Top seed Simona Halep opens Roland Garros campaign (Pics)

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ROLAND GARROS – Defending champion Ashleigh Barty is not in Paris to defend her title.

So Simona Halep is the most recent Roland Garros champion in the draw, and the No. 1 seed as well.

She also, unusually, celebrates her birthday in Paris.

Halep turns 29 Sunday, the day she opens her 2020 campaign.

And, despite the rain and cold temperatures on opening day, her slot on the now-roofed Court Philippe-Chatrier ensures she will get her match in against Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.

“It’s nice to be back in Paris. I love this tournament. I love this place. But it is a little bit too cold, to be honest. Hopefully we get used to the weather,” Halep said on Friday.

It’s not as though Romania is a warm-weather country. But Halep said she struggles with the cold. But that’s not going to improve any time soon, from the look of the forecast.

Even inside a roofed Court Philippe-Chatrier, it is not any warmer as it’s not the type of roof that seals the stadium in. And given the regular June dates of the event, we’re thinking there may not be a heating system in place for this type of eventuality.

Here’s Halep on Saturday, getting the feel of the new Chatrier with friend and countrywoman Irina-Camelia Begu.

Six months on the clay

For European players like Halep who skipped the US Open – the training since the loosening of restrictions has been on clay.

And since that’s the surface on which she feels most at home, it’s been a long and positive prep period leading exactly to this moment.

Halep played the Prague WTA event in early August, the second tournament back after the shutdown, and won it.

She also won the Rome Premier 5 tournament – although with a couple of asterisks as both Yulia Putintseva and Karolina Pliskova (in the final) retired during the matches.

It was a good 15 degrees (Celsius) warmer in Rome than it is right now in Paris. So other than the surface, the conditions are completely different then they were there.

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