Sport Analysis ROLAND GARROS — Rafael Nadal has not often cared who he plays in the first round of the French Open. It has rarely mattered. 18 times he has walked out to play his round-of-128 match and 18 times he has walked back in having won.
He's only dropped a set in two matches. It is as close to a sure thing as there is in sport. But that is not true any more.
In the late autumn of his career, Nadal barely made it to Paris because of injury. He is here now, but after his name was placed next to Alexander Zverev's in the Orangery during Thursday afternoon's draw, he might wish he wasn't. Zverev is not the favourite at Roland Garros but he is not far off.
The 27-year-old has reached three straight semi-finals at the French Open, his most consistent grand slam, and finished his preparations for the clay-court major in perfect fashion, winning the Rome Masters and dropping just one set along the way. Nadal in Paris though is a different proposition, as Zverev knows well. It was fate, rather than ferocity, that defeat him when he last faced that challenge: a slip on the clay and a handful of ruptured ankle ligaments forced him off in a wheelchair when two.
.. James Gray.
