Day 1: Things to look out for

It is the first day of an autumnal Roland-Garros for 2020 and a string of big names will need to hit the ground running as a pair of multiple Grand Slam champions meet on Court Philippe-Chatrier, three years after one of their greatest duels unfolded in the French capital.

Teenagers Jannik Sinner, of Italy, looks for his second victory from as many meetings with Belgian 11th seed David Goffin, while 16-year-old phenomenon Coco Gauff is eyeing another major upset against No.9 seed Johanna Konta.

Here's our pick of three things to keep an eye out for on Day 1...

Stan and Andy go 21 rounds

It was their most definitive battle to date – neither man willing to blink with a place in the Roland-Garros final on the line.

After four hours and 34 minutes, 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka avenged defeat to Andy Murray from the year prior on the same court, at the same stage of the tournament.

The Swiss went on lose his first major final against Rafael Nadal but it was that semi-final against his fellow triple Grand Slam champion that took a toll.

Wawrinka required two left knee surgeries in August that year while Murray underwent right hip surgery in January 2018 and again a year later.

> ORDER OF PLAY: DAY 1

The Scot holds the head-to-head honours, having claimed 12 of their 20 clashes, including their most recent in the Antwerp final last October, but he enters Sunday’s showdown as a wild card underdog against the No.16 seed.

If Wawrinka had plans to ease back into competition following the pandemic pause, he was sorely mistaken. While he did go all the way to the trophy at a Challenger in Prague, four of his five matches went the distance there. He suffered a surprise defeat to 18-year-old Lorenzo Musetti in Rome only last week.

Murray has not played a match on clay since that Paris defeat to Wawrinka three years ago. Although, he did land wins over Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Zverev at the Western & Southern Open before a dramatic match point-saving win over Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round at Flushing Meadows earlier this month. 

Sinner's sights set on upset repeat

The praise has already flown Jannik Sinner’s way via Grand Slam great John McEnroe – potential enough to become a multiple major winner. That came after beating Gael Monfils in Antwerp last year.

Things have only got better. The 19-year-old Italian – who practised with world No.1 Novak Djokovic under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Friday – went on to win the Next Gen ATP Finals and won a match in his Australian Open debut in January. A first top-10 win over occasional training partner, David Goffin, followed in Rotterdam.

Slower surface, best-of-five and seven months later, the world No.74 meets the Belgian No.11 seed again – this time in his Roland-Garros debut. If a prior win was not confidence-boosting enough, the teenager scored his second top-10 victory – over Stefanos Tsitsipas on clay – this month in Rome.

Grigor Dimitrov, himself a former gifted prodigy, imparted sage advice after ending his run in Rome.

“He should not listen to all of that [the hype],” Dimitrov said. “He should follow his way. I have noticed a few of his games in the past year, even when he played in the Next Gen [ATP Finals].

“What I like [is that] he's already a very strong guy, meaning his legs are very strong already for his age. So, I feel, he can only get better.”

Should Goffin – a quarter-finalist in Paris four years ago – see off the plucky teen, he would be confident of at least matching his fourth-round finish at this month’s US Open.

Coco up to Konta task

Don’t expect a bundle of nerves when Roland-Garros debutante Coco Gauff casually strolls out to face last year’s semi-finalist, Johanna Konta, in the first round.

It’s not that she is downplaying the moment; it’s just that she’s been here before. In 2018, Gauff won the junior singles title. She knows how to win on these courts.

It may be a different kettle of fish facing a seasoned professional who has made deep runs at majors before, but Gauff has form on that front, too. As a qualifier in her Grand Slam main draw debut at Wimbledon last year, she stunned former world No.1 Venus Williams in the opening round en route to the last 16.

She beat the American legend again in the first round at the Australian Open this year, as well as defending champion Naomi Osaka to reach the fourth round. In Rome last week, her promise was again on show when she stood toe-to-toe on clay with 2016 Roland-Garros champion, Garbiñe Muguruza, before falling in three.

Konta, who recently parted with coach Thomas Hogstedt, reached her third major semi-final in Paris last year before bowing out against unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova. She fell to Muguruza in the round of 16 in Rome last week.

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