Naomi Osaka only returned to the tour in January after giving birth to daughter Shai last year.© AFP

Carlos Alcaraz raced into the Wimbledon third round on Wednesday to set up a mouth-watering duel with fellow crowd-pleaser Frances Tiafoe as Japanese superstar Naomi Osaka returned to Centre Court for the first time in five years. Alcaraz defeated Australia’s world number 69 Aleksandar Vukic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-2 on the back of 42 winners. The third-seeded Spaniard’s only moments of concern came in the first set when he let slip a 5-2 lead and found himself 5-6 down with Vukic serving for the opener.

However, the three-time major winner steadied the ship to race away to victory against a player who got the better of him in qualifying at the 2020 French Open. 

Alcaraz next faces Tiafoe, the American player he defeated in five sets in the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open on his way to his first Grand Slam triumph.

“I’m going for him,” said Alcaraz, who is bidding to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon titles back to back.

“I’m ready to play a really high level of tennis and hopefully take him.”

Tiafoe made the third round by seeing off Borna Coric in straight sets.

‘Love and hate’

Eccentric Fabio Fognini of Italy needed a clutch of match points to knock out eighth-seeded Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3.

The 37-year-old Fognini, sporting bleach-blond hair, twice served for the match from 5-2 up in the third set before sealing victory over the three-time Grand Slam runner-up in the fourth set.

“It just shows why I love and hate this sport,” said Fognini.

Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, came back from dropping the first set and facing two set points in the second to see off Alexandre Muller of France 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 7-5.

World number two and US Open champion Coco Gauff cruised into the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni.

“I’m happy with the way I played, could have been cleaner on some points,” said Gauff, who broke her 19-year-old opponent five times.

The American, who made her career breakthrough at Wimbledon as a 15-year-old qualifier in 2019, goes on to face British qualifier Sonay Kartal, the world number 298.

The last time four-time major winner Osaka appeared on Centre Court was in 2019 when she was second seed but was dumped out in the first round by Yulia Putintseva.

Five years on, she is ranked at 113 having only returned to the tour in January after giving birth to daughter Shai in July last year.

All-Italian fight

Osaka’s win over Diane Parry in the first round was her first at Wimbledon since 2018.

The Japanese star takes on America’s 17th-ranked Emma Navarro, who arrived in London on the back of a semi-final run at the Bad Homburg grass-court tournament.

Later Wednesday, world number one Jannik Sinner will take on Italian compatriot and former runner-up Matteo Berrettini.

Italian men’s tennis has rarely been stronger, with the country boasting five players in the top 50 while the nation swept to Davis Cup glory last season.

Ten Italian men started the singles tournament this year at Wimbledon.

Sinner was the first Italian man to capture a Grand Slam title with his victory at the Australian Open in January and was also the first from his country to become world number one.

“I feel like in Italy we have so many tournaments, starting with juniors, then the Futures and Challengers,” said 22-year-old Sinner.

“We have big, big ATP tournaments there. We have good facilities and great coaches.”

Berrettini can boast his own breakthrough Italian moment when he was the first to make a Wimbledon men’s final in 2021.

Sinner made the semi-finals at the All England Club last year where he was defeated by Djokovic.

There could be a memorable day for Chinese tennis with teenager Shang Juncheng taking on 10th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov and 32nd seed Zhang Zhizhen facing Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

Until Monday, no Chinese man had won a match at Wimbledon in the Open era.

Former world number one Naomi Osaka claimed her first win at Wimbledon since 2018 on Monday when she recovered from a break down in the final set to defeat Diane Parry of France. The Japanese star, a four-time Grand Slam title winner, came through 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. Osaka raced through the first set in just 22 minutes before her 53rd-ranked rival levelled the contest. In a rollercoaster decider, Parry was 3-1 ahead before Osaka battled back to 3-3. Osaka then saved two break points to edge 5-4 ahead and claimed victory when Parry served up her 10th double fault of the match. Victory was extra special for Osaka as it comes a day before her daughter Shai celebrates her first birthday.

“It feels like a dream because I haven’t played here many times,” said Osaka, whose last appearance at the All England Club was in 2019, when she exited in the first round.

