Day 3 Preview: Tsitsipas vs. Musetti, Ruud vs. Tsonga On Chatrier

The opening round of men’s singles play will conclude on Tuesday at Roland Garros, while men’s doubles action gets underway on Day 3. Returning finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas opens his tournament against #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti, closing play on Court Philippe Chatrier, with Casper Ruud and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga squaring off on the Paris centre court earlier in the day in what could be the final match of the Frenchman’s storied career.

World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev headlines the action on Court Suzanne Lenglen and will seek his first clay-court win of the season against Facundo Bagnis. On the outer courts, 14th seed Denis Shapovalov and #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune meet for the first time.

In doubles action, second-seeded Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic put their nine-match win streak on the line following back-to-back titles in Rome and Geneva.

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[4] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. Lorenzo Musetti (ITA)

Tsitsipas and Musetti square off for the third time since 2021, with the Greek 2-0 in the ATPHead2Head. Tsitsipas enters as one of the form players on the ATP Tour with a 14-3 record on the European clay swing and a tour-leading 30 wins on the season. The Monte Carlo champion’s only clay defeats came against Carlos Alcaraz (Barcelona quarter-finals), Alexander Zverev (Madrid semis) and Novak Djokovic (Rome final).

Musetti has a tall task to prevent his opponent from reaching at least the last four in Paris for what would be a third straight season. The 20-year-old Italian has notched exactly two main-draw victories in each of his four clay events this season, including at the ATP Masters 1000s in Monte Carlo and Madrid, leaving him with an 8-4 record on the surface. He earned the second Top 10 win of his career by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime in Monte Carlo, having previously beaten Diego Schwartzman last year in Acapulco.

Tsitsipas is expecting a stern test from the man who reached a career-high of No. 51 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings earlier this month.

“Lorenzo is a very good player on this surface,” he said. “I have played him before. I think he’s someone that can bring out on the court some good potential and has been, has shown in the past that he’s capable of playing good tennis.

“I’m obviously very happy to be playing [on] these courts again. I know this first-round match is going to really bring the best out of me; at least I will try. It’s going to be the battle of two one-handed backhand players, and I think a pretty interesting match for most spectators to watch on this first round.”

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[8] Casper Ruud (NOR) vs. [WC] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)

Ruud has the unenviable task of attempting to send Tsonga into retirement, with the 37-year-old Frenchman set to hang up his racquet following Roland Garros. 

The Norwegian enters Paris on the heels of his eighth ATP Tour title in Geneva, where he beat Joao Sousa in the final in a third-set tie-break. His 28 clay-court wins and five clay titles in the past 52 weeks are the most on the ATP Tour, according to Infosys ATP Performance Zone stats. 

Tsonga competed in Lyon last week but fell to eventual finalist Alex Molcan in the opening round to drop to 2-6 on the ATP Tour this season. But the former World No. 5 is looking forward to a grand finale at his favourite tournament.

“I feel relieved, because it’s the last tournament, because both my mind and my body have told me that it’s time to stop.” the Frenchman said ahead of a 13th appearance at his home Grand Slam. “I’m also very excited, because I have always wanted and liked to play this tournament. It’s always a highlight in my career.

“I want to go to the court to play a very consistent player, a very good player. I know it will be a tough match, but I’m delighted to be able to have a match like this. I know it will be fun no matter what.”

[14] Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs. Holger Rune (DEN)

Both Shapovalov and Rune have made deep runs on the European clay in recent weeks. The Canadian defeated Rafael Nadal to reach the Rome quarter-finals, while Rune won his first ATP Tour title in Munich on 1 May. The #NextGenATP Dane also reached the Lyon semi-finals last week, beating three Frenchmen before falling to top seed and eventual champion Cameron Norrie.

Shapovalov was beaten by Ilya Ivashka in his opening match last week in Geneva, but has reached three quarter-finals on the season in addition to a semi-final in Dubai. The Canadian also helped his country win the ATP Cup in January.

The pair will contest their first ATP Head2Head matchup on Court 12, where they will open play.

Best Of The Rest

Medvedev returned in the nick of time from a hernia procedure, playing his first clay event of the season last week in Geneva. Though he bowed out in the opening round to France’s Richard Gasquet, he’ll be pleased to have at least one match under his belt ahead of Roland Garros. His opponent, Facundo Bagnis, was also knocked out in the Geneva opening round but won two qualifying matches to reach the main draw.

After that contest opens play on Lenglen, two Frenchmen are on the second stadium’s slate: Richard Gasquet will take on South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, with Hugo Gaston facing 18th seed Alex de Minaur in the evening.

Seventh seed Andrey Rublev will face South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon on Court 14, while 11th seed Jannik Sinner faces American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo on Court 7.

In addition to Mektic/Pavic, three other Top 10-seeded doubles teams are also in action: fifth-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, sixth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski and eighth seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek.