Roland Garros 2023

Alcaraz and Djokovic drawn in the same half.

Alcaraz projected to meet Norrie in R4.
FAA projected to meet Tsitsipas in R4 - also projected to meet Alcaraz in the 1/4 finals.

Djokovic projected to meet 2023 Monte Carlo champion Rublev in the 1/4 finals.

Ruud projected to meet Rune in the 1/4 finals.

Medvedev projected to meet Sinner/Zverev in the 1/4 finals.

So who do we think is favourite? Alcaraz, clearly, has a good shot while Medvedev has much the easier half.

Despite some in-and-out form and fitness doubts, Djoko is still, for me, the man to beat.

Swiatek has already won the French twice and has to be considered the big favourite. But she has Rybakina in her half who, with Sabalenka, has provided some title-winning consistency to the women's game over the last few months.

Having no Rafa is particularly tough for his fans. But it does make for a far more interesting tournament. In many of the past years (perhaps all of them since 2005) the only uncertain thing about RG was who was going to lose to Rafa in the final.

Am hoping to watch some of the matches on some new thingy connected to BT Sport which can be found at bt.com/discoveryplus.

sirfredperry wrote:So who do we think is favourite? Alcaraz, clearly, has a good shot while Medvedev has much the easier half.

Despite some in-and-out form and fitness doubts, Djoko is still, for me, the man to beat.

Djokovic, whatever the issues with his elbow are, hasn't been serving as well. Alcaraz is my favourite. And I'd probably make Medvedev most likely to be his dance partner in the final.

If he was in the form of the last 2 or 3 years, I'd say Djokovic was clear favourite in Nadal's absence, but his form this year has been patchy at best, so he's certainly vulnerable.

Alcaraz has been a bit up and down, and I still think he's a better hard court player than clay, despite his Spanish heritage.
Medvedev has been consistently good so far this season, but while his clay results have been good, that is on the basis of him not being as strong on the surface.
Which leaves the likes of Tsistipas, Rune and Ruud - All good clay court players, but I don't (yet) see a champion's mentality from any of them

Interesting open tournament.

As for the women's side, since Swiatek's emergence, there seems to be more predictability in the upper ranks, with a couple of others stepping up their consistency to become significant challengers. For once, it doesn't look like a 'pick a name out of a hat' type of tournament.

I cant see past Alcaraz to be honest. Medvedev won last week but he has yet to really prove himself over 5 sets on clay at French open. Rune is in very good form but I think it still might be a bit soon for him. He was going great at Australian open and then inexplicably blew that big lead vs Rublev, he still needs more experience.

Tsitisipas is too flaky in the biggest matches. Djokovic form is very poor going into this and for the first time I wouldnt be at all shocked if he went out even before quarter finals. I think Fokina could be a real handful if he meets him in round 3. Hurkasz is also very dangerous on his day in round 4 if they meet.

Alcaraz also has the kindest draw all the way to the semis. I really cant see past him.

They're under way at RG. Thanks to the joys of bt.sport/discoveryplus I'm watching Goffin v Hurkacz which is a pretty tough opening match for both players.

Slasher - I certainly would not be surprised to see Alcaraz take the title. But The French is a hugely-demanding Slam physically and the Spaniard is still relatively inexperienced at five-set tournaments. Has he got the stamina/fitness to go all the way?

Aryna Sabalenka batters Marta Kostyuk 6-3 6-2 as the Australian Open champion makes an impressive start in Paris.

Some good points in the Goffin-Hurkacz encounter. The Belgian was a break up in the first and third sets but lost them both and now trails two sets to one.

11th-seeded Khachanov lost the first two sets to Frenchman Lestienne but has taken the third 6-2.

Thanasi Kokkinakis beats Daniel Evans 6-4 6-4 6-4. In terms of seeding it's a shock, but in terms of talent it cannot be considered an upset. The Aussie is very talented.

11th seed Karen Khachanov comes from two sets to love down to beat Constant Lestienne 3-6 1-6 6-2 6-1 6-3. Impressive comeback from the Russian, but you don't really want to be wasting so much energy in the early rounds, especially at Roland Garros.

Hurkacz finally saw off a spirited Goffin 6-4 in the 5th. The Pole looks very solid but you feel that he lacks a bit of oomph. His ground strokes are rather conservative. You feel that such a big guy should have a bigger game.

Khachanov finally came thru in five but not before his French opponent managed to get an early break back in that final set.

Tsitsipas was two sets up but has now been taken to a 4th set by Vessely who is an experienced old hand.

Tsitsipas beats Vesely 7-5 6-3 4-6 7-6(7). Vesely had three set points in the fourth set tie break.
Tsitsipas remains nothing more than hype.

Tsitsipas took the 4th set tiebreak and the match, saving set points. A long first outing for the number five seed who, if the seeding works out, will face a very tough end to the tournament.

No 8 seed Sakkari is out. Tough opening match against Muchova who has been as high as 19 in the world.

Isner has saved three MPs in his match against Portugal's Nuno Borges and they are now in to a final-set tiebreak.

LATER: Borges finally took it 11-9 in the tiebreak. Never been a big fan of Isner who seems to exist purely on being ultra tall with a huge serve who relies on tiebreaks to win matches. Well, he lost the two tiebreaks he had to play today.

7th seed Andrey Rublev sees off Laslo Djere 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4.
The champion in Monte Carlo could be a dark horse here.

Norrie and Draper in action today as well as Djoko and Alcaraz.

There were boos at the conclusion of the Belarus v Ukraine clash between Sabalenka and Kostyuk yesterday - but not for Sabalenka. The crowd jeered Kostyuk for not shaking hands at the end.

Norrie took the first set 7-5 against Paire but the Frenchman now 5-3 up in the second set.

Paire now two sets to one up on Norrie while Jack Draper has lost the first set 6-4 to Etcheverry of Argentina.

One woman who might trouble the top players is former GS champ Sloane Stephens. Today she beat Pliskova in straight sets.

Norrie was close to defeat when Paire went a break up in the 5th set but he took the last four games to squeeze thru 6-4. Next up is another Frenchman, Pouille.

FAA, who has not been having a great season, is out - beaten in straight sets by Fognini. This was a bad draw for the Canadian as the Italian can be something of a magician on clay.

As I write, Djoko is cruising in his opener. Shapovalov needed five sets to get past Nakashima.

Djoko needed a tiebreak in the third to win in the end.

Stan the Man was two sets to love up and had points for a double break in the third before R-Vinolas staged a tremendous comeback to take it to a 5th.

Eventually Stan arrived at MP at 5-2 in the 5th but still R-V wouldn't go away and Stan needed two more MPs to finally take it 6-4 in 4hrs 35mins.

Novak Djokovic eventually beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3 6-2 7-1(1). Serb vs American Serb.

2015 champion Stan Wawrinka beats Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(5) 6-4 6-7(2) 1-6 6-4 in a marathon match than nearly got away from the Swiss. Life in the old boy yet.

Diego Schwartzman cames from two sets to love down to beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles 1-6 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0 6-4.

Alcaraz was up against a young, inexperienced player tonight but even so he looked mighty impressive.

What struck me was his speed around the court. Next up for him will be Daniel of Japan followed, probably, by Shapovalov.