By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday September 19, 2020

Ready for some Grand Slam tennis? Just two weeks after the champions were crowned at the US Open, another Slam begins, on clay, in Paris, in autumn. What a long, strange year it has been! But we have tennis, and ahead of Sunday’s first ball at Roland Garros let’s go inside the numbers to see what’s in store for us.



12 Let’s start with the obvious, but important number. 12 is the number of Roland-Garros titles that Rafael Nadal currently holds. He’ll bid for No.13 over the next two weeks in Paris, under some of the strangest conditions imaginable.

In a global pandemic, at the end of September, with a new ball in play (a Wilson ball--supposedly heavier--has replaced the trusty Babolat), and a new roof ready to be employed over Court Philippe Chatrier. That’s just the beginning. There's rain in the forecast, and Covid-19 tests to worry about as well. Amidst all of this chaos, the King of Clay will try to find his way to another title. Can he do it?

23 In the name of keeping it simple, 23 is the current number of Grand Slam singles titles the great Serena Williams has won. The American will take a tenth stab at increasing that number to 24, which would tie her on the all-time list with Margaret Court. It would also give Williams a fourth title at Roland-Garros. If she achieved that feat she’d be just the fourth women’s singles player in the Open Era to earn more than three titles in Paris, along with Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, and Justine Henin.

2 Novak Djokovic is bidding for his 18th major title and his second at Roland Garros. But he’s also attempting to do something that no other Open Era male player has ever done: win all four Slams, TWICE!

20 We almost forgot to mention that Nadal is bidding to tie Roger Federer’s record for men’s singles Grand Slam titles. Not since Federer won his first, at Wimbledon in 2003, has Nadal had a chance to tie the Swiss in this category.

39 The age of Serena, who celebrated her birthday on September 26. The American is the second-oldest player in the draw (her big sister Venus is 40) and one of 26 women aged 30 or over in the women’s singles draw this year in Paris.

13 Number of teenagers in the men’s and women’s singles draw. There are 11 on the women’s side: 16-year-old Coco Gauff, 17-year-old Elsa Jacquemot, 17-year-old Clara Tauson, 18-year-old Leylah Fernandez, 18-year-old Diane Parry, 18-year-old Marta Kostyuk, 19-year-old Amanda Anisimova, 19-year-old Kamilla Rakhimova, 19-year-old Clara Burel, 19-year-old Kaja Juvan, 19-year-old Iga Swetak. And another two on the men’s side: 18-year-old Harold Mayot and 19-year-old Jannik Sinner.

14 The current length of Simona Halep's winning streak, which stretches back to February when she won Dubai. She has won Prague and Rome since.

31-1 The record of Novak Djokovic heading into Roland Garros. The Serb has been the only one to stop himself in 2020.

93-2 Rafael Nadal's lifetime record at Roland Garros. He can hit the century mark by winning the title without a walkover in Paris.

74 Number of consecutive Grand Slam main draws that 39-year-old Feliciano Lopez has played. The Spaniard holds the all-time record and will face German qualifier Daniel Altmaier in the first round.

55 On the women’s side Alizé Cornet will play her 55th consecutive Grand Slam main draw, which leads all active players and is just shy of Ai Sugiyama’s record of 62.

1 Potential ranking for Romania’s Simona Halep if she can come away with the title in Paris. Halep is currently 1570 points behind Australia’s Ashleigh Barty. If Halep doesn’t win the title the Aussie will stay on top of the rankings.

Halep is entering Roland Garros as the top seed for the second time. The other time she was top seed she came away with her first major title, defeating Sloane Stephens in the final.

3 Number of times that Nadal has won Roland Garros without dropping a set. He achieved the feat in 2008, 2010 and 2017. He is the only player to manage the task three times (Borg has two: 1978 and 1980).

2007 The last woman to win Roland Garros without dropping a set was Justine Henin, who won it in 2006 and 2007 without losing a single set.

29 Number of all-time women’s singles titles that have gone to American players at Roland Garros. Chris Evert (7) and Serena Williams (3) have accounted for more than a third of them.

2000 The last time any player won both the singles and doubles titles at Roland Garros in the same year. That would be Mary Pierce who defeated Conchita Martinez in the women’s singles final and partnered with Martina Hingis to defeat Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascal in the doubles final.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1996) was the last player to achieve the feat on the men’s side. He beat Michael Stich in the singles final and paired with Daniel Vasek to beat Jakob Hlasek and Guy Forget in the doubles final.