PARIS — Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, two men expected to go far at the French Open, make their 2023 Roland Garros debuts on Monday against a pair of opponents who never have played a Grand Slam match.
Alcaraz, a 20-year-old from Spain ranked No. 1 who won the U.S. Open in September, faces Flavio Cobolli, an Italian who is ranked 159th. Djokovic, who won two of his 22 major championships in Paris, takes on Aleksander Kovacevic, an American ranked 114th.
Asked to compare the Alcaraz of today to the Alcaraz of a year ago, his coach, 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, began by saying: “As a person, I would say he’s more mature.”
And then Ferrero added: “As a player, I think he grows up, like, super fast on the court. He can, let’s say, read the matches a little bit better.”
Djokovic begins his bid to break the men’s record he currently shares with Rafael Nadal by earning Grand Slam trophy No. 23. Djokovic also can become the only man with at least three titles from each major.
Other major champs on the Day 2 schedule include Sloane Stephens, Petra Kvitova, Jelena Ostapenko, Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem.
WHEN DO THEY PLAY MONDAY?
Play begins at 11 a.m. local time in Paris, which is 2 a.m. PDT, everywhere except the main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier, where the first match – 2017 U.S. Open champion Stephens against two-time major finalist Karolina Pliskova – is scheduled to start at 11:45 a.m. local time, which is 2:45 a.m. PDT. Djokovic-Kovacevic will be next on that court. Alcaraz-Cobolli is the third match at Court Suzanne Lenglen, so could begin around 4 p.m. local time, which is 7 a.m. PDT.
WHAT HAPPENED SUNDAY?
A handful of seeded players exited: No. 8 Maria Sakkari, No. 21 Magda Linette, and No. 29 Zhang Shuai from the women’s draw; No. 20 Dan Evans and No. 30 Ben Shelton from the men’s. The day’s biggest news, though, emerged from a straight-set victory for No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. That’s because her opponent, Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, did not shake hands at the net – something she has consistently avoided doing with players from Russia and Belarus since those countries began the war in Ukraine more than a year ago. The crowd, seemingly unaware of why Kostyuk avoided Sabalenka after the match, booed and whistled.
UKRAINE’S KOSTYUK BOOED AFTER NO HANDSHAKE WITH BELARUS’ SABALENKA
Unable to sleep the night before her first-round match at the French Open against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, the Grand Slam tournament’s No. 2 seed, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine checked her phone at 5 a.m. Sunday and saw disturbing news back home in Kyiv.
At least one person was killed when the capital of Kostyuk’s country was subjected to the largest drone attack by Russia since the start of its war, launched with an invasion assisted by Belarus in February 2022.
“It’s something I cannot describe, probably. I try to put my emotions aside any time I go out on court. I think I’m better than before, and I don’t think it affects me as much on a daily basis, but yeah, it’s just – I don’t know,” Kostyuk said, shaking her head. “There is not much to say, really. It’s just part of my life.”
That, then, is why Kostyuk has decided she will not exchange the usual postmatch pleasantries with opponents from Russia or Belarus. And that is why she avoided a handshake – avoided any eye contact, even – after losing to Australian Open champion Sabalenka, 6-3, 6-2, on Day 1 at Roland Garros.
What surprised the 20-year-old, 39th-ranked Kostyuk on Sunday was the reaction she received from the spectators in Court Philippe Chatrier: