“Sometimes people say athletes are in show business or entertainers or whatever,” she mused. “I feel like for me, Grand Slam walk-ons are the only time that I possibly feel like I'm an entertainer.”

But once the warm-up begins, it is straight back to business. A couple of years ago, Osaka was a clay-court novice. When someone asked her about the difference between the clay here and that in Madrid or Rome, she looked nonplussed. As far as she was concerned, it was all the same: that red stuff the Europeans play on. These days, she is more comfortable on the surface and has sought advice from the best – that would be Novak Djokovic.

“Novak just told me to not feel any fear and to keep going for it even if you fall,” Osaka recalled. “I don't know. I fell a couple of times. I said, oh, that might not be for me. Obviously when the best player in the world gives you advice, you want to listen to it, for sure.

“I think I'm a pretty decent slider on hard court on my forehand side. I think on clay I'm decent too. I'm trying to learn how to slide a little bit more on my backhand, like Iga, I know she does that a lot.”

She will have to get the hang of it quickly as she is seeded to meet Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round. First, though, she has Donna Vekic to deal with at 11am on Court Simonne-Mathieu.

Like Osaka, the world No.72 does not list clay as her surface of choice and in 13 previous attempts, she has managed just one fourth-round finish here. But she did win the silver medal at the Paris Olympics on these courts so she knows she can play on the red stuff. And she reached the semifinals of the WTA 500 in Linz last month and the final of the WTA 125 in Istanbul a couple of weeks ago. But Vekic will have her work cut out to stop Osaka from sliding right past her and into the third round.

Court Philippe-Chatrier, first match

Jannik Sinner (1) vs Juan Manuel Cerundolo

With the very greatest of respect to Cerundolo, this could be a case of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it. It is not just that the Argentinian is ranked 55 places below his opponent at No.56 nor that he has won one tour title (Cordoba on clay five years ago) to Sinner’s 29 (including four Grand Slams). It is just that the way Sinner is playing at the moment, no one seems able to slow him down much less stop him. He has dropped three sets since the beginning of March. And won five titles.

Not that the Italian takes any of his success for granted. “I know what kind of player I am,” he said. “But if you don't feel the pressure, it means you don't care. I do care a lot on what I'm trying to achieve on a tennis court, and the same time, I know it's not that the world is going down if I lose.” But Sinner doesn’t lose so if you have tickets for the match, make sure to get there early. It might not take that long.

Court 14, first match

Emma Navarro vs Iva Jovic (17)

And, ladies and gentlemen, she’s back. After a two-month break to reset mentally and physically, Navarro is back and winning again. She had a poor start to the year and as the losses accumulated, she just wanted a break. “The tour is really tough, and it's long, and it's arduous, and it takes it out of you,” she said. “There's a ton that goes into trying to be at the highest level of your sport, and it's kind of constant body and mind management. That takes a toll, for sure.”

Time spent with her friends and family allowed her to feel like “a regular person” and when she was ready to come back, she felt reenergised. So much so that she went on to win the title in Strasbourg last week. Today she plays the woman she beat in the second round of that title run.

Court 14, fourth match

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Matteo Arnaldi

It has been five, long years since Tsitsipas marched into the final here and took a two set lead over Novak Djokovic. Back then, he seemed ready to kick on and challenge for the biggest titles. But it never quite happened for him. By last year, he was contemplating retirement as a long-term back injury simply refused to heal. Enough was enough.

Yet the Greek was not quite ready to leave and this year, he is clawing his way back and even if he is playing on Court 14 and not Philippe-Chatrier, he does not care. “It comes with ranking,” he said. “I have to win, and I have to do well in tournaments in order to be playing at the best arenas in the world. If I'm not delivering, then I kind of have to start from scratch again, build my way up.” He starts here.