one moment of hesitation was all it took to give Nadal hope and back stormed the champion with four points in a row.

Both men were showing understandable signs of fatigue but somehow they engineered even more outlandish points, with Nadal fighting off break points to hold for 6-5 and then creating a set point only for Djokovic to save with a precision drop shot.

As in last year’s final, the tactic had been more foe than friend but, at the biggest moment of the match thus far, it came to his rescue.

The tie-break was nip and tuck until Nadal, normally the most solid of volleyers, put one long at 4-3 that would have left a club player with head in hands.

Djokovic was not so charitable and, for just the fifth time at Roland Garros, Nadal lost a second set in a match.

The biggest cheer of the night came with the announcement that the fans, who had been expected to be ejected to comply with Paris’ 11pm curfew, were in fact being allowed to stay.

Nadal made a statement with a break to start the fourth set but it was Djokovic who was in control of more of the points and, for once, the champion had no answer

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NAOMI OSAKA WITHDRAWS FROM FRENCH OPEN AMID MEDIA BOYCOTT HOWLER

Naomi Osaka has announced that she will be withdrawing from the French Open because of the furore caused by her boycott of media duties.

The world number two won her opening match against Patricia Maria Tig on Sunday but her decision not to take part in press conferences or interviews has been the biggest talking point of the tournament.

The grand slams reacted strongly to Osaka’s move, releasing a joint statement on Sunday that threatened her with potential disqualification and a ban from future tournaments should she not reconsider.

Osaka, who cited mental health reasons, wrote on Twitter: “Hey everyone, this isn’t a situation I ever imagined or intended when I posted a few days ago.

“I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris.”

Osaka said she had suffered bouts of depression since winning her first slam title at the US Open in 2018 and that talking to the media triggered anxiety.

“I never wanted to be be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer,” she continued on Twitter. “More importantly, I would never trivialise mental health or use the term lightly.

“The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that.

“Anyone that knows me knows I’m introverted, and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety.

“Though the tennis press has always been kind to me (and I wanna apologise especially to all the cool journalists who I may have hurt), I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media.”

Osaka’s sister Mari attempted to explain more about her sibling’s stance with a post on the website Reddit, highlighting her feelings of vulnerability, but then deleted her words and replaced them with an apology, saying she felt she had made things worse.

Osaka’s Twitter post continued: “So here in Paris I was already feeling vulnerable and anxious so I thought it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences.

“I announced it pre-emptively because I do feel like the rules are quite outdated in parts and I wanted to highlight that.

“I wrote privately to the tournament apologising and saying that I would be more than happy to speak with them after the tournament as the slams are intense.

“I’m gonna take some time away from the court now, but when the time is right I really want to work with the Tour to discuss ways we can make things better for the players, press and fans.”

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NAOMI OSAKA FACES EVICTION FROM FRENCH OPEN OVER MEDIA BOYCOTT

Naomi Osaka has been warned she faces being thrown out of the French Open should she continue her media boycott.

The four-time grand slam champion announced on social media ahead of the tournament that she would not be doing any press at Roland Garros, citing mental health reasons.

It has not gone down well with the tournament and drew an unusually punchy joint statement from the four grand slams, who threatened Osaka with severe sanctions should she not reconsider her stance.

The statement said: “We have advised Naomi Osaka that, should she continue to ignore her media obligations during the tournament, she would be exposing herself to possible further code of conduct infringement consequences.

“As might be expected, repeat violations attract tougher sanctions including default from the tournament and the trigger of a major offence investigation that could lead to more substantial fines and future grand slam suspensions.”

Osaka has been fined $15,000 (approximately €12,300) for refusing to fulfil her media commitments after a 6-4 7-6 (4) first-round victory over Patricia Maria Tig.

The statement continued: “The Roland Garros teams asked her to reconsider her position and tried unsuccessfully to speak with her to check on her well-being, understand the specifics of her issue and what might be done to address it on site.

“The mental health of players competing in our tournaments and on the tours is of the utmost importance to the grand slams. We, individually and collectively, have significant resources dedicated to player well-being.

“In order to continue to improve, however, we need engagement from the players to understand their perspective and find ways to improve their experiences.

“A core element of the grand slam regulations is the responsibility of the players to engage with the media, whatever the result of their match, a responsibility which players take for the benefit of the sport, the fans and for themselves.
“As a sport, there is nothing more important than ensuring no player has an unfair advantage over another, which unfortunately is the case in this situation if one player refuses to dedicate time to participate in media commitments while the others all honour their commitments.
“Finally, all grand slams remain committed to continually reviewing and discussing opportunities, together with the tours and the players, to improve every aspect of the player experience, including with the media.

“But we consider this is only ever achieved through respectful and constructive discussions.”

Despite her media snub, Osaka did take part in a short and rather awkward on-court interview for the few hundred fans allowed into Court Philippe Chatrier following her victory over Romanian Tig.

“I’m very glad that I won,” said the 23-year-old, who skipped the tournament last year after winning her third slam title at the US Open.

“It’s a very beautiful court. I’ve only played two matches here, one was before the roof and one is right now. Hopefully I’ll keep it going.”

Regarding her movement on clay, Osaka, who next meets another Romanian in Ana Bogdan, said: “I would say it’s a work in progress. Hopefully the more I play, the better I’ll get.”

Petra Kvitova, a semi-finalist last year, saved a match point in the second set against Greet Minnen before coming through 6-7 (3) 7-6 (5) 6-1.

Angelique Kerber has won titles at the other three slams but her chances of completing the set appear remote after a third successive first-round loss.

The German, twice a quarter-finalist in Paris, was beaten 6-2 6-4 by a very in-form player in qualifier Anhelina Kalinina, who has now won her last 14 matches.

American Danielle Collins, who is back on tour after undergoing surgery for endometriosis, battled to a 6-2 4-6 6-4 victory over China’s Wang Xiyu.

Russian Elena Vesnina, meanwhile, defeated Olga Govortsova 6-1 6-0 in her first singles match at a grand slam since taking maternity leave in 2018.