Champions' Day: Nadal, Djokovic, Wawrinka Begin on Monday at Roland Garros
Champions’ Day: Nadal, Djokovic, Wawrinka Begin on Monday at Roland Garros
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka – winners of 12 of the past 13 Roland Garros titles – all will be in action on Monday as first-round play continues in Paris.
The top-seeded Nadal commences another attempt at history this fortnight. The Spaniard is trying to become the first man – and only the second player – in history to win 11 singles titles at any Grand Slam tournament. Australian Margaret Court won the Australian Open 11 times, including six before the Open Era began in April 1968 (1960-66, 1969-1971, 1973).
Nadal meets a familiar opponent on Court Philippe-Chatrier in Italian Simone Bolelli. The two have faced off five times in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, and Nadal has won all five, including a first-round contest at the 2012 Roland Garros, during which Nadal lost only five games.
Read More: Moya: ‘My Belief In Rafa Is At An All-Time High’
Djokovic, a potential challenger to Nadal in Paris, will look to pick up where he left off in Rome at the season’s third and final ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournament. The Serbian reached his first quarter-final and semi-final of the season at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia earlier this month (l. to Nadal).
The 2016 Roland Garros champion meets Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva, who’s no stranger to the red dirt. Almost 75 per cent of the his 30 tour-level wins have come on clay (22/30), according to his FedEx ATP Win/Loss Record. Djokovic won their only prior FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup in straight sets at the 2012 US Open.
Stan Wawrinka has looked less convincing in recent times, as the Swiss continues his comeback from two knee surgeries last August. Wawrinka lost in the quarter-finals of the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open last week to eventual champion Marton Fucsovics of Hungary.
It was Wawrinka’s third clay-court match of the year, and he was contesting back-to-back matches for the first time since February at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open. But perhaps returning to the site of his second Grand Slam title (2015 Roland Garros) will help Wawrinka. The 33-year-old, who fell in last year’s final to Nadal, kicks off play on Court Suzanne-Lenglen against Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Wawrinka is 18-2 in his past three Roland Garros appearances.
View Monday’s Schedule
In other action, Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon titlist Dominic Thiem will go for his 30th match win of the season against qualifier Ilya Ivashka of Belarus. The seventh-seeded Thiem has reached the semi-finals the past two years.
Twenty-seventh seed and 2016 quarter-finalist Richard Gasquet meets Italy’s Andreas Seppi; 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain faces Uzbekistani Denis Istomin; and Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, the 11th seed, meets French wild card Calvin Hemery.
Monday will also feature a number of compatriots battling on la terre battue. Ninth seed John Isner of the U.S. meets 22-year-old Noah Rubin, who won the USTA’s wild-card challenge to make his Roland Garros debut. #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe will play 12th seed Sam Querrey; and Spain’s David Ferrer, 2013 finalist, meets #NextGenATP Jaume Munar.
Read More: Courtside and Beyond, Nadal Supports #NextGenATP Munar