FRENCH OPEN 2023: Try the AP’s quiz about the clay-court Grand Slam tournament

By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer

How well do you know the French Open, the Grand Slam tennis tournament that begins Sunday at Roland Garros in Paris? Give this AP quiz a try:

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1st Round: Rafael Nadal, a 14-time champion at the French Open, will be sitting out the tournament this year because of a hip injury that has sidelined him since January. For how many consecutive weeks was Nadal a member of the ATP’s Top 10 before dropping out in March? (Bonus: How many trophies did he win at Roland Garros before that streak began?)

a.) 512

b.) 712

c.) 912

d.) 1,102

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2nd Round: If Iga Swiatek can successfully defend her 2022 championship in Paris, adding to the French Open title she won in 2020, she would pull even with Serena Williams and three other women with three singles trophies at Roland Garros. Who holds the record for most women’s titles there in the professional era? (Bonus: How many did that player win?)

a.) Steffi Graf

b.) Chris Evert

c.) Margaret Court

d.) Justine Henin

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3rd Round: Who was the last man from France to win a Grand Slam singles trophy? (Bonus: Which tournament did he win, in which year, and whom did he beat in the final?)

a.) Yannick Noah

b.) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

c.) Cedric Pioline

d.) Jean Borotra

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4th Round: Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open singles titles in January, meaning they are the only two players with a chance to pursue a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2023. How many total times have players — women or men — collected all four major singles championships in one season? (Bonus: Name the years and the players).

a.) 3

b.) 6

c.) 9

d.) 12

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Quarterfinals: When was the last time two players representing the same country won both the women’s and men’s titles at the French Open? (Bonus: Which players did it and who were their opponents in the finals?)

a.) 1998

b.) 2002

c.) 2008

d.) 2016

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Semifinals: Who holds the record for reaching the most Grand Slam men’s singles finals? (Bonus: How many?)

a.) Ivan Lendl

b.) Roger Federer

c.) Rafael Nadal

d.) Novak Djokovic

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Final: American teenager Coco Gauff reached her first major singles final a year ago in Paris, finishing as the runner-up to Iga Swiatek. Across the past six major tournaments, starting with the 2021 U.S. Open, what is the total number of women who made their debuts in Grand Slam title matches? (Bonus: Name them.)

a.) 3

b.) 5

c.) 7

d.) 9

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ANSWERS

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1st Round. c. Bonus: Nadal’s record stay in the Top 10 began in April 2005, a little more than a month before he won his first championship at Roland Garros in his tournament debut.

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2nd Round. b. Bonus: Chris Evert won the French Open a women’s-record seven times, in 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985 and 1986. That is the all-time record. Steffi Graf is next on the Open era list with six, followed by Justine Henin with four. Serena Williams, Margaret Court, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Monica Seles are all tied with three.

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3rd Round. a. Bonus: Yannick Noah defeated Mats Wilander 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (3) in the 1983 final at Roland Garros — not just the last time a man from the host country won the French Open, but also the last time a French man won any major singles tennis title.

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4th Round. b. Bonus: Calendar-year Grand Slams by women: Steffi Graf in 1988; Margaret Court in 1970; Maureen Connolly in 1953. By men: Rod Laver in 1969 and 1962; Don Budge in 1935. Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic each came close to the feat in recent years. Williams won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon in 2015 and made it to the semifinals at the U.S. Open before losing to Roberta Vinci. Djokovic made it one step further, winning the season’s first three major tournaments in 2021 and getting all the way to the final at Flushing Meadows before losing to Daniil Medvedev.

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Quarterfinals. a. Bonus: Spaniards Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Carlos Moya both won titles in Paris 25 years ago. Sánchez Vicario got past Monica Seles 7–6 (5), 0–6, 6–2 in the women’s final; Moya beat Alex Corretja 6–3, 7–5, 6–3 in the men’s final.

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Semifinals. d. Bonus: At the Australian Open in January, Novak Djokovic reached his 33rd major final, putting him two ahead of Roger Federer for the men’s mark (Chris Evert holds the overall record of 34). Rafael Nadal is next on the list among men with 30, followed by Ivan Lendl with 19 and Pete Sampras with 18.

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Final. c. Bonus: Emma Raducanu, Leylah Fernandez, Danielle Collins, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Ons Jabeur and Aryna Sabalenka. In 2021, Raducanu beat Fernandez at the U.S. Open; in 2022, Collins lost to Ash Barty at the Australian Open, Gauff lost to Swiatek at the French Open, and Rybakina beat Jabeur at Wimbledon; this January, Sabalenka beat Rybakina at the Australian Open. The only Slam final in that span with two women who previously had participated in at least one major final was last year’s U.S. Open, when Swiatek defeated Jabeur.

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports