First-round competition at the French Open concludes on Tuesday. Both world No. 1s — Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka — will kick off their title quests. Sinner is last on Court Philippe Chatrier; Sabalenka is first. 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 Tuesday’s best matchups.
Marin Cilic vs. (WC) Moise Kouame
It will be a clash of generations when Cilic and Kouame meet for the first time in their careers. Cilic, 37, has been on tour since before Kouame, 17, was born — well before Kouame was born, in fact. With Cilic past his prime and Kouame obviously nowhere near his, this is a tough matchup to forecast. Cilic is still playing decent tennis (currently 46th in the rankings), but his bad days at the office are understandably more frequent than when he won the U.S. Open in 2014, for example. Kouame is inconsistent in the formative stages of his tennis life, but he qualified in Montpellier earlier this season and won a main-draw match at the Miami Masters (d. Zachary Svajda). The Frenchman is starting to make a name for himself.
Cilic may not want to play long matches against most opponents in this French Open field, but he should be happy to do so against Kouame. After all, the teenager has never been tested in the best-of-five format. This is an entirely new scenario for Kouame, who comes in at No. 318 in the world. This should be a fun one, Cilic will probably have the physical edge.
Pick: Cilic in 4
Ethan Quinn vs. Francisco Comesana
Quinn and Comesana will be squaring off for the second time in their careers and for the second time on this 20216 clay-court swing. They just went head-to-head in Monte-Carlo qualifying, with Comesana prevailing 7-5, 6-2.
This matchup figures to be more competitive in the main draw of a major. At only 22 years old, Quinn has already reached the third round at two Grand Slams — 12 months ago at Roland Garros and earlier this season at Melbourne Park. Meanwhile, Comesana is a modest 6-7 all time at majors and 0-1 at the French. Still, the surface should ultimately make the difference in the Argentine’s favor — just like it did at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Pick: Comesana in 5
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.