Germany’s top-ranked player, the Serbian record-holding Grand Slam champion, and Brazil’s top young talent are all in action on the first day of the tournament.
The build-up is over—the French Open gets underway today, Sunday. And the schedule offers some early highlights. SID takes a look at some exciting matchups to watch at the start.
Alexander Zverev – Hoping for a major upset
The Hamburg native made his Grand Slam debut in 2015 – and has been chasing his big dream of a title at the top events ever since. He’s now making his next attempt in Paris and doesn’t want to leave anything to chance in his opening match against France’s Benjamin Bonzi. Zverev, seeded second in the absence of Carlos Alcaraz, enters the match as the clear favorite (approx. 2:00 p.m./all matches on Eurosport).
Novak Djokovic – how fit is the former champion?
The record Grand Slam winner is one of the biggest mysteries heading into the tournament. The Serb has played hardly any tournaments this season and most recently lost his opening match at the Rome Masters to Croatian Dino Przmic. Anyone who knows Djokovic knows that he wants to use Alcaraz’s absence to make another run at his 25th major title. Is he capable of doing so again in Paris, the site of his Olympic triumph? Even his opening match against the young Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (8:15 p.m.) could be dangerous.
Joao Fonseca – “the future superstar” wants to perform
Things had quieted down a bit recently for the 19-year-old Brazilian, who is actually considered a “future superstar.” At least that’s what Djokovic said about the athlete, who recently lost a highly anticipated battle of rising stars against his Spanish counterpart Rafael Jódar in Madrid. The French Open would be a good opportunity for Fonseca to showcase his great potential once again. His first opponent (approx. 5:30 p.m.) is the Frenchman Luka Pavlovic.