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French player Arthur Gea was embroiled in a contentious incident on the opening day of the French Open, as he ran off court for around four minutes following a heated exchange with the umpire.

In roasting hot conditions in Paris, Gea was embroiled in a tense match against Karen Khachanov when he insisted he needed to leave the court to go to the toilet.

The umpire did not feel he was asking to take a break at an appropriate moment and encouraged him to play on, with his response leaving little to the imagination.

“I really can’t,” said an irate Gea. “I need to s***. I feel it’s going to go out. It’s not a joke.”

He went on to add: “I can’t, I can’t. Just explain the situation. I’m going to s*** on the f****** court, I’m sick. I have diarrhoea.”

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Khachanov didn’t look impressed by the timing of the break, but he went on to win the match 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-0, with Gea’s energy levels dropping dramatically in the final set.

There is an etiquette in tennis that toilet breaks need to be taken at a moment that does not disadvantage your opponent, but this appeared to be more of a medial issue than a tactical move from Gea.

“It’s not ideal from the Frenchman’s point of view, but Khachanov has to serve that next game, so I’m sure he was very frustrated he had the delay,” Henman told TNT Sports.

“Perhaps he didn’t deal with it brilliantly, because he lost the next three points to go down 0-40. But then really dug in.

“If your opponent is suffering with any kind of physical issue, you want to make them work, make them move. You don’t want to make unforced errors. He did manage to turn it around.”

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The final result ensured the incident that took place in the first set of the match was forgotten long before the end, with wildcard Gea clearly not fit enough to compete with a player who was ranked a lot higher than him.

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Alex Eala celebrated her birthday with some of her closest friends on the WTA Tour and the group included her first-round opponent at this year’s French Open.

The Filipina turned 21 on Saturday, 23 May and she shared a post on Instagram of some of her big moments as she spent time with her parents, Mike Eala and Rizza Maniego-Eala, as well as fellow tennis stars Eva Lys, Iva Jovic and Zeynep Sonmez.

Eala accompanied the post with the caption “21 can you do sum for meeeeeeeeeeee” and one of the slides was a video of a night out with her tennis buddies Lys, Jovic and Sonmez with all three commenting on the post.

During her pre-French Open press conference, the rising star was asked about the importance of friendships in tennis.

“These friendships I have within the tour are very important to me. I don’t know how I would survive the tour without them. They are not just tennis friends; they are friends for truly life. We share many things together all along the year,” she revealed.

“When we have to play against each other, we know just to separate the professional from the friendship. There is no need to change anything in the relationship.”

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And as fate would have it, Eala and Jovic will turn rivals on Tuesday as they will be on the opposite sides of the net in the opening round of this year’s French Open in what will be their first-ever WTA meeting.

Jovic will be the favourite heading into the match as she is currently 17th in the WTA Rankings while Eala sits at No 37.

The two, of course, have been on the same side of the net in the past as they teamed up in the doubles at the Indian Wells Open in March and January’s ASB Classic in Auckland.

In fact, Eala regularly plays doubles with her friends as she partnered with Sonmez at the Madrid Open and with Lys at Wimbledon last year.

The 21-year-old will make her second appearance in the main draw at Roland Garros after losing in the first round 12 months ago.

“I feel much more prepared than last year to compete on clay,” she revealed. “I believe I have improved a lot on this surface over the past twelve months. I still have a lot of room for improvement, but I feel like I have evolved a bit as a player.

“All the preparation is geared towards arriving well at the Grand Slams, honest and honestly, right now I feel good, very, very happy, and very excited. I don’t feel like I have anything to lose this week, and that allows me to play with more freedom.”

One friend was missing from Saturday’s birthday celebrations and that was Victoria Mboko as the Canadian was in action at the Strasbourg final.

But Eala and Mboko will spend some time together at Roland Garros as they have signed up for the women’s doubles with their first-round match also set for Tuesday against Leylah Fernandez and Diana Shnaider.

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Jannik Sinner has claimed he is one of the only players who can stop Jannik Sinner at this year’s French Open, but former British No 1 Johanna Konta has suggested a victory for the German at Roland Garros may not be popular.

With Carlos Alcaraz out due to injury, Zverev is the No 2 seed and appears to be the leading contender to challenge Sinner for the title in Paris.

The German’s recent record against Sinner suggests he is several steps behind the Italian, with the comprehensive nature of his recent defeats against the world No 1 doing little to fuel belief that he can challenge the favourite to win the men’s title.

“Well, I think there’s a big gap between [Jannik] Sinner and everybody else right now,” said the German.

“It’s quite simple. I think there’s a big gap between Sinner and everybody else.

“And I think there’s a big gap between [Carlos] Alcaraz, myself, maybe Novak [Djokovic], and everybody else. I think there are two gaps right now.”

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Now Konta has told TNT Sports that his comments have caused a stir because she believes Zverev is unpopular with tennis fans.

“I think he’s the player right now that everyone loves to hate,” declared Konta on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

Former world No 2 Alex Corretja then offered his verdict, as he suggested Zverev was right to claim he was the second favourite to win the title alongside Djokovic.

“There’s a gap between him and everyone else,” said Corretja.

“I think the gap between Jannik and when Carlos was there, of course, and then it’s Novak and Sascha. They’ve been showing that they were ready to do well in the Slams.

“Sascha needs to believe he can do well in the tournament. He can’t be passive because then he can be tired when he gets into the second week.”

Even though Alcaraz’s absence is a boost for Zverev’s hopes, he has insisted he insisted he is not happy to see the Spaniard on the sidelines.

“It’s sad. Sad for tennis. But as he said himself, he’s very young and his career will be very long, and I think that’s what he’s prioritising. It’s never good for him to miss the big tournaments; we need him and tennis is more exciting with him.

“Sometimes people say the best players are happy while others aren’t, but that’s not the case. I’ve been in that situation, injured, unable to compete in the big tournaments, and it’s not a pleasant feeling.

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“I wish him a very speedy recovery. I hope he returns sooner than expected, I hope to see him at 100% on the grass circuit.

“For me, to win a Major, you have to beat the best players in the world. In recent months, Sinner has been the best player in the world and he’s still here, he’s the big favorite.

“But I don’t want the others not to be there. I’ll compete the same way, I’ll try to win, but it’s better when everyone’s present.”

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Marta Kostyuk came through “one of the most difficult matches” of her career in the first round of the French Open, but it was events back home in Ukraine that were playing heavily on her mind.

Playing in her first match since she won back-to-back titles at the WTA 250 Open de Rouen and WTA 1000 Madrid Open, Kostyuk kicked off her campaign at Roland Garros against Oksana Selekhmeteva on Court Simonne-Mathieu.

But she admitted it was a difficult morning filled with tears due to Russia’s ongoing airstrikes on her home country with her parents’ house not far from the latest missile strikes.

The 23-year-old managed to keep her emotions in check and produced an excellent display to defeat Selekhmeteva 6-2, 6-3 to take her unbeaten run to 12 matches.

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During her post-match on-court interview, the 15th seed was nearly overcome by emotion, revealing: “I’m incredibly proud of myself today. I think it was one of the most difficult matches of my career.

“This morning, 100 metres from my parents’ house, the missile destroyed the building. It was a very difficult morning. I didn’t know how this match is gonna turn out for me. I didn’t know how I would handle it.

“I’ve been crying part of the morning. I don’t wanna talk about myself today. I’m very pleased to be in the second round, but all of my thoughts and all my heart goes to the people of Ukraine today. Thank you so much for coming out. Slava Ukraine.”

Kostyuk was among the first winners at the 2026 clay-court Grand Slam and her second-round opponent is yet to be confirmed with Katie Volynets and Clara Burel still to take to court in Paris.

But with the win in the bag, it was time to celebrate the people of Ukraine.

Kostyuk added: “Because I think it’s important to keep going. My biggest example is the Ukrainian people. I woke up in the morning today and I looked at all these people who woke up and kept living their live, kept helping people who are in need.

“I knew a lot of Ukrainian flags would be here today and a lot of Ukrainian people would come out and support. My friends from Ukraine came as well. Very happy to have them here. Not much I can say.”

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Emma Raducanu’s decision to reunite with coach Andrew Richardson has been one of the big talking points ahead of the French Open and now Tim Henman believes she has made a decision that could give her the consistency she needs.

Raducanu has been through a succession of coaching changes since Richardson guided her to US Open glory in 2021, with the Brit admitting she reflects on the period after her win in New York with some regrets.

“Everything in my life changed upside down,” said Raducanu.

“I didn’t really think I had a handle over the situation in the sense that I was being pulled left and right. I didn’t really know what was going on.

“A lot of experiences over the last few years have taught me about what I didn’t want. It taught me that I really value having people I trust and connect with around me. It’s really nice to have that feeling back.”

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One intriguing comment emerging from Raducanu’s press conference in Paris was the revelation that she has committed to working with Richardson for the rest of 2026.

Leading coaches may have been wary of agreeing to work with Raducanu, given her rapidly changing coaching position, with former British No 1 Henman admitting he was surprised to see her commit to a coach for an extended period.

“One comment that she did make, which I really liked, she said, we’ve committed through the rest of the year,” Henman told TNT Sports, as he reflected on the return of the man who was best man at his wedding to the Raducanu coaching box.

“I think that that’s pretty unusual for Raducanu when you reflect on how many coaches she’s been through, so if she’s gonna stick with Andrew and try to build some consistency and continuity, then I think that can only be a good thing.

“You’ve really got to build that foundation. She hasn’t played for 10 weeks, and she’s on clay, which is probably her least favourite surface. 
So I think, you know, these early weeks are just about getting out on the court and putting in the hours.

“She’s got an opportunity here at Roland Garros, but my expectations are pretty low for her because she just hasn’t played.

“On the grass, it’s a different kettle of fish. She is so much more comfortable, she’ll get more help with the surface.

“I think she enjoys the atmosphere of playing at home. I don’t think the spotlight really bothers her, so we’ve got to take a slightly longer-term view on when the results could come. If it does happen quickly, then I think that’s a bonus.”

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Raducanu has entered the WTA 500 tournament at the Queen’s Club next month and she may also look to play another grass court event before she takes to the courts at Wimbledon at the end of next month.

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Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard is feeling ‘positive’ about his chances of springing an immediate upset against Novak Djokovic at the French Open, according to his coach Greg Rusedski.

Djokovic is set to open his Paris campaign against the big-serving Frenchman on Sunday night, with the pair having never previously met on tour.

The Serb is a three-time French Open champion, having lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires in 2016, 2021 and 2023.

However, he has had a relatively light 2026 season after reaching the Australian Open final, followed by just two weeks of competitive action across the next four months.

Indeed, Djokovic is without a win since the Indian Wells Masters and will be looking to bounce back after an opening-match defeat to Croatian Dino Prizmic at the Italian Open.

Meanwhile, Mpetshi-Perricard has also endured a mixed season and arrives off the back of a tight 6-4, 7-6(8) defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the ATP 250 event in Geneva.

Despite the lack of results, Rusedski believes his player is showing a strong level in practice and is confident he can trouble Djokovic on the big stage.

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“Yeah, I think so, I think he’s going to be on Sunday night,” said Rusedski on the Off-Court with Greg podcast.

“I have a feeling Novak might have requested a Sunday start, that’s possible, but you know the guy has won the tournament so many times, a legend of our sport, so you earn your stripes as I say.

“He can ask for whatever he wants, he doesn’t always get his request, but it looks like we are starting Sunday evening.

“I don’t really care when we play, if Gio plays to his best, it doesn’t matter who he plays. Practice session today was brilliant with Medvedev, the best I’ve seen him play in the time we have been together so that’s a huge positive. But what a blockbuster for an opening!

“It’s a little bit of a rough section too, you’ve got [Joao] Fonseca, [Dino] Prizmic, [Alex] De Minaur, [Jakub] Mensik in that little quarter, so I can’t wait to start up Sunday and Gio’s in great spirits.

“We had a good team dinner last night and everybody’s feeling positive about what’s coming up on Sunday.”

Djokovic has never lost in the first round of the French Open in more than 20 years and has been one of the most consistent performers in Paris across his career.

He has reached at least the quarter-finals in every edition since 2009, including a semi-final run 12 months ago, before falling to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.

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Jannik Sinner would not take part in any future Grand Slam boycott due to the stakes involved in his career, according to Patrick Mouratoglou, amid an ongoing dispute over prize money distribution.

With the French Open set to begin, the build-up to the season’s second Grand Slam has been, somewhat, overshadowed by tensions over player compensation.

During the Italian Open, several top players reiterated that they would be willing to boycott future Grand Slams if prize money does not increase significantly.

The argument centres on the belief that, given record revenues from broadcasting rights, sponsorship, ticket sales and merchandise, player prize money should rise proportionally.

Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev are among those who have voiced concerns, although not all have committed to the idea of skipping events.

Mouratoglou, the former coach of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune and Simona Halep, believes world No 1 Sinner would ultimately avoid any boycott scenario due to his title ambitions.

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“I don’t believe in the boycott this year, it’s still very new for the top players to get together and put pressure on an event or a governing body,” Mouratoglou said in an Instagram video.

“You have PTPA on the side, which is the association of the players. Then you have this new group that puts together most of the top ones, and this one has clearly more power because if they decide we’re not going to play Roland Garros, then Roland Garros will have to take decisions.

“But it’s new. For some players to play Roland Garros this particular year can be the most important goal of their whole season.

“For someone like Sinner, there is so much on the line for him. He’s not going to screw everything up to get a bit more prize money. It would not make sense for him.

“The only way to have the power is to be all on the same line with the same aligned interest, which I don’t feel is the case.

“So I don’t think they’re going to boycott or even threaten to boycott Roland Garros this year.”

Despite Mouratoglou’s view that Sinner would be unlikely to support a boycott, the Italian recently said he understands why players are raising the issue.

“Of course, we are talking about money, but the most important thing is respect, and we just don’t feel it,” the world No 1 said earlier in May.

“I think we players are also a bit disappointed with the outcome from Roland Garros, for example. So let’s see what’s coming.

“I think in the next couple of weeks we’ll also know the prize money we’re going to have at Wimbledon, and we truly hope it’s going to be better – and then, of course, the US Open.

“So I do understand players talking about a boycott, because somewhere we also need to start, and it has been going on for a very long time now. Then we’ll see what happens in the future.”

Despite no official boycott at Roland Garros, players including Sinner, Zverev, Swiatek and Sabalenka have agreed to limit their daily media obligations to 15 minutes.

The tournament has increased its total prize pool by 9.53% compared to last season, below the US Open’s 20% rise and the Australian Open’s 16% increase.

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Emma Navarro has won her first title of 2026 after beating Victoria Mboko in the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg and she has earned a handy boost in the rankings.

Former world No 8 Navarro has had a difficult campaign so far as she has suffered a string of early exits, including at the Australian Open, Indian Wells Open and recent Italian Open, resulting in a slip to No 39 in the WTA Rankings.

But she has made her way back into the top 30 by winning her first title in more than year as her previous trophy was at the Merida Open in Mexico in March 2025.

The unseeded American upset third seed Iva Jovic in the second round and also beat Zhang Shuai and Ann Li to reach the final while top seed Mboko saw off fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the quarter-final and Jaqueline Cristian in the semi-final.

Navarro was quick out of the blocks as she bagelled the No 1 seed in the opening set, breaking three times, but the teenager hit back in the second set as, after the pair traded four breaks, Mboko saved a match point in game 10 and then broke serve in the next game to take it to a decider.

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The first three games went according to serve before the world No 39 claimed the crucial break and eventually served it out for a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 win in two hours and 20 minutes as she claimed her third WTA Tour singles trophy.

WTA Ranking Points Earned In Strasbourg

The WTA uses a rolling 52-week, cumulative system to determine the rankings and players have to defend points they earned during the same tournament/corresponding period 12 months ago.

They drop the points at the start of the current edition and then earn points for their round-by-round progression.

Navarro reached the quarter-final at the WTA 500 tournament last year so she dropped 108 points at the start of the tournament, but her title run is worth 500 points so she will leave the French city with 392 points.

That is good enough for a 14-place jump to No 25 in the Live Rankings.

Mboko didn’t compete in Strasbourg last year, but she did compete at a WTA 125K event in Parma and also had points from Rome so she dropped 146 points at the start.

The Canadian earned 325 points for finishing runner-up, so effectively earned 179 points, which keeps her ninth in the rankings.

Prize Money Earned At WTA 500 Event

Navarro had earned $277,254 in 2026 before playing a game in Strasbourg, while her career earnings were $5,197,862.

The American will add $188,135 (€161,310) to those tallies for her week’s efforts in France.

Mboko was on $1,455,499 for the year and $2,952,098 over her short career before the tournament started and she picked up a cheque of $114,500 (€99,565) for finishing runner-up.

Attention now turns to the French Open with ninth seed Mboko facing Nikola Bartunkova in the first round while Navarro will take on Janice Tjen.

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Iga Swiatek says she is ready to ‘fight for every match’ at the French Open while also responding to criticism over recent withdrawals by insisting players ‘are not slaves’ to be punished.

