Practice, Prep and Protection Week
How a player spends the week prior to a Grand Slam such as the French Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open or Australian Open varies depending on his or her current condition. For example, most top players don't play tournaments the week prior to a Grand Slam preferring to prepare by practicing and resting their bodies and minds from the stress of tournament competition. However, sometimes if a player has not had
enough match practice leading up to the Grand Slam because of injuries or bad losses then sometimes a top player requests a last-minute wildcard into the tournament the week before a Slam. In contrast, if a player has been injured before a Slam, e.g. Lleyton Hewitt, (withdrew from warm-up events with a hip injury) Serena Williams (withdrew during the Italian Open with back pain) and Maria Sharapova (withdrew during the Italian Open with a calf strain), then they need the week to recover from their injury. It's always a balancing act for tennis pros in terms of practice, tournament prep and protecting their bodies from injuries, especially the week before a grueling tournament such as the French Open.
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