By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday May 21 2022
Day 1 of Roland-Garros kicks off on Sunday with plenty of action around the grounds. Here’s what we’ll be watching:
See the complete order of play here:
Ons Jabeur Kicks us off on Chatrier
One of the hottest players in the women’s game will get things rolling on Court Philippe-Chatrier, as Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur takes on Poland’s Magda Linette in her first match.
Jabeur is the WTA leader in clay court wins with 17, and she is fresh off the title in Madrid and a final in Rome, where she lost Iga Swiatek in the final, 6-2, 6-2.
Most consider Jabeur, the No.6 seed, as the second favourite to Iga Swiatek at Roland-Garros.
Alcaraz for a Nightcap
19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz begins his bids to become the first teenage man to win a Grand Slam title since Rafael Nadal in 2005. The sixth-seeded Spaniard faces lucky loser Juan Ignacio Londero, who reached the round of 16 in 2019 before falling to Rafael Nadal.
At 28-3 on the season, Alcaraz is considered to be one of the top three favorites in Paris. On the clay he is 16-1 in 2022 with titles at Rio, Barcelona and Madrid. In Madrid he became the first player in history to defeat both Nadal and Djokovic at the same clay-court event.
Theim’s Dream Revisited
Dominic Thiem has not been able to win a match on tour in over a year, but the two-time Roland-Garros runner-up will give it a try again on Sunday when he faces Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien on Court Simonne-Mathieu on Sunday.
Thiem missed the last half of the season with a wrist injury and has only recently returned to the tour. He has lost his last 10 matches overall, and his last nine at the ATP level. Meanwhile, 28-year-old Dellien is 4-9 on the season.
Dellien became the first Bolivian man to win a match at a Slam in 35 years in 2019 at Roland-Garros, when he reached the second round.