A trio of unseeded Grand Slam champions and rising teenagers could well scuttle the seeds first up.
Cédric Lecocq / FFTSingles draws for Roland-Garros have unfolded and as the players themselves will say, let’s not look beyond the first round.
With good reason. These six match-ups are shaping on paper as the ones to watch from the off.
The last time this pair of triple Grand Slam champions crossed paths on Court Philippe-Chatrier was Wednesday just gone – a practice session, slightly less taxing than their last competitive match on that same court three years ago.
It was Wawrinka who emerged in that gruelling five-set encounter to reach his second Roland-Garros final in 2017, while for Murray, he has not played at Roland-Garros since and required a wild card to take the field this time round. The Scot leads the pair’s head-to-head ledger 12-8 but will start the underdog against the No.16 seed.
If the newest member of the Grand Slam champions’ club thought he could get out of clay-court lead-up events and just ease his way into Roland-Garros he was handed a harsh reality check on Thursday night.
The No.3 seed was drawn to meet former US Open champion Cilic first up. Thiem has won each of their three previous encounters, including a four-setter en route to the trophy in New York, while Cilic beat Rome sixth seed David Goffin on clay last week.
There are pencilled-in popcorn battles and you have Monfils v Bublik. Expect two of the most outlandishly talented shotmakers to pull out all tricks in a highly-entertaining first-round match-up.
Eighth seed Monfils has lost both matches on clay coming into his home major, while Bublik threw in an underarm ace just to hammer home his advantage in an upset of Felix Auger-Aliassime in Hamburg this week. The Kazakh is due to face Cristian Garin for a place in the semi-finals on Friday.
Arguably the pick of the women’s first-round showdowns, last year’s semi-finalist, No.9 seed Konta will need to draw on all her experience to skittle the hopes of the most hyped 16-year-old in tennis.
The American Gauff announced herself with a run through qualifying before reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon on debut last year and pushed former Roland-Garros champion Garbine Muguruza in Rome last week.
Konta beat Sloane Stephens in Paris last year before unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova ended her run.
It is a bit of déjà vu on clay for this pair as Estonian Kontaveit faces Frenchwoman Garcia in the first round for the second event in a row.
The No.17 prevailed 6-3, 7-6(1) in Rome and comes off a runner-up showing in Palermo on clay upon the tour’s resumption. Garcia reached her lone Grand Slam quarter-final in Paris three years ago and despite winning the pair’s first meeting in 2016, has lost both since on clay. She is coming off her biggest win at a major over US Open top seed Karolina Pliskova at Flushing Meadows.
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTIt’s been 11 years since the gifted Russian, Kuznetsova, landed the second of her two major trophies at Roland-Garros.
The No.28 seed drew compatriot and Fed Cup team-mate, Pavlyuchenkova, in round one this year and will be looking to pass the opening hurdle for the first time in three years.
Pavlyuchenkova has reached the quarter-finals at every slam, including Roland-Garros nine years ago. The pair are separated by just five places in the rankings and it is Kuznetsova who holds bragging rights, 6-3 in their head-to-head.
ROLAND-GARROS
20 May - 9 June 2024
