PARIS (AP) — The French Open isn’t the only sports event in Europe drawing attention from tennis players: The Champions League final will decide the continent’s best soccer club, and one of the two teams involved Saturday night is Paris Saint-Germain, whose stadium is a couple of blocks from Roland-Garros.

Count Novak Djokovic among those rooting for PSG against Italy’s Inter Milan, and he hoped to be able to tune in on TV to watch the big clash that’ll be held in Munich, Germany. So Djokovic made that preference known to the people in charge of arranging the program at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament he’s won three times — a common practice, especially among the sport’s elite.

They often ask to be scheduled at a certain time. Or to avoid a certain time.

“I will definitely watch it if I’m not playing (in the) night session. Yeah, that will be nice,” Djokovic said with a big smile. “FYI, Roland-Garros schedule.”

Hint, hint. Except his plea went unheeded: When Saturday’s order of play was released Friday, 24-time major champion Djokovic’s third-round match against Filip Misolic was the one picked for under the lights at Court Philippe-Chatrier due to begin at 8:15 p.m. local time, 45 minutes before Inter Milan vs. PSG starts.

Others who begged off from competing at that hour got their wish. Although one, Arthur Fils, the 14th-seeded Frenchman who grew up near Paris and is a big PSG fan, wound up pulling out of the tournament because of a back injury after being placed in an afternoon match against No. 17 Andrey Rublev.

“We have many requests from players” every day, tournament director Amélie Mauresmo said. “There’s no fixed rule. We try to accommodate everyone as much as possible. That includes requests from players, broadcasters and spectators. … It’s a real puzzle, I won’t lie.”

Coco Gauff said she doesn’t often ask for a certain time slot, but when she does, it’s usually related to competing in singles and doubles on the same day (the American won the French Open doubles title last year but isn’t playing doubles this time).

The 2023 U.S. Open champion, who is currently No. 2 in singles, has noticed that events tend to listen more to elite players than others.

“If you’re ranked a little bit higher, they’ll hear more of your input, for sure,” Gauff said. “To be honest, I think it’s rightfully deserved. I feel like if you do well on tour, win so many tournaments, you should have a little bit more priority when it comes to that.”

Except even the very best of the best don’t always have success with these sorts of things.

Madison Keys, who was the U.S. Open runner-up in 2017 and won the Australian Open in January, knows what it’s like to be ignored.

“Sometimes the request goes (in), they write it down, and they say, ‘OK,’” but then don’t do anything about it, Keys said.

“I really think that it’s just kind of up to what the tournament wants, what TV wants, things like that,” she added. “Sometimes you kind of get what you ask for. And other times, you get the complete opposite.”

Just ask Djokovic.

“Whatever they schedule me, I have to accept,” he said earlier this season. “I think I earned my right to … (communicate) with the tournament management, where I can express what I would like, depending on a given day, depending on the opponent.”

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Associated Press writer Tom Nouvian contributed to this report.

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

China has launched a space probe that will travel to an asteroid near Mars to collect samples and find potential “groundbreaking” results.

The Tianwen-2 probe launched Thursday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province aboard the workhorse Long March 3-B rocket, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The target of the Tianwen-2 will be different from its predecessor, the Tianwen-1, which launched a year ago and landed on Mars.

Tianwen-2 will be aiming for the asteroid 2016 HO3, which is also known as 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, to bring back samples.

CHINA’S SECRET WEAPON IN THE SPACE RACE IS ALREADY HURTING US

The proposed 10-year plan would involve more than just this space mission as China continues to look to expand into space.

Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of the Tianwen-1, told China Central Television he plans to implement the “Tianwen-3” Mars sampling return mission in 2028, while the “Tianwen-4” will head toward Jupiter.

According to The Associated Press, the asteroids, chosen for their relatively stable orbits, will hopefully offer clues about the formation of Earth, such as the origins of water.

US PREPARES TO DEORBIT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AMID CHINA COMPETITION

China launches rocket with Tianwen-2 probe. (CNS via AP)

The new probe, similar to the Chang 6 mission, will bring home samples from an asteroid close to Mars. (CNSA via Xinhua and AP)

Samples from 2016HO3 are due to be returned in about two years. 

Even if the CNSA is going to distribute these samples to international partners like they have on previous missions, NASA wouldn’t be able to receive any samples.

A law passed in 2011, known as the Wolf Amendment, restricts NASA from having any cooperation with the CNSA.

China also operates the three-person Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace,” space station.

China also operates the three-person Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace,” space station. Its permanent station was created after being excluded from the International Space Station over U.S. national security concerns. (Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP, File)

This gives China a step in the right direction to become a major force in the exploration of space.

Its permanent station was created after being excluded from the International Space Station over U.S. national security concerns.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

Nick Butler is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Do you have any tips? Reach out to Nick.Butler@Fox.com.