By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, May 23, 2016
Rafael Nadal carries a 70-2 career Roland Garros record into his first-round meeting with Sam Groth.
Photo credit: Philippe Montigny/FFT
World No. 1 players Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams launch their quest for Roland Garros titles. Rome champion Andy Murray tries to complete his comeback against Radek Stepanek and Rafael Nadal seeks a smooth start against a serve-and-volleyer.
Here’s what we’ll be watching.
See the Complete Day 3 Order of Play Here
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) vs. (26) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA), First Match, Suzanne Lenglen Court.
Head-to-head: Schiavone leads 2-1
The day after former French Open doubles champions Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani were both bounced in their openers, Schiavone will try to keep the Italian flag flying against the French No. 1.
The 2010 Roland Garros champion is a month away from her 36th birthday, but still exudes an exuberant competitive spirit and spin doctor's control on dirt. This is a danger match for Mladenovic, who has struggled to a 9-15 record this season, including nine opening-round exits, and is up against a clay-court dynamo, who can play all the angles and will work to stretch the Frenchwoman.
If the six-foot Mladenovic stays calm and is timing the ball, she should be able to handle the Italian's topspin which sits up in her strike zone. The question is can she hold her nerve against the crafty Schiavone, who won her seventh career title on the red clay of Rio earlier this year?
The Pick: Mladenovic in 3 sets.
Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Sam Groth (AUS), Second Match, Suzanne Lenglen Court
Head-to-head: First meeting
The hard-charging former Aussie rules football player is an ideal opening opponent for the fifth-ranked Spaniard.
Nadal loves a target and will get one in Groth, who can't match Nadal's lateral movement and will try to bring the front court into play. The nine-time champion's Roland Garros title output is more than double Groth's career history on clay (1-3). Nadal owns a 19-4 clay-court record this season and will want to want play efficiently in the opening-round of a tough quarter that includes two men who have conquered the king of clay on dirt in the past year: No. 13-seeded Dominic Thiem and No. 32-seeded Fabio Fognini.
The Pick: Nadal in 3 sets
Vasek Pospisil (CAN) vs. (7) Tomas Berdych (CZE), First Match, Court 1
Head-to-head: Pospisil leads 2-0
A vulnerability match between two players carrying some scar tissue onto court. Pospisil has never won a match in four prior Paris appearances. The Canadian has failed to survive the first hurdle in six of his last eight Grand Slam tournaments though he did make a strong run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals last summer.
Berdych is trying to pick up the pieces after suffering a humbling double-bagel drubbing to David Goffin in Rome. Berdych responded to that loss firing coach Dani Vallverdu.
Both are searching for form and confidence. Pospisil has beaten Berdych in backhand exchanges winning four of five sets between them. But the 46th-ranked Canadian hasn't won a match since his Miami opener in March and he's 1-15 lifetime on dirt whereas Berdych is a former French Open semifinalist with a better track record on clay.
The Pick: Berdych in 4 sets
By the Numbers
1 Number of times Andy Murray has lost in the French Open first round.
31 Number of aces Ivo Karlovic cracked in his straight-sets win over Albert Montanes.
34 Longest rally of the tournament so far, won by Viktor Troicki against Grigor Dimitrov.
15-1 Serena Williams' record in her last three Roland Garros appearances.
70-2 Rafael Nadal's lifetime Roland Garros record.
2020 Year tournament director Guy Forget says Roland Garros will have a roof over its stadium court.