Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Aryna Sabalenka, Maria Sakkari among stars needing big week at Italian Open in Rome

The French Open is fast approaching. The second Grand Slam of the year starts in Paris on May 22, leaving the Italian Open as the last big opportunity for players to fine-tune their games. Ad/> Carlos Alcaraz and Ons Jabeur are looking good shape after their wins in Madrid, but who needs a strong week in Rome in preparation for the French Open? ATP Rome'Really tough' — Thiem needs time on road to recovery, as Nadal and Wawrinka can testify14 HOURS AGO Casper Ruud The clay season has not gone according to plan for Ruud.

After a tour-leading 28 victories on clay last year, the Norwegian was expected to be pushing for a place in the top tier, especially after his run at the Miami Open final. Yet Ruud has so far won fewer matches on clay (four) than he did on the hard courts of Miami (five). It’s difficult to pin point exactly what has gone wrong.

He has run into some tricky opponents — Grigor Dimitrov in Monte Carlo, Pablo Carreno Busta in Barcelona, Dusan Lajovic in Madrid – but has also not played at his best level consistently. A month ago Ruud would have been fancied to at least make the quarter-finals at the French Open with a good draw, but he could do with a confidence-boosting run in Rome. Is Alcaraz favourite for the French Open? Osaka withdraws from Rome with ankle injury Paula Badosa “Stressful,” was how Badosa summed up playing at the Madrid Open.

It was not especially surprising then, that with plenty of pressure on her shoulders, the new world No.2 did not go deep at her home tournament. Badosa was bounced out in the second round by Simona Halep, who played a very good match to win 6-3 6-1. The 24-year-old has had an encouraging clay season otherwise, making the quarter-finals in Charleston and semi-finals in