For Alexander Zverev, the postponement of the French Open had a pleasant side effect.

Because the second Grand Slam tournament of the tennis year had been postponed by a week due to the pandemic, he was still at home last Sunday instead of Paris.

In his case that means: in Monte Carlo, where the 24-year-old has been living for several years.

He was therefore able to enjoy the famous Formula 1 race up close for the first time.

Pirmin Clossé

Sports editor.

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    “You can see the racetrack from my balcony.

    But we had seats at the exit of the first corner, ”he reported in an ARD podcast.

    A picture he shared on his Instagram account also showed him in a fine gray suit chatting with motorsport icon Jackie Stewart.

    From this Sunday on, Zverev would rather accelerate himself - at least in a figurative sense.

    On the ashes of Roland Garros, he is one of the title contenders this year.

    At the latest after he won the Masters tournament in Madrid in April, beating Rafael Nadal, among others.

    "I do think that I have chances this year," said Zverev confidently.

    However, not without the dutiful reference to the fact that Nadal is “still the top favorite”.

    Only lost two games

    After all, its record in Paris is insufficiently described as “unreal”. His success in the 2020 final against Novak Djokovic not only secured the Spaniard his 13th title win at the French Open, it was also his 100th win at his favorite tournament. Since he first served at the Bois de Boulogne at the age of 19, he has only lost two games there.

    "Clay court king" Nadal is once again the one to beat. But the challengers who shake his throne grow more impatient. In addition to Zverev, the Austrian US Open champion Dominic Thiem and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas also have opportunities. The draw for them is favorable. Zverev, for example, meets a qualifier in each of his first two rounds; first of all it is the German Oscar Otte. In the upper part of the tableau, the "big three" are on a collision course - Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who is making his Grand Slam comeback after two knee operations. A place in the final is therefore always free.

    Even more open than for men, the competition seems almost traditional for women.

    The past seven French Open have produced seven different winners.

    Last year, for example, Iga Swiatek from Poland, who stormed the title out of nowhere.

    The 19-year-old is also a contender this time.

    She just won the final of the important preparatory tournament in Rome 6-0, 6-0 against the Czech Karolina Pliskova.

    In addition, the world number one Ashleigh Barty from Australia made the strongest impression recently.

    In addition, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who has been in good shape for months.

    Circle of outsiders

    Germany's best, Angelique Kerber, on the other hand, only remains a place among the underdogs.

    However, the 33-year-old likes the role very much.

    "I'm trying to approach the tournament this year with less pressure and a little more calm," she said before starting her tournament against a qualifier of the sports information service.

    "So not with the very high expectations and the thought that I still miss it in my Grand Slam collection."

    Kerber has never found the consistency of earlier days since her Wimbledon triumph in 2018.

    In the world rankings she is now in 27th place. However, the Kiel woman showed her best performances at the Grand Slams.

    “Maybe I'm good for a surprise,” she says.

    After all, there have been many of them in Paris in recent years.

    Kerber is particularly looking forward to the return of the audience anyway.

    “There's no substitute for playing in front of fans,” she says.

    After only 1,000 trailers per day were allowed in the previous year, when the tournament had to be postponed to the cold and wet autumn due to the corona pandemic, a little more are allowed to go to the facility this time.

    There should be exactly 5,388 spectators on the first ten days of the tournament - 1,000 in the three largest arenas, plus a few hundred spectators on the outdoor courts.

    From June 9th, when the big courts will be played anyway, there should be 5,000 fans per stadium.

    In total, the organizers are expecting a little more than 118,000 visitors during the two weeks.

    The decisive factor in making all of this possible was ultimately postponing it by one week. "She saved us a nice double-digit million sum", calculated Amelie Oudea-Castera, General Director of the French Tennis Association, quite bluntly. Even one of the ten so-called "night sessions", the games in the late evening hours that will be played for the first time at the tournament this year, can actually be played in front of an audience. On June 9, the curfew in France from 9 p.m. will be lifted. “Our little bet was a win,” says Oudea-Castera. Zverev was also able to see that last weekend.