A French Open sans the French: No local players left at Roland Garros after 2 rounds

By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer

PARIS (AP) — With the third round of the French Open underway in Paris, there is not a single player from the home country left in either singles bracket for the locals to cheer. No one to serenade with “La Marseillaise,” the national anthem, or encourage with yells of “Allez!” That’s because all 29 players from France — 10 women, 19 men — in the singles fields already were gone. This is the second time in three years with zero women or men from France still around after just two rounds (it takes seven victories to earn a title). Until 2021, that hadn’t happened even once since the dawn of the sport’s Open era in 1968.