| Dates: May 28 – June 11 Premises: Roland Garros, Paris |
| Reception: Live text and radio commentary on selected matches on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, on the BBC Sport website and app |
Cameron Norrie has kept the Brits interested in the French Open singles after holding off France’s Benoit Paire in a fun first-round contest.
Norrie, seeded 14, is the only Brit to reach the second round after winning 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 at Roland Garros.
Jack Draper’s injury problems continued as he withdrew from his first round match due to a shoulder problem.
Dan Evans lost his opening match on Sunday and there are no British women in the main draw.
British men’s number one Norrie plays fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the second round on Wednesday.
Norrie sustains British interest in singles
With Draper retiring while Norrie struggled to survive with 34-year-old Paire, it looked like it could be another tough day for British tennis.
Only three domestic singles players have won the main draws of a clay court Grand Slam tournament, and another 10 have lost in the qualifiers.
Emma Raducanu is out following surgeries for wrist and ankle injuries while Andy Murray has pulled out as he wanted to focus on getting his body ready for the upcoming grass season.
No British player has reached the second round on Paris clay in 2020, and another first-round loss looked to the cards from Norrie.
But the 27-year-old struggled against the unpredictable Paire and kept his composure in the partisan atmosphere of Roland Garros.
After a tight opening set, Norrie lost momentum after what appeared to be a sharp snag from referee Nico Helwerth in the third game of the second.
Helwerth believed that Norrie had shouted after hitting the ball to scare off Paire – who also looked confused – and this enabled the Frenchman to break into a 2-1 lead.
Thanks to the loud support of overjoyed home fans, Paire drained their energy and was mentally blocked during the third set where Norrie lost his serve twice early on.
But Norrie is known as one of the most composed players on the ATP Tour, showing off his mental toughness to reset and level the match after a one-sided fourth set.
Despite losing in a poor start to the decisive serve, Norrie once again upped his game, and his greater stamina – mental and physical – proved decisive.
More physical problems for Draper
The fourth Briton Draper was forced to serve under his arm in the middle of the first set against Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry and it was no surprise that he retired shortly after.
The 21-year-old left-hander was beaten 6-4 in the first set and required physiotherapy on his serving arm before bravely attempting to continue.
Draper lost the first set of the second set when he was answering and decided he could not continue after two more service points.
The draper, who is ranked 55th in the world, has already had a number of physical problems in his career and this is the third consecutive Grand Slam match in which an injury affected his performance.
After withdrawing from his US Open third-round match against Karen Khachanov due to a hamstring problem, the number four Briton was also threatened by cramps during his Australian Open loss to Rafael Nadal.
Earlier this year, he was recovering from a chronic hip injury – which led to a problem in New York – before injuring his stomach at Indian Wells in March and again in Monte Carlo in April.
When, less than 24 hours later, he began serving under his arm against Etcheverry, it seemed inevitable that he would not be able to hold out much longer.
After talking to his team and deciding he would try to continue, Draper only lasted one more game and left the court looking inconsolable.
