Place for very serious things this Monday with the first appearance of Carlos Alcaraz who will be the big favorite against the modest Flavio Cobolli (159th player in the world). Felix Auger-Aliassime will be opposed to Fabio Fognini, who has fallen beyond 130th place in the world and who is only a shadow of the player he was two years ago. Novak Djokovic will start his fortnight against Aleksandar Kovacevic, an American allergic to clay (114th player at ATP). A formality on paper. Almost impossible mission for Christopher Eubanks to the challenge of Holger Rune, big outsider for the victory. We are also expecting a walkover for Daniil Medvedev who will cross paths with the Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (172nd player in the world from qualifying) and for Jannik Sinner, opposed to the Frenchman Müller in the evening.
Among the ladies, all eyes will be on Iga Swiatek, the big favorite but injured in the thigh a few days ago in Rome. “Nothing serious”, assures the Polish woman opposed to Cristina Bucsa. Coco Gauff, who has failed to shine on clay this season, will face Masarova. Haloed by her victory at the Rome tournament, Elena Rybakina will begin her fortnight against Brenda Fruhvirtova, a 16-year-old Czech hopeful. Finally, Caroline Garcia will have to reassure herself after a disappointing clay season, against the 62nd player in the world, Wang Xiy. The French n°1 has not won two matches in a row on the ocher earth in 2023.
Four Blues will be on track this Monday. Arthur Fils, winner of the Lyon tournament on Friday, his first on the circuit, will he have recovered from his efforts of the past week? We hope so because a perilous first round awaits him against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Benoît Paire will try to honor his wild card against Cameron Norrie, 14th player in the world. Not easy. Müller will be condemned to the feat against Sinner (see elsewhere). Lucas Van Assche will have the honors of court n°14, half-buried, to face Cecchinato. Warm atmosphere guaranteed.
Among the girls, only two French representatives will try to reach the second round. Kristina Mladenovic, who has not won a single match this season on clay and who remains on eight defeats in a row in singles, will try to shine in front of the Parisian public against the American Kayla Day (138th player in the world) on the court Simone-Matthew. Caroline Garcia was scheduled on the Philippe-Chatrier court at the end of the day’s program (excluding the night session).
Court Philippe-Chatrier (from 11.45 a.m.) Karolina Pliskova (CZE/seed N.16) – Sloane Stephens (USA) Novak Djokovic (SRB/N.3) – Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) Caroline Garcia (FRA/N. 5) – Xiyu Wang (CHN)(not before 8:15 p.m.) Jannik Sinner (ITA/N.8) – Alexandre MULLER (FRA)Court Suzanne-Lenglen (from 11:00 a.m.)Benoît Paire (FRA) – Cameron Norrie (GBR/N .14)Elina Avanesyan (RUS) – Belinda Bencic (SUI/N.12)Carlos Alcaraz (ESP/N.1) – Flavio Cobolli (ITA)Petra Kvitova (CZE/N.10) – Elisabetta Cocciaretto (ITA)
Court Simonne-Mathieu (from 11:00 a.m.) Kayla Day (USA) – Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN/N.10) – Fabio Fognini (ITA) Elina Svitolina (UKR) – Martina Trevisan (ITA/N) .26)Arthur Fils (FRA) – Alejandro Davidovich (ESP/N.29)
Court 14 (from 11:00 a.m.)Kaia Kanepi (EST) – Madison Keys (USA/N.20)Stan Wawrinka (SUI) – Albert Ramos (ESP)Tatjana Maria (GER) – Beatriz Haddad (BRA/N.14)( before 5:00 p.m.) Luca van Assche (FRA) – Marco Cecchinato (ITA)
Court 7 (à partir de 11h00) Brandon Nakashima (USA) – Denis Shapovalov (CAN/N.26)(3rd match) Filip Krajinovic (SRB) – Frances Tiafoe (USA/N.12) Jelena Ostapenko (LAT/N.17 ) – Tereza Martincova (CZE)
Court 6 (from 11:00 a.m.) Ilya Ivashka (BLR) – Alex De Minaur (AUS / N.18) (3rd game) Dominic Thiem (AUT) – Pedro Cachin (ARG) Veronika Kudermetova (RUS / N.11) – Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK)
Court 8 (from 11.00am)Dayana Yastremska (UKR) – Donna Vekic (CRO/N.22)Alexei Popyrin (AUS) – Aslan Karatsev (RUS)
Court 9 (à partir de 11h00)(3rd match) Botic van de Zandschulp (NED/25) – Thiago Agustin Tirante (ARG)
Court 12 (from 11h00)(2e match) Roberto Bautista (ESP/N.19) – Yibing Wu (CHN)Borna Coric (CRO/N.15) – Federico Coria (ARG)Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS/N.23 ) – Viktoriya Tomova (BUL)
Court 13 (from 11:00 a.m.) Bernabe Zapata (ESP / N.32) – Diego Schwartzman (ARG)(3rd match) Jiri Lehecka (CZE) – Jan-Lennard Struff (GER / N.21)
We talked a lot about Arthur Fils, winner of the Lyon tournament last week. His compatriot Lucas van Assche also embodies the revival of men’s tennis. At 19 (70 kg for 1.78 m) the native of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert in Belgium is already in 79th place in the world. Fate has reserved a former Roland-Garros semi-finalist, Marco Cecchinato, who has lost his luster all the same but remains a serious obstacle. The mathematics and computer science student will try to qualify for the second round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time after his failure at the Australian Open last January, against Cameron Norrie who had him curtly discarded (7-6, 6-0, 6-3).
10. Like the number of evening sessions that will be offered this year at Roland-Garros. Jannik Sinner, opposed to Alexandre Muller, will open the ball from 8:30 p.m., half an hour earlier than last year.
All the winners of Roland-Garros have the obligation to return the winner’s trophy on Saturday evening for the ladies and on Sunday evening for the men. The winners leave with a replica of their award. Only one player broke the rule, not just any player: Roger Federer. In 2009, the Swiss won the final against Robin Soderling and absolutely wanted to present the trophy to his father in Paris a little later. The tournament accepted the request of the winner who was still escorted by four members of security responsible for keeping an eye on the Coupe des Mousquetaires. The Basel even had the privilege of being able to sleep with the cup before returning it in perfect condition the next day.
The expression “watering the court” has nothing to do with any maintenance of the ground and the clay that must be moistened regularly. It is said of a player who waters the court when he multiplies the blows going far beyond the limits of the field.
