With Roland Garros beginning in late September instead of May due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are inevitable differences at the tournament this year, one of them being the weather.

In the cold and wet Paris conditions — it was less than 60 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday — players are doing their best to put themselves in the best position to play well on court. Alexander Zverev, competing in his first tournament since making the US Open final on hard courts, has adjusted his equipment for the cooler clay.

“I’m stringing three kilos less than I did in New York,” Zverev said, referencing his racquet’s string tension. “That’s quite a lot.”

That is nearly a seven-pound difference in tension, making the stringbed looser to create a “trampoline effect”. The looser a racquet’s strings, the more power a player gets. The tighter the stringbed, the more control and spin a player has.

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^{Alexander Zverev wore a long-sleeve shirt under his match kit on Sunday. Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}
The German, who defeated Austrian Dennis Novak in straight sets, is not the only one stringing looser. Big-serving American John Isner strung his racquets between 38 and 39 pounds at the US Open. He has dropped that range to between 29 and 32 pounds in Paris. The heavier conditions at Roland Garros might seem detrimental to the 21st seed’s powerful game, but Isner said that’s not necessarily the case.

“With how the clay is now, I think it almost helps me in the sense that the really good movers can’t really slide around like they normally can because the clay is really damp. It kind of played like a slow hard court,” said Isner, who beat home favourite Elliot Benchetrit. “There wasn’t much sliding. I’m not the best slider. It’s tough conditions. I really don’t mind it.”

There are also players who are able to adapt their game to the heavier conditions. Stan Wawrinka, the 2015 champion, had no problems hitting through the court in his straight-sets triumph against former World No. 1 Andy Murray. His strength allowed him to power through regardless. After the match, Wawrinka put on a sweatshirt for his on-court interview. The Swiss was one of many players to wear a shirt under his match kit, while Murray wore leggings.

“For sure it’s tough conditions here. Heavy, slow, cold, completely different than normally at that time of the year. But again, I think I’m playing well,” Wawrinka said later on in his press conference. “Happy [that in] those conditions I can still play heavy with my game from both sides. So I use those tough conditions, heavy conditions, slow conditions to still play powerful tennis.”

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^{Andy Murray sported leggings to stay warm during his first-round loss in Paris. Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}
Another effect the current weather has is reducing how much the ball bounces off the surface. Some players hit with heavy topspin to force opponents to hit the ball higher than their typical strike zone. But according to former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori, who beat 32nd seed Daniel Evans, the ball is not shooting off the court like it normally does.

“For my tennis, I think it’s better balls are flying because I like to play quicker, finish the point a little bit quicker than other guys. But for sure there’s less bounce. Especially today it didn’t bounce,” said Nishikori, who noted how that low bounce helped Evans’ slice backhand. “[It was] almost half bounces [compared to] playing in the summer… maybe you want a little more power when you’re playing in heavy conditions.”

Diego Schwartzman played in similar conditions in an evening match at last week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia against Rafael Nadal, upsetting the Spaniard in Rome. The

“For me, playing at night, similar to Rome under the rain, under the lights, [it] was similar to last week, so I felt great on court today,” said Schwartzman, who cruised past Kitzbuhel champion Miomir Kecmanovic. “For me, the conditions today were really, really good.”

Regardless of who enjoys the conditions and who doesn’t, all players have to deal with the same circumstances. Many who competed Sunday echoed the same sentiment: they simply need to make the most of it.

Schwartzman said: “We have to adapt to these conditions and try to do our best.”

Despite not playing a clay-court event before Roland Garros, Alexander Zverev didn’t seem bothered on Sunday evening in Paris. The sixth seed overcame a slow start to ease past Dennis Novak 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and five minutes.

“I won, which is important,” Zverev said, cracking a laugh. “Obviously I didn’t play any clay-court matches before coming in here, simply didn’t have the time.

“Happy to get through, because Dennis is
somebody that plays well on this surface. He can beat good players.”

The German has made a habit of going the distance at the clay-court Grand Slam, needing five sets in five of his previous eight victories at the tournament. But Zverev won five consecutive games from 2-5 down in the first set and never relinquished that momentum against the Austrian.

In the early going, Novak went after his shots and pushed Zverev back. Sometimes, the German is willing to camp well behind the baseline and wait his opponent out. But that was not the case on Court Philippe-Chatrier, as he stepped into the court whenever possible and used his booming serve to control points against the World No. 92.

