Tennis-Curfew set to spoil birthday boy Nadal's party at French Open

[ASFN Admin]

Defending champion Rafa Nadal will mark his 35th birthday on Thursday with his first night-session match at Roland Garros but the Spaniard will have to celebrate the special occasion inside an empty Court Philippe Chatrier. Nadal's second-round match against Frenchman Richard Gasquet is scheduled to begin after 9 p.m., when the government-enforced COVID-19 curfew forces organisers to ask fans to vacate the premises. Third seed Nadal, who has an astonishing 101-2 record on the Parisian red dirt, has in the past described how difficult it is to maintain the same intensity without his fans spurring him on.

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