The road to a 13th title at Roland Garros begins this Monday for Rafael Nadal.
The Spaniard, number 2, world, will be one of the attractions of the second day of the tournament.
He will enter the competition at the end of the day on the center court against Belarusian Egor Gerasimov.
Even though Nadal has indicated that he does not feel comfortable with the playing conditions of this fall tournament and that the candidates for the throne are more dangerous than ever, he should not have too much difficulty getting rid of the world number 83, which is the first foray into the main draw at Roland Garros.
The other poster of the day will oppose, from 11 am on the Central, two Grand Slam winners.
Recent winner of the US Open, the Austrian Dominic Thiem will begin his Parisian campaign against the Croatian Marin Cilic, winner of the US Open in… 2014. Heir announced to Nadal on clay - after facing each other in the final in the last two editions, the two players are expected to meet this year in the semi-finals - Thiem, 27, has never lost in three clashes against Cilic.
Monfils arrives without a landmark
Finally, French fans will have their eyes on the Suzanne-Lenglen court where Gaël Monfils will face the Russian Alexander Bublik (n ° 56).
By chance of the draw, the world number 9 will play his match just after his companion, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, winner of the Strasbourg tournament this weekend.
Absent during the US Open and beaten as soon as he entered the tournament in Rome and Hamburg, Monfils landed in Paris without any real mark.
Semi-finalist of the meeting at Porte d'Auteuil in 2008, the Parisian will not be able to count this season on the support of the public to transcend himself.
"To be honest, I'm sad," said the person last week during a videoconference.
The stadium is empty, the weather is not good.
The word is going to be harsh, but this is not the tournament I played before, the one I dream of with the crazy atmosphere, the supporters, the big magic.
It's going to be different in my favorite place… ”
In the women's table, the day will be marked by the entry into the running of the American Serena Williams against her compatriot Kristie Ahn (n ° 101).
The player, who celebrated her 39 years on Saturday, would like to treat herself to a nice birthday present with a 4th coronation in Paris (after 2002, 2013 and 2015).
A victory which would allow him above all to equal Margaret Court's absolute record with a 24th Grand Slam title.
A record after which she has been chasing since 2017.
THE MAIN MATCHES OF THE DAY
From 11 a.m.
Central Court:
Cilic (Cro) - Thiem (Aut / n ° 3);
Ahn (USA) - Williams (USA / No. 6);
Gerasimov (blr) -Nadal (Esp / n ° 2).
Court Suzanne-Lenglen:
MONFILS
(n ° 8) - Bublik (Kaz);
Medvedev (Rus / n ° 4) - Fucsovics (Hun).
Court Simonne-Mathieu:
Zidansek (Slo) - Muguruza (Esp / n ° 11);
PACKAGE - CORNET
.
THE MATCHES OF OTHER FRENCH:
Bedele (Slo) -
RINDERKNECH
;
GASTON - JANUARY;
MANNARINO
- Ramos-Vinolas (Spain);
Mmoh (USA) -
HERBERT
.
THE MATCHES OF OTHER FRENCH WOMEN
Kvitova (Tch / n ° 7) -
DODIN
;
Zarazua (Mex) -
JACQUEMOT
;
PARRY
- Hercog (Slo);
Rus (Ned) -
BUREL
.