“I hope it was fun for everyone to watch. I’m really excited to be here because Wimbledon was the first tournament I watched last year after my pregnancy.”

Osaka, who only returned to the tour at the start of the season afer maternity leave, is ranked at 113 and required a wild card to play at Wimbledon.

At the recent French Open, she gave world number one Iga Swiatek a mighty scare, holding a match point in their second-round clash before the Pole prevailed.

“My heart was racing today. These are the types of matches you need to play to ease into the tournament,” she said.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to play a final set tiebreaker.”

Osaka said she found it a challenge to dig deep when she was down a break in the decider.

“I can be a little bit down on myself but I’m really trying to stay positive,” explained the 26-year-old.

“There’s a really nice man over here that was just telling me ‘Come on Naomi’ and I was like ‘Yeah, I got this, I got this’ so thank you.”

Osaka will face US 19th seed Emma Navarro or Wang Qiang of China for a place in the last 32.

Defending champion Iga Swiatek saved a match point to outlast Naomi Osaka.© AFP

Naomi Osaka swept to her first victory at the French Open in three years on Sunday, setting up a potential showdown with Iga Swiatek, as Carlos Alcaraz maintained his record of never losing in the first round of a Grand Slam. Osaka, a four-time major winner who has yet to get past the third round in Paris, needed three sets to defeat Italy’s 48th-ranked Lucia Bronzetti on the showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. The 26-year-old fired 31 winners, including six aces, and 45 unforced errors in a match where she gave up a 4-0 lead in the decider before finding herself 5-4 down.

However, she rallied strongly to register her first win at a Grand Slam since the 2022 Australian Open.

“It feels really nice to be back and I’m just really grateful to be here in front of everybody,” said Osaka.

“I think there were moments when I played really well.”

The Japanese star, a former world number one now at 134 in the rankings, has endured a bittersweet relationship with the French capital.

In 2021, she was fined for opting out of mandatory media commitments before withdrawing from the tournament in order to protect her mental health.

A year later, she fell in the first round before leaving the sport in September 2022 for 16 months to give birth to her daughter.

Top seed and defending champion Swiatek, chasing a fourth French Open, will face Osaka if the Pole gets past qualifier Leolia Jeanjean on Monday.

World number three and reigning Wimbledon champion Alcaraz eased to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 win over America’s J.J. Wolf, the 107th-ranked player who entered the main draw as a ‘lucky loser’ from qualifying.

Alcaraz, 21, who made the semi-finals in 2023 where he was defeated by Novak Djokovic, took his first-round record at the majors to 13-0.

Alcaraz showed no sign of suffering from the right arm injury which sidelined him from the Rome Open as he coasted to victory on the back of 27 winners and nine breaks of serve.

‘Don’t need many matches’

“I don’t need too many matches to be at my best,” said Alcaraz.

“I have practised with a lot of top players in Paris this week and the forearm is feeling better and better.”

Defending champion Novak Djokovic begins his bid for a fourth French Open title and 25th major on Tuesday.

“Low expectations and high hopes,” said the Serb on Sunday after arriving in Paris without a title in the season for the first time since 2018.

Later Sunday, Stan Wawrinka, the 39-year-old 2015 champion, and 2016 runner-up Andy Murray meet for the 23rd time, a rivalry which has included two semi-final clashes in Paris.

Murray is playing his final season on tour but whether or not 14-time champion Rafael Nadal joins him in retirement later this year remains to be seen.

Nadal, who will be 38 on June 3, revealed Saturday that he hasn’t committed himself to retiring and wanted to “100% keep the door open”.

He missed the tournament in 2023 with injury while his 2024 appearance may be brief after he was drawn to face fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev on Monday.

“It’s a big, big chance that this is going to be my last Roland Garros, but if I have to tell you it’s 100% my last Roland Garros, sorry, but I will not,” Nadal said.

The Spanish legend has racked up 112 wins in 115 matches at the tournament since his title-winning 2005 debut when he was just 19.

He has 22 Grand Slam titles — second only to Djokovic’s 24 on the all-time men’s list — but his career has been plagued by injuries.

