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 34^th 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 74^th, 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.

Dayana Yastremska says Russian or Belarussian players should be asked how they feel about playing against Ukrainian players on Tour following an incident involving one of her compatriots at the French Open. 

On the first day of the Grand Slam, Marta Kostyuk was booed off the court after refusing to shake hands with world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka following their match. The reception from the crowd came as a surprise to the Ukrainian and others considering this gesture was not new in the sport. Ever since Russia launched their ‘special military operation’ on its neighbour in February 2022, Kostyuk and others have refused to shake hands with those from countries backing the war. 

Yastremska, who secured a place in the French Open main draw by coming through qualifying, refused to weigh in on the argument following her 6-2, 7-5, loss to Donna Vekic. Like Kostyuk, she also doesn’t shake hands with players from Russia or Belarus following her matches. 

“Since the war started, everybody said that we (Ukrainians) are not going to shake hands with Russians and Belarusian players. There’s nothing surprising.” She said during her press conference. 
“ I didn’t expect this reaction (to Kostyuk). That wasn’t nice. I’m supporting this because I played against the Russians, and I also didn’t shake their hands. That’s our position, and everybody knows about this, so there is nothing wrong about it.”

During the early stage of the war, Yastremska and her 15-year-old sister sheltered for two nights in an underground car park in Odessa before fleeing to Lyon, France. Leaving her parents back home. Asked if she would have reconsidered her handshake boycott in Paris given what had happened, she refused. 

“What is the difference? If we play against Russian and Belarusian, it doesn’t matter which tournament, we’re not going to shake their hands.” She stated.
“We (tennis players from Ukraine) have already said our position. We don’t feel really good. How we can go on court and play against people from a terroristic country like Russia? It’s difficult Emotionally.’
“It’s better to ask them (Russian or Belarussian players) how they feel playing against us. Do they feel good or not? It would be better to ask them those questions.”

Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has previously spoken out against the war in a blog post in which she wrote that ‘political ambitions or political motivation cannot justify violence.’ Speaking to reporters following her win over Linda Fruhvirtova, she confirmed that this post had since been removed due to a ‘PR person who is helping her.’ As for the handshake debate, she was reluctant to get involved. 

“I don’t feel like commenting on all these things just because this has been too long now. I’m just here to play tennis, first of all,” she said. 
“I cannot control what players do on the court, like, if they shake or not. It’s their decision.”

According to the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), almost 9000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the conflict began. The tally doesn’t take into account those killed on the battlefield. 

Former French Open semi-finalist Karolina Pliskova crashed out of the tournament on Monday after suffering a straight sets defeat to Sloane Stephens in the first round. 

The 16th seed was swept aside by her American rival who clinched the 6-0, 6-4, win in just 84 minutes. Stephens, whose biggest career achievement was winning the 2017 US Open, has now recorded 41 victories over a top 20 player on the WTA Tour. Against Pliskova, she fired 19 winners and benefitted heavily from the Czech’s unforced error count of 31. 

“This is my favourite court in the world so I am super happy. To start a slam on your favourite court and your favourite surface is always incredible,” Stephens said of her win on Court Philippe Chatrier. 

“I’m pleased to be back here and playing good tennis. I’m happy to get the win today.”

Despite being the higher-ranked player on the court, 31-year-old Pliskova struggled to find her range and looked extremely subdued early on. During the opening set, her only opportunity occurred in the first game where she worked her way to a break point opportunity but failed to convert. Paving the way for a dominant Stephens to hand the former world No.1 her first bagel on the tour since the Ostrava Open last October. 

It wasn’t until almost 70 minutes into the match that Pliskova managed to get a breakthrough after breaking the Stephens serve for a 4-3 lead in what was a significantly more competitive second set. However, her momentum gain was short-lived as she got broken immediately in the following game. Meanwhile, Stephens continued to ride the storm as she closed in on the win. The American worked her way to her first match points after a forehand shot from her opponent crashed into the net. She then sealed her place in the second round with the help of another error from across the court. 

“This court is a bit tricky. You have to play on it a lot to understand when the wind is blowing and where it is coming from,” the 30-year-old explained.

“It is a very complicated court but that what’s makes it so amazing.”

Stephens’ victory comes as no surprise considering her credentials. A French Open runner-up back in 2018, the world N.30 just missed out on being seeded in Paris this year. Earlier this month, she won a WTA 125 event in France before reaching the semi-finals of the Moroccan Open last week. 

“I needed to get a lot of matches under my belt. Last year my clay season wasn’t great but I played amazing at Roland Garros. This year I wanted to get matches and play a lot to see where it got me.” Said Stephens. 

As for Pliskova, it is the first time she has been beaten in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament since 2016.