PARIS (AP) — A glance at the French Open, the year’s second Grand Slam tennis tournament:
Site: Roland Garros.
Surface: Red clay.
Schedule: Play begins Sunday on all courts at 11 a.m. local time (0900 GMT, 5 a.m. EDT). The 15-day tournament closes with the women’s singles final June 7, and men’s singles final June 8.
Top Players on Court Sunday: No. 4 Roger Federer vs. Lukas Lacko, No. 6 Tomas Berdych vs. Peter Polansky, No. 8 Milos Raonic vs. Nick Kyrgios, No. 10 John Isner vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert; No. 1 Serena Williams vs. Alize Lim, No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Zhang Shuai, No. 8 Angelique Kerber vs. Katarzyna Piter, No. 29 Venus Williams vs. Belinda Bencic.
Sunday’s Forecast: Cloudy and windy, with a high temperature of 70 degrees (21 Celsius).
2013 Men’s Singles Champion: Rafael Nadal of Spain.
2013 Women’s Singles Champion: Serena Williams of the U.S.
Last Year: Rafael Nadal beat David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 for his record eighth French Open championship — no other man has won that many titles at one of the Grand Slam tournaments — and fourth in a row. Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova of Russia 6-4, 6-4 for her second French Open title and first since 2002.
Key Statistic I: 59-1. Rafael Nadal’s career record at the French Open. His only loss came in 2009, against Robin Soderling in the fourth round.
Key Statistic II: 53-2. Serena Williams’ record on clay since the start of the 2012 season, a .964 winning percentage.
Prize Money: Total is more than 25 million euros (about $34 million), an increase of 3 million euros (about $4 million) from 2013, with 1.65 million euros (about $2.25 million) each to the men’s and women’s singles champions.
Online: http://www.rolandgarros.com/index.html
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