Zverev won 83 per cent of his first-serve points and hit 37 winners in his triumph. The 2018 Nitto ATP Finals champion is playing some of the best tennis of his career, fresh off reaching his first Grand Slam final at the US Open. The 23-year-old will next play home favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert or American qualifier Michael Mmoh.

“I’m going to play hopefully seven matches here,” Zverev said. “Six more.”

Zverev will not have to face a seeded opponent until at least the fourth round after Marco Cecchinato raced to a 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-0 victory against 25th seed Alex de Minaur. The 2018 semi-finalist broke serve on eight occasions to move through to the second round in two hours and 51 minutes. 

Cecchinato has won four matches from qualifying without dropping a set in Paris. The Italian, who entered the clay-court Grand Slam championship with a 2-9 tour-level record this year, improves to 6-3 in main draw matches at Stade Roland Garros. He saved two set points in a tense first set.

“The biggest thing is I’m going through probably this rough patch, and everyone has it, but at the moment it’s what I’m dealing with,” said De Minaur. “I’m not happy with where I am, not happy with what I’m showing on court.

“It’s a little bit demoralising in itself that I can’t come out and play the tennis that I want to and that I know I can. It’s something that I’ve got to have a long hard look at myself in the mirror and figure out what’s happening, and basically just fix it and get back to where I want to be.”

Cecchinato will meet Juan Ignacio Londero for a spot in the third round. The Argentine outlasted countryman Federico Delbonis 6-4, 7-6 (1), 2-6, 1-6, 14-12 after four hours and 54 minutes in a match that featured 21 service breaks.

Kei Nishikori took another significant step on Sunday in his comeback from right elbow surgery almost one year ago. As the Japanese star sat back into his chair on Court 14, after a 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-4 victory over No. 32 seed Daniel Evans at Roland Garros, he breathed a huge sigh of relief.

In a match full of momentum shifts, Nishikori broke clear with a 3-0 lead in the decider, but fellow 30-year-old Evans responded and came within a point of breaking for a 4-3 advantage. Ultimately, it was Nishikori’s greater groundstroke power that earned him just his second win of 2020 over three hours and 49 minutes, when an aggressive backhand and forehand pinned Evans behind the baseline and forced the error in the final game. Evans had won 138 points to Nishikori’s 135 total points.

Nishikori, who returned to the ATP Tour earlier this month at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel, lost to Cristian Garin in the Hamburg European Open first round last week. He will next play Stefano Travaglia, who moved past Pablo Andujar 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 23 minutes Travaglia won 48 of his 60 first-service points and struck 32 winners.

Andrey Rublev added a third trophy to his impressive 2020 collection on Sunday, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 at the Hamburg European Open.

The World No. 14 rallied from 3-5 down in the deciding set to earn his first ATP 500 trophy. Rublev was appearing in his second straight Hamburg final, after falling in three sets to defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili in last year’s championship match.

The Moscow native is the second player to win three or more tour-level titles this season. Rublev moves clear of two-time 2020 tournament winners Cristian Garin and Gael Monfils to take sole ownership of second place on this year’s titles leaderboard.

Multiple ATP Tour Titles In 2020

After winning one of his first three ATP Tour finals, Rublev has claimed victory in his past four championship matches. The 22-year-old won his home tournament in Moscow last year, before lifting back-to-back trophies at the start of 2020 in Doha and Adelaide. Rublev became the first man since Dominik Hrbaty in 2004 to start an ATP Tour season with consecutive trophies in the opening two weeks of the year.

Rublev has won 25 of his 31 tour-level contests this year. Only World No. 1 Novak Djokovic — who owns a 31-1 record in 2020 — owns more victories.

Most ATP Tour Wins In 2020

With his second win in three ATP Head2Head matches against Tsitsipas, Rublev becomes only the second Russian singles champion in Hamburg. The five-time ATP Tour titlist follows in the footsteps of former World No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko, who captured the title in 2009.

Tsitsipas was also aiming to capture his first ATP 500 title in his fifth final at the level. The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion has reached three championship matches this year, highlighted by his second straight triumph at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.

