That alone makes this Roland Garros feel different.No Carlos Alcaraz defending his title.No Jannik Sinner, the world’s No.
1 player.No Novak Djokovic.
No Iga Swiatek, who had won four of the previous six French Opens.No defending champion Coco Gauff, either.
And no Aryna Sabalenka, after the women's world No.1 lost to Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals.There's no obvious script.And Martina Navratilova thinks tennis could use a little of that.MARTINA NAVRATILOVA SAYS SHE TRIED TO WARN KAMALA HARRIS' CAMPAIGN ABOUT TRANS ATHLETES: 'NOBODY WOULD LISTEN'Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and one of the greatest players in tennis history, told OutKick in a recent interview that the chaos in Paris has made this year’s French Open fascinating heading into championship weekend."I think it’s amazing," Navratilova said.Martina Navratilova holds up the winner's trophy after defeating Chris Evert-Lloyd in the women's French Open final at Roland Garros stadium on June 9, 1984.
(AFP/Getty Images)At the time, Swiatek, the four-time French Open champion, had already been knocked out of the women’s draw by Marta Kostyuk.Defending champion Coco Gauff was already gone, too.On the men’s side, Alcaraz withdrew prior to the tournament with a right wrist injury, Sinner’s stunning second-round loss blew a hole in the top of the draw, and Djokovic’s third-round exit removed the last familiar giant from the field.Just like that, Roland Garros became something very different."So it’ll be a new women’s champion and a new men’s champion," Navratilova said.
"It’s kind of a changing of the guard, but there’s just a lot more players that can win these days."That’s the fun part.Tennis has spent decades leaning on dominant stars.Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic carried the men’s game for nearly two decades.
Serena Williams did the same on the women’s side.Swiatek has owned Paris in recent years, and Alcaraz and Sinner have looked like th...