‘Uncomfortable position’

Nadal has played just four tournaments since January last year after suffering a hip injury and then a muscle tear.

As a result, his ranking has slumped to 275 in the world and he comes into the French Open unseeded.

French Open organisers were even ready to stage a tribute ceremony for Nadal before he revealed that he could play on.

“We were ready to press the button on it,” admitted tournament director Amelie Mauresmo.

“But it’s Rafa who manages his timing, we follow what he wants. We wouldn’t want to put him in an uncomfortable position.”

Elsewhere on Sunday, two-time quarter-finalist Andrey Rublev, the sixth seed, defeated Japan’s Taro Daniel in four sets.

Eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz needed five sets to see off Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki while Grigor Dimitrov, the 10th seed, defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic in straight sets.

Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 champion, swept past Jaqueline Cristian while former Australian Open winner and 2020 Roland Garros runner-up Sofia Kenin came back from a set down to defeat Laura Siegemund of Germany.

Rafael Nadal will face world number four Alexander Zverev in a blockbuster first round match at his farewell French Open while women’s champion Iga Swiatek and fellow four-time major winner Naomi Osaka are on a second round collision course. Defending men’s champion and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic will face French veteran Pierre Hugues-Herbert in his opener. Nadal, who has won Roland Garros on 14 occasions, is unseeded after injury saw his ranking plummet to 276. He and Zverev met in the semi-finals in 2022 when the German was forced to retire after suffering a serious ankle injury. Nadal, the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, will turn 38 next week and this season will be his last on tour.

He holds a 7-3 winning head-to-head record against Germany’s Zverev with five of those victories coming on clay.

Zverev, 27, arrives in Paris on the back of lifting the Rome Open title last weekend.

“I’m going to play the French Open thinking that I can give my all, 100 per cent,” said Nadal after a second round exit in Rome last week.

As well as 14 titles in Paris, Nadal can boast a record of 112 wins and just three losses, two of which came against Djokovic who will be chasing a fourth French Open title.

Djokovic turned 37 on Wednesday and marked the occasion by winning the 1,100th match of his career in Geneva.

The Serb has yet to win a title in 2024 with runs to the semi-finals at the Australian Open and Monte Carlo Masters his best performances.

Following Thursday’s draw, Djokovic is seeded to face Zverev in the semi-finals.

World number two Jannik Sinner, who took Djokovic’s Australian Open title in January, faces Christopher Eubanks of the United States.

Third-seeded Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2023, plays a qualifier.

Sinner and Alcaraz are seeded to meet in the semi-finals but both men have been suffering from injuries which forced them to skip the Rome event.

Andy Murray, the 2016 runner-up, is also competing at the tournament for the final time.

The 37-year-old tackles 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, 39, in a battle of grizzled Grand Slam veterans.

The pair have met 22 times in a two-decade rivalry with Murray boasting a 13-9 edge.

Three of those clashes have come at Roland Garros with Murray winning in the semi-finals in 2016 while the Swiss came out on top in the last-four in 2017 and first round in 2020.

In the women’s draw, top seed and world number one Swiatek will take on a qualifier with Osaka facing Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in their openers before a potential second round clash.

Swiatek is bidding to win a fifth major and fourth French Open title.

“It feels like home here,” said Swiatek who arrives at the tournament with clay-court titles in Madrid and Rome under her belt. 

Former world number one Osaka, now ranked 134, has never got past the third round in Paris. Bronzetti, the world number 48, has yet to win a main draw in two visits.

Osaka, 26, has endured a bittersweet relationship with the French Open.

In 2021, she was fined for opting out of mandatory media commitments before withdrawing from the competition after just one match insisting she was protecting her mental health.

Osaka missed the 2023 edition due to being pregnant before giving birth to a baby girl in July.

Swiatek, meanwhile, is bidding to become the first player to lift three successive women’s titles in Paris since Justine Henin in 2007.

World number two Aryna Sabalenka starts against 101-ranked Erika Andreeva of Russia.

Third seed and US Open champion Coco Gauff faces a qualifier in the first round and is seeded to face Swiatek in the semi-finals.

Double Australian Open champion Sabalenka is seeded to take on former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina in the last four.