PARIS (AFP) – Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal began their bids for Grand Slam history with comfortable wins on Tuesday as the fallout from Naomi Osaka’s revelations over depression and anxiety sent shockwaves through Roland Garros.
World number one Djokovic kicked off his bid for a 19th Grand Slam title with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over Tennys Sandgren inside an empty stadium.
Nadal, the 13-time champion and chasing a record-setting 21st major, defeated Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).
The Spaniard now has 101 wins against just two losses at the tournament.
Away from the courts, however, the sport was still coming to terms with Japanese superstar Osaka’s decision to withdraw.
One sports psychologist described the media as “voyeurs” in the crisis while Grand Slam chiefs insisted they would look to make improvements to improve player experience.
Djokovic saw off world number 66 Sandgren in straight sets for his fourth win in four meetings with the American.
However, a French government Covid-19 curfew of 9pm meant that his evening session match at the 15,000-capacity Court Philippe Chatrier was played out to rows of empty seats.
Top seed Djokovic, the champion in Paris in 2016, is attempting to become the first man in more than 50 years to win all four Slams multiple times.
The Serb fired 33 winners and broke serve five times as he set up a clash with Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay for a place in the last 32.
Nadal, meanwhile, has now won 26 sets in a row at the tournament.
Up next is fellow 34-year-old Richard Gasquet.
The pair first played one another when they were children. As professionals, Nadal leads 16-0.
Djokovic and Nadal are seeded to meet in the semifinals.
World number two and four-time major winner Osaka pulled out on Monday after she was fined $15,000 and threatened with disqualification for refusing to attend press conferences.
Osaka claims traditional post-match media conferences are akin to “kicking people when they’re down” and were having a detrimental effect on her mental health.
She revealed she had been suffering bouts of depression since her 2018 US Open title breakthrough as well as anxiety attacks.
“There’s a sense of voyeurism around how it presently works,” wrote Peter Terry, a professor of psychology at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia on theconversation.com.
“Osaka is a young, introverted, anxious person. We should by now understand that sports stars are not super human, that they have the same doubts and mental health issues as everyone else.”
Ironically, another Roland Garros press conference led to the injury-enforced withdrawal of two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova who pulled out after hurting her ankle after finishing her media commitments.
One dangerman for Nadal and Djokovic was removed from the draw when seventh seed Andrey Rublev lost 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 3-6, 6-4 to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
In-form Russian Rublev had defeated Nadal en route to the Monte Carlo Masters final earlier this season.
Rublev joins fourth seed and two-time runner-up Dominic Thiem in falling at the first hurdle.
– Barty not 100% –
World number one Ashleigh Barty marked her return to Paris for the first time since her 2019 title triumph by beating American left-hander Bernarda Pera 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 but admitted she was fighting a hip problem.
“I’m not going to hide behind the fact I’m not quite 100%,” said the 25-year-old.
Italian 37-year-old Andreas Seppi, playing in his 63rd successive Grand Slam, stunned 20th seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 7-6 (10/8), 4-6, 6-4.
Venus Williams, playing the tournament for the 24th time and a runner-up 19 years ago, saw her 89th Grand Slam end as Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova eased to a 6-3, 6-1 win.
Carla Suarez Navarro came close to winning her first match back after recovering from cancer, but bowed out 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 at the hands of Sloane Stephens.
Tuesday was a miserable day for home hopes as only three of 18 French men made the second round, the country’s worst performance since the dawn of the Open era in 1968.
