First-round competition at Roland Garros continues on Monday, with a jam-packed singles schedule on both the men’s and women’s sides. Iga Swiatek, Elina Svitolina, Amanda Anisimova, Gael Monfils, and Stan Wawrinka are among those in action.
Here are my picks for two of Monday’s most intriguing matchups.
Ignacio Buse vs. (11) Andrey Rublev
Buse gets just one day off in between events, as the Peruvian captured his first ATP title on Saturday at the Hamburg ATP 500 and now runs into Rublev in the first round on Monday. It was an incredible Hamburg run for Buse, who had to qualify just to get into the main draw and then defeated Flavio Cobolli, Jakub Mensik, Ugo Humbert, Aleksandar Kovacevic, and Tommy Paul. The 22-year-old is suddenly up to No. 31 in the world.
Rublev’s clay-court swing — and his entire 2026 campaign — has been a roller-coaster. Mixed in with some early-round losses are a runner-up efforts in Barcelona and a quarterfinal finish in Rome. This is without question a winnable match for Buse, but his chances were dramatically better before he played seven matches last week in Hamburg — including a three-hour and three-minute struggle with Paul on Saturday. Rublev is playing well enough to keep it competitive, and he will have the physical edge if it becomes a marathon.
Pick: Rublev in 5
Aleksandar Kovacevic vs. (27) Rafael Jodar
Jodar is a 19-year-old Spaniard who has surged up the ATP rankings in 2026 (currently 29th). The former college star at the University of Virginia is 20-9 at the ATP level this season with a title in Marrakech, a semifinal performance in Barcelona, and back-to-back Masters 1000 quarterfinal results in Madrid and Rome. Jodar has lost in the first round of only two events in ’26.
Up first for the No. 27 seed is Kovacevic, whom Jodar has never faced. Kovacevic has never been at his best on clay, but he made the most of a lucky-loser spot last week in Hamburg by advancing to the semifinals before getting clobbered by Buse. Still, good clay results have been few and far between for Kovacevic. This should be one-way traffic for Jodar.
Pick: Jodar in 3
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.