Rublev started the match at a high level, dictating rallies with strong returns and powerful forehands to establish a 2-1 lead. Despite dropping serve in the next game, as Tsitsipas increased his aggression from the baseline, Rublev attacked the Greek’s backhand to regain his advantage.

Tsitsipas played with patience and variety from the back of the court, moving his opponent out of position to extract forehand errors in the second set. The World No. 6 served with confidence to force a decider, winning 85 per cent of his first-serve points in the second set (17/20).

After trading breaks at 1-1 in the first set, Tsitsipas ripped multiple forehands to gain a second break and a 3-2 advantage. The five-time ATP Tour titlist served for the trophy at 5-4, but Rublev took advantage of errors from his opponent to turn the match in his favour.

After a love service hold at 5-5, the Russian benefitted from Tsitsipas forehand errors to earn two championship points. Rublev screamed towards his player box and held his head in his hands when Tsitsipas committed only his second double fault of the final.

Rublev earns 500 FedEx ATP Ranking points and receives €79,330 in prize money. Tsitsipas collects 300 ATP Ranking points and €64,075.

Did You Know?
This was the first Hamburg final to feature two 22-and-under players since 2004. On that occasion, Roger Federer (22) defeated Guillermo Coria (22) in four sets to claim his second trophy at the event. Federer owns a tournament record four titles in Hamburg.

Fourteen #NextGenATP stars will try to make their mark at Roland Garros in the coming fortnight. ATPTour.com looks at seven of those players before the clay-court Grand Slam begins.

Denis Shapovalov
Shapovalov is the hottest #NextGenATP player leading into Roland Garros. The lefty, who has excelled under the guidance of former Russian star Mikhail Youzhny, cracked the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time Monday. The ninth seed, who is fresh off a run to the quarter-finals of the US Open and the semi-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, will try to improve his 1-2 record at Roland Garros. Shapovalov plays French veteran Gilles Simon in the first round.

Felix Auger-Aliassime
The 19th seed is making his Roland Garros main draw debut. The Canadian reached last year’s Lyon final, but was unable to compete the following week in Paris due to a left adductor injury. Auger-Aliassime has shown great promise on clay, making his first big tour-level splash at the 2019 Rio Open presented by Claro, where he reached the final as the World No. 104. The 20-year-old faces Japanese lefty Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round.

Alex de Minaur
De Minaur, who like Shapovalov made his maiden major quarter-final at the US Open, will try to play his best clay-court tennis yet in Paris. The Aussie is 2-10 at tour-level on the surface, but he is widely recognised as one of the quickest players on Tour. In cooler, slower conditions, it will be incredibly difficult for players to hit through the 25th seed, who opens his run against 2018 semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato.

Jannik Sinner
When Roland Garros was played in 2019, Sinner was outside the Top 200 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. Now World No. 74, the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion is rapidly rising. The Italian faces a tough test in his Roland Garros debut against 11th seed David Goffin. However, not only did he win his only previous ATP Head2Head meeting against the Belgian, but he is fresh off a victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Rome.

Corentin Moutet
France’s top #NextGenATP hope Moutet is trying to back up strong Roland Garros performances from 2018 and 2019. The dynamic lefty, who is unafraid of the forecourt, reached the second round two years ago in Paris and the third round last year. The 21-year-old, who recently collaborated on a rap song with Shapovalov, plays Italian qualifier Lorenzo Giustino in the first round.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Few players on the ATP Tour are as fond of the drop shot as Davidovich Fokina, and the Spaniard will certainly use it on the slow Roland Garros clay. The Spaniard, who is at a career-high World No. 69, won three matches to qualify in Rome and also reached the fourth round of the US Open. Davidovich Fokina opens against fellow #NextGenATP player Harold Mayot, a French wild card.

Miomir Kecmanovic
The Serbian is flying high after lifting his first ATP Tour trophy in Kitzbuhel. World No. 40 Kecmanovic has established himself inside the Top 50 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, and now he will try to cause an upset at Roland Garros against Rome finalist Diego Schwartzman, the 12th seed. Kecmanovic has made the second round at four of his past five majors, but he has never advanced further at a Grand Slam.

Did You Know?
The other seven #NextGenATP players competing at Roland Garros are Hugo Gaston, Sebastian Korda, Tomas Machac, Harold Mayot, Alexei Popyrin, Jurij Rodionov and Emil Ruusuvuori.