After a first day of Sunday at Roland loaded with sunshine and tricolors on the courts, this Monday will be marked by the entry into the running of heavyweights Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. But rest assured, there will also be plenty to do from a French point of view.
The poster of the day
We warn you directly, he is THE new colt of the sports team of 20 minutes. Recent winner of the ATP 250 in Lyon – the first victory of his tournament career – Arthur Fils enters the competition this Monday on a Simonne-Mathieu court which can quickly turn into a volcano. For that, it will be necessary to take the match by the right end against a small client on clay, the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, seeded number 29 at Roland. But given the dazzling progress of the boy from Bondoufle and the confidence that has accompanied him since his start on the pro circuit, we want to believe that the boy has the resources to pass this first round.
Today’s favorites
While you will be quietly taking advantage of the heat and this holiday Monday, you lucky little guys, the heavyweights of the men’s circuit will make their debut on the Parisian clay court. This will be an opportunity to see where Novak Djokovic is, whose body has been squealing lately (elbows and upper back), who faces the American Kovacevic, 114th in the world, a complete stranger not really at the comfortable on clay this season. For his part, Carlos Alcaraz will drink whey against the young (but still older than him, 19 vs. 21) Italian Flavio Cobolli, who fell Frenchman Lokoli in qualifying on Friday.
The French of the day
We have already mentioned the 1st round of Arthur Fils, let’s come to the second youngster who makes us want to believe in the awakening of French tennis, Lucas Van Assche. From the top of his 19 years, the most beautiful blonde curls of the pro circuit will face the Italian Marco Cecchinato, who is currently having a season on clay that is not too crappy given his rank at the ATP (73rd). We will also have an eye on Benoît Paire after his rant and his forcing on the FFT to obtain a wild card, even if, against Cameron Norrie, seeded number 14, the stain promises to be severely hairy. Same observation for Alexandre Müller opposed in the evening session to the elegant Jannik Sinner. Finally, for the girls, in addition to Kiki Mladenovic opposed to the American Kayla Day, Caroline Garcia will enter the track on the Central court against the Chinese Xiyu Wang.
Today’s weather
Given the fortnight announced by Météo France, it is not excluded that we end up blowing up the weather point fairly quickly. Monday, like every day until the end of the week, great weather in Paris, with a peak of 24° at the best of the day. That is the demand of the people !
The daring tip of the day
You will cry foul in the face of our lack of patriotism, but given the current (mis)shape of Caroline Garcia, at the bottom of the hole both sportingly and morally for several weeks, we cannot exclude a bad surprise from the start. for the French against Wang (64th in the world). In reality, we would dream of an easy victory and a rise in power for the Lyonnaise in order to regain a little confidence, so we hope to crash like blues.