12 months ago, the Pole arrived in Paris chasing a fourth consecutive title and the chance to join Suzanne Lenglen (1920-23) as the only women to achieve the feat, having previously lifted the trophy in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

This time, Swiatek enters the tournament after an inconsistent season in which she is yet to reach a final.

Her most recent event, the Italian Open, brought her first semi-final of the year after a straight-forward win over American Jessica Pegula in the last eight.

Swiatek was then outlasted 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 by Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals after an error-strewn performance in the first and third sets.

The former champion will open her French Open campaign against Emerson Jones, before facing Sara Bejlek or a qualifier in the second round.

However, Jelena Ostapenko is projected to await in the third round, with the Latvian leading their head-to-head 6-0.

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“I think I will take good experience from this year’s Rome and, like, positive feedback also after the matches,” she said during her pre-tournament French Open press conference.

“And I also had the chance to play under pressure, I also had the chance to play short matches. I get the vibe of the matches. I’m in, like, the match rhythm, which is great, comparing to last year.

“But still, this is a totally different tournament with different conditions right now, especially with the heat. So you need to, like, be humble and start knowing that you’re willing to fight for every match.”

Later in her press conference, Swiatek was also asked to respond to criticism from Salah Tahlak, the tournament director of the Dubai Championships, following her withdrawal in February.

Swiatek, along with Aryna Sabalenka, pulled out of the event just one day before the draw was made – a move which provoked the comments.

Under WTA rules, players can face fines for withdrawing from mandatory events, while ranking penalties can also apply in certain circumstances.

However, Tahlak called for harsher punishments for late withdrawals, arguing that financial fines are not a sufficient deterrent.

“I feel they should deduct points from the players, monetary fine won’t help,” he said.

“Many years ago, Serena Williams withdrew and was fined $100,000. But what is $100,000? She would play someplace else and make $1,000,000. So the fine isn’t a big deal.”

Swiatek, however, pushed back against the idea, making clear that players should not be forced into competing when not fit or ready.

“I didn’t. I heard about the complaints, but I didn’t hear about the penalty, probably because it’s a bit ridiculous,” she said.

“Well, we have a right to withdraw any time we want, so I don’t see the problem, honestly. If we are not fit or we don’t feel like this is the right time for us to play a tournament, like, are we slaves?

“Like, we are allowed to decide. I don’t see the problem.”

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Alexander Zverev has given a positive injury update after being seen in pain during French Open practice sessions, having also limped out of the Italian Open with back issues.

The German is set to begin his Paris campaign against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi on Sunday, with seventh seed Taylor Fritz joining him as the top two seeds in their quarter.

Zverev has enjoyed another remarkably consistent season, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open, Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, and Monte-Carlo Masters, suffering one defeat to Carlos Alcaraz and three losses to Jannik Sinner.

Most recently, he reached the Madrid Open final, where he was dominated by the Italian in under an hour.

His latest appearance came in a 1-6, 7-6(10), 6-0 fourth-round defeat to Luciano Darderi at the Italian Open after squandering multiple match points in the second set.

Towards the end of that match, Zverev appeared to be hindered by back discomfort, an issue that has troubled him for some time.

After reports that the discomfort had continued during his recent French Open practices, the world No 3 was quick to dismiss any concerns.

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“Good,” responded Zverev after being asked how his back was feeling.

“I’ve had some time off after Rome, I could take care of my back a little bit, so that was very, very useful.

“I went to see some doctors in Germany, which was very, very useful and I feel good. I feel like I’m ready to go and yeah, hopefully I can show that on the court on Sunday.

“Yeah, I mean, the back issue started last year, and I was really struggling the entire year, and then I went to see a very, very famous German doctor in December and he did his treatments in December.

“He did two treatments in December, and I felt unbelievable for the first three months of the season.

“Let’s say until end of April, and then in Munich, it started acting up again, and then after summer I was really struggling.

“But the treatment he does, you need some days after that to feel well again, and I didn’t have that until after Rome and then after Rome I went to see him again, I went to see him twice, within a couple of days, two treatments again, and to be honest, it feels amazing after what he does.”

Zverev has reached at least the quarter-finals in six of his last eight appearances at the French Open, including semi-final runs in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

In 2024, he faced Alcaraz in the final before falling 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 to the Spaniard.

12 months ago, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic defeated Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in a three-hour-and-17-minute semi-final clash.

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