Greece, the home of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, saw its top male and female tennis player both suffer substantial heartache last month at Roland Garros. In the men’s singles championship match, Stefanos Tsitsipas was up two-sets-to-love against Novak Djokovic, before succumbing to the world No.1 in five sets. In the women’s singles semifinals, Maria Sakkari held a match point, but lost 9-7 in the third to eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova. Stefanos and Maria are entered into the mixed doubles event as a team, which will begin on Wednesday. But on Tuesday, they will partake in what should be two of the most competitive singles matches of the day.
Tuesday is scheduled to host all eight women’s singles round of 16 matches, as well as the eight remaining men’s singles second round matches. Also, the second round of both men’s and women’s doubles is scheduled to conclude. However, “scheduled” is the key word in those sentences, with potential rain in Tokyo’s forecast for the morning and the evening.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing men’s and women’s matchup, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Tuesday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) [GRE] vs. Frances Tiafoe [USA]– 11:00am on Centre Court
This is a rematch from the first day of Wimbledon, when Tiafoe upset Tsitsipas on Court No.1 in straight sets. Tsitsipas was just 15 days removed from his French Open final defeat, and hadn’t played any matches on grass ahead of The Championships. Stefanos had claimed their first two meetings in straight sets. Frances played well in the opening round of both singles and doubles, as he and Rajeev Ram beat Russia’s Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev. But the slow-playing hard courts in Tokyo should certainly favor the Greek. Tsitsipas went 23-5 on clay this season, compared to Tiafoe’s subpar record of 3-5. And overcoming Philipp Kohlschreiber in a tight three-set battle on Sunday should boost the confidence of the third seed.
Elina Svitolina (4) [UKR] vs. Maria Sakkari (14) [GRE] – Third on Centre Court
Svitolina has barely reached this stage, winning consecutive matches 6-4 in the third. By contrast, since falling behind in the opening set of her first round against Anett Kontaveit, Sakkari has rolled, dropping only five games across her last three sets. Sakkari also leads their head-to-head 2-1, and has prevailed in both their previous hard court meetings. Svitolina’s only victory came two years ago on the grass of The All England Club. Maria’s defensive skills rival that of Elina, but Svitolina’s offensive is not nearly as commanding as Sakkari’s. The combination of this slow surface and the speed of these two competitors should result in some grueling, compelling rallies. In the end, this is another matchup where Greece should be favored to prevail.
Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:
Naomi Osaka (2) [JPN] vs. Marketa Vondrousova [CZE] – Osaka is yet to be tested through two rounds. This will be her first meeting with Vondrousova, the 2019 French Open runner-up who has struggled to rediscover her form after getting injured shortly thereafter.
Marcos Giron [USA] vs. Kei Nishikori [JPN] – Nishikori upset fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev in the first round. Giron is a 28-year-old American who recently reached a career-high ranking of 64th in the world, and is currently ranked four spots higher than Kei.
Barbora Krejcikova (8) [CZE] vs. Belinda Bencic (9) [SUI] – Roland Garros champion Krejcikova has now won 22 of her last 23 singles matches. Bencic hasn’t defeated a top 20 player since October of 2019. This clash of top 10 seeds is another first-time encounter.
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova (1) [CZE] vs. Paula Badosa and Sara Sorribes Tormo [ESP] – Krejcikova also won the women’s doubles tournament at the French Open with partner Siniakova, their third Major as a team. Badosa and Sorribes Tormo are good friends who have been rooting each other on in singles, where both have reached the round of 16. Earlier in the day, Badosa will play Nadia Podoroska, while Sorribes Tormo will play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz [GER] vs. Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury [GBR] – Murray and Salisbury upset Roland Garros champions Herbert and Mahut in the first round. Krawietz and Puetz are both ranked inside the top 32 in men’s doubles, but they do not normally play as a team.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.
