French Open chiefs on Thursday put on a brave face during a lavish multi-media ceremony for the draw to anoint a successor to the absent king Rafael Nadal.
The 36-year-old announced last Thursday that he would not be at the Roland Garros stadium to defend the title he won last June at the expense of the eighth seed Casper Ruud. It was a record-extending 14th trophy.
"We're going into this French Open with a lot of emotions," said Gilles Moretton, head of the French Tennis Federation which organises the second Grand Slam event of the season.
"Rafa's was an incredible achievement," added Moretton in the Orangerie adjacent to an array of the most prestigious clay courts in the world.
"Almost unimaginable that someone could win the same Grand Slam tournament 14 times. It brings back lots of emotions remembering his victory.
"So it was very emotional when the tournament director got the call from him to say that he would not be able to come this year. His legend is somewhat tied to our tournament."
Nadal, who succumbed to a hip injury during the second round at the Australian Open in January, missed the American hardcourt swing of the ATP tour in March to nurse his wounds.
Absence
But withdrawals from the clay court tournaments in April and May in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome – where he has won 38 of his 92 titles – raised seious doubts over whether he would feature in Paris and vie for a record-extending 15th men's singles title.
"We haven't been able to find a solution to the problem I had in Australia," lamented Nadal when he confirmed he would miss the event for the first time since claiming the first of his 14 crowns in 2005.
"I'm not the kind of guy who comes to play at Roland-Garros only to be there," he added.
Last year as fifth seed, Nadal disposed of top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic in an epic quarter-final before beating Alexander Zverev in the semis and then sweeping past Ruud.
This year, Djokovic returns as third seed and the 36-year-old Serb – who will be seeking a record 23rd Grand Slam singles title – will launch his quest against Aleksandar Kovacevic from the United States.
Ruud, seeded fourth, starts against a player who came through the three qualifying rounds.
Men's world number one Carlos Alcaraz will begin his bid for a first title in Paris also against a qualifier - likewise for the second seed Daniil Medvedev, the victor at the Italian Open on 21 May.
In the women's draw, top seed and defending championn Iga Swiatek will face the world number 67 Cristina Bucsa from Spain.
"It's my favouirte tournament," said Swiatek. "I love coming back and so I practise harder and there's even more motivation to do well."
And the conflict in Ukraine will imbue the opening match of second seed Aryna Sabalenka. The 25-year-old from Belarus is prevented from sporting her country's flag due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine via Belraus. She will play Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk.
Caroline Garcia, the only French woman seeded in the tournament, will begin the competition against Xiyu Wang from China.
