Day 3 in Paris sees the conclusion of first round singles play.
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka plays US Open champ Bianca Andreescu in a matchup that headlines Tuesday’s Order of Play. Day 3 also features the 2023 Roland Garros debuts of the two most recent women’s singles champions: Iga Swiatek and Barbora Krejcikova. Other action includes standouts from this season such as Daniil Medvedev, Elena Rybakina, and Holger Rune. Plus, last year’s singles finalists, Coco Gauff and Casper Ruud, will both play their opening matches.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Tuesday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.
Lesia Tsurenko vs. Barbora Krejcikova (13) – Second on Court 7
Krejcikova was the champion here two years ago in both singles and doubles. An elbow injury derailed her career last season, but she’s 20-10 in 2023, having won a WTA 1000 title in Dubai. However, she’s only 5-4 this year on clay, so she does not arrive in Paris with much momentum.
Tsurenko celebrates her 34th birthday on Tuesday, and was a US Open quarterfinalist in 2018. She is an impressive 25-8 this season at all levels (including qualifying matches, which don’t officially count). At Indian Wells, the Ukrainian withdrew from her match with Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka, citing a panic attack after what she described as shocking comments regarding the war in Ukraine from WTA CEO Steve Simon.
Their first career meeting is a tricky first round draw for the 2021 champion. Yet Krejcikova remains the favorite to advance, and is a potential fourth round draw for the 2020 and 2022 champion, Iga Swiatek.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Cristina Bucsa – Third on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Swiatek is 28-6 on the year, and 12-2 on clay. She’s 21-2 lifetime at Roland Garros, having won 42 of 48 sets contested. But is Iga 100% healthy? Just over a week ago in Rome, she retired during the third set of her quarterfinal against Elena Rybakina, citing a thigh injury. However, she’s indicated it is not a considerable injury.
Bucsa is a 25-year-old from Spain who upset Bianca Andreescu at the last Major in Melbourne, coming from a set down to win 6-4 in the third, after saving a match point in the second. But in the very next round, she only managed one game against her opponent on this day, Swiatek.
On Tuesday, a similarly-comfortable victory should be expected from Iga.
Holger Rune (6) vs. Christopher Eubanks – Third on Court Simonne-Mathieu
Rune made his big breakthrough at this tournament a year ago, achieving his first Major quarterfinal thanks to upsets over Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas. And the recently-turned-20-year-old has continued to make strong strides ever since, winning the Masters 1000 event in Bercy by outlasting Novak Djokovic in the final, and reaching two Masters finals on clay this season. Holger is now 27-10 in 2023.
Eubanks made a breakthrough of his own two months ago in Miami, where he came through qualifying and advanced all the way to the round of 16, achieving a career goal of cracking the top 100. The 27-year-old is now ranked 74th, but has still spent the majority of the past year on the Challenger circuit. The tall American has a big serve, and is not the easiest of opening round draws.
In their first career meeting, Rune is a clear favorite. However, I am curious to see how Holger handles this moment, as this is the first time in his young career that he is defending a result quite as big as his quarterfinal appearance from 2022.
Victoria Azarenka (18) vs. Bianca Andreescu – Last on Court Simonne-Mathieu
This is a marquee first-round encounter, though neither player comes into this tournament with much form, nor would either refer to clay as their favorite surface. Azarenka is 13-9 on the year, and just 2-2 on clay, after withdrawing from Rome due to a right leg injury. Andreescu is just 9-9 on the year, and 0-2 on clay, coming off a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Marketa Vondrousova in Rome.
Vika is 28-15 lifetime in Paris, having reached a semifinal 10 years ago. Bibi is only 2-2 in Paris, and is yet to advance beyond the second round at any Major outside of New York. So in another first-time meeting on the day, Azarenka must be favored to advance.
Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:
Elias Ymer (Q) vs. Casper Ruud (4) – Ruud reached two Major finals last season, but is just 16-11 in 2023, and would fall out of the top five with an early loss in Paris. Elias is the elder brother of another tennis pro, Mikael, and his only career win at a Slam came at this event. When they met four years ago at a hard court Challenger in Phoenix, Casper prevailed in three sets.
Thiago Seyboth Wild (Q) vs. Daniil Medvedev (2) – Medvedev is a stellar 39-5 on the year, and coming off a surprising Masters 1000 title on clay in Rome. Seyboth Wild has accumulated 36 match wins at all levels this year, all on clay.
Rebeka Masarova vs. Coco Gauff (6) – Gauff is 19-8 this year, yet is yet to win back-to-back matches in 2023 on clay. But Coco did win a hard court title to begin this season, defeating 23-year-old Masarova in the final of Auckland by a score of 6-1, 6-1.
Elena Rybakina (4) vs. Brenda Fruhvirtova (Q) – Rybakina is 30-7 this season, and just a week ago claimed the WTA 1000 title in Rome. Brenda and her sister Linda are two teenage Czech teenagers making strong strides in the sport at a very early age.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.
