With several matches carried over from Monday due to rain in the evening, we have a busy Tuesday schedule. Rafael Nadal was up two sets, but down a break in the third, when his match was postponed for today due to rain. Maria Sharapova’s first French Open appearance in three years was delayed in its entirety, as her match never got underway.
Most notably on Day 3, we’ll have the return of 23-time major winner Serena Williams, in her first Grand Slam event since January 2017. In addition, two former French Open champions will collide in the opening round, as the 2009 champion faces to 2016 champion. We’ll also see the top women’s seed, Simona Halep, walk back onto Court Philippe-Chatrier for the first time since last year’s championship slipped right through her fingers. On the men’s side, the schedule features two top 5 seeds and major champions in Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro. But after suffering a groin injury in Rome, there’s been doubts as to whether Del Potro will even play on Tuesday. By the end of the day, play should be complete in the first round of both singles draws as the tournament begins to take shape
Serena Williams vs. Kristyna Pliskova
This will only be Serena’s fifth match since returning from the birth of her first child, a birth which had severe medical complications. It’s understandably taking Serena a bit longer than some expected to find her form again on the court. After losing to her sister Venus in Indian Wells, she was soundly defeated by Naomi Osaka in Miami. Having not played in any of the lead-up clay events, this will be Serena’s first match on clay in two full years, since she lost in the French Open final to Muguruza. There’s obviously a lot of questions as to how close to 100% Serena is, with several reports indicating she has not been moving at her best during practice. While Kristyna Pliskova is not as formidable an opponent as her twin sister Karolina, she’s capable of taking out big names. The lefty already has wins this year over Jelena Ostapenko and Petra Kvitova. With the eyes of the tennis world on her, what will be Serena’s level of play?
Garbine Muguruza vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova
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This match between two staunch competitors will appropriately open play today on the bull ring, aka Court 1. These two-time major singles champions arrive in Paris with little momentum. Muguruza, the third seed, is just 15-9 on the year, and sits outside the top 10 in the year-to-date rankings. Garbine went just 2-3 during the European clay season, most recently losing in a final set tiebreak in Rome. That match against Daria Gavrilova lasted over three hours and ended after 2:00am. That being said, Muguruza’s best performances at majors have come following lackluster results leading into them, allowing her to fly a bit more under the radar. Kuznetsova is still battling back from a wrist injury and a prolonged rehabilitation. The 32-year-old only has three wins this season. Muguruza has a 5-1 lead in their head-to-head, winning their last five meetings. She’s be the favourite on Tuesday, but it’s hard to know what to expect from either of these unpredictable players from match-to-match.
Julia Goerges vs. Dominika Cibulkova
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Surprisingly, this will only be the second time these two have played, and the first time since 2011. Cibulkova has been the player to achieve more success at majors throughout her career. Dominika of course was a finalist at the 2014 Australian Open, and is also made the semis at Roland Garros in 2009. While Goerges has never been farther than the fourth round at a major, she’s recently had the best results of her career. The German ended 2017 with back-to-back titles in Moscow and the WTA Elite Trophy event in Zhuhai. She then started off 2018 by taking another title in Auckland, defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final just a few weeks before her Australian Open victory. Goerges is seeded 11th in Paris thanks to those results. Cibulkova is unseeded, and has not won a title of any kind since the biggest one of her career at the 2016 WTA Finals. Dominika though made the final last week in Strasbourg. That loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova went over three-and-a-half hours, with Cibulkova failing to capitalize on two championships points. Will Cibulkova take the court on Monday with confidence from that run to the final, or be physically and emotionally fatigued just three days later? That could be the deciding factor in this one.
