Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal begin their French Open campaign

Defending champion Novak Djokovic and 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal begin their Roland Garros campaigns.

In the first of ten-night sessions, Djokovic takes on Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, who debuted at Roland Garros last year when a pandemic curfew forced most late matches to be played in front of empty bleachers.

The world number one is playing in his first Grand Slam match since being deported from Australia. He won his first championship of the year earlier this month at the Italian Open.

“I feel I am always in that contention to fight for any Grand Slam trophy,” said Djokovic, who is seeded to meet Nadal in the quarter-finals and Spanish teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz in the last four.

Djokovic’s last major match was a loss to Daniil Medvedev in the final of last year’s US Open, which deprived him of a calendar Grand Slam.

Nadal has yet to win a trophy on clay this season, but downplayed concerns over a resurfaced persistent foot injury in Rome.

Djokovic’s last major match was a loss to Daniil Medvedev in the final of last year’s US Open, which deprived him a calendar Grand Slam.

Nadal has yet to win a trophy on clay this season, but downplayed concerns over a resurfaced persistent foot injury in Rome.

“There is nothing to recover,” said Nadal who faces Austalia’s Jordan Thompson.

“What happened in Rome is something that happened very often in my practices.”

“I was suffering after that for a couple of days, but I feel better. That’s why I’m here.”

Nadal started the year with a 20-match winning streak, winning the Australian Open for the second time to win a record 21st Grand Slam and leapfrog Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Since his title-winning debut in 2005, the 35-year-old has an astounding 105 wins and only three losses at the French Open.

Two of the losses have been caused by Djokovic. The most recent battle of the pair’s storied 58-match rivalry was in a brutal semi-final 12 months ago.

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