Novak Djokovic opened his French Open campaign with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva on Monday. The 12-time Grand Slam winner was well below his best on Court Philippe Chatrier, though, and dropped serve three times against the world number 134 Dutra Silva.
Former world No. 1, Serena Williams will arrive at the 2018 French Open unseeded. She is currently training with her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, at his Nice-based academy where he confidently proclaimed that his ward was capable of adding to her 23 Grand Slam titles, even though she has slipped down the ranking to a lowly 453, which means she would be unseeded at Roland Garros.
Rafael Nadal won the Italian Open for the eighth time on Sunday when he defeated defending champion Alexander Zverev 6-1 1-6 6-3 after a stunning comeback. German second seed Zverev was 3-1 up in the decider before two rain stoppages halted his momentum.
Novak Djokovic set up an Italian Open semi-final blockbuster against old rival Rafael Nadal after both former world number one players battled back in thrilling last-eight clashes on Friday. The Serb fought back against Kei Nishikori to earn a 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 win while top seed Nadal continued his clay court domination with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
Rafael Nadal survived a scare from Italian Fabio Fognini to reach the Italian Open semifinals with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory in Rome. The World No. 2 looked comfortable in the opening set, as he stormed to a 4-1 lead before Fognini rallied to win five straight games and take the first set.
Rafael Nadal eases past the challenge of Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov with a 6-4, 6-1 victory to reach the Italian Open quarter-finals on Thursday. The 31-year-old will face Italian Fabio Fognini in the last eight as he looks to retake the world number one ranking from Roger Federer by winning an eighth Rome title this week.
