Serena Williams bypassed any clay-court tuneup tournaments ahead of the French Open, so her first match at Roland Garros will be her first competition since the U.S. Open.

Naomi Osaka won the U.S. Open and is sitting out the French Open, which starts its 15 days of main-draw action Sunday after being postponed in May because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dominic Thiem also won the U.S. Open and decided to rest at home for a bit before heading to Paris.

Simona Halep skipped the trip to New York�s hard courts altogether and has been playing exclusively � and extremely well � on clay since tennis resumed after its pandemic hiatus.

Rafael Nadal sat out the U.S. Open, too, but he only has played three matches on his favorite surface in all of 2020, hardly the sort of run-up to Roland Garros the King of Clay is used to.

�A completely special year,� he said after a quarterfinal loss in Rome last week, �and unpredictable year.�

And Novak Djokovic? He traveled to the United States, won the Western & Southern Open and experienced a tumultuous exit from the U.S. Open via disqualification, then flew back halfway around the world and won the Italian Open, which he probably considers perfect preparation for the year�s last Grand Slam tournament.

�Well, it is unusual to be in these kind of circumstances, but at the same time, we are � I am, and I know most of the players are � thankful that we have a chance and opportunity to play and compete and be on the tour,� said Djokovic, who will be seeded No. 1 at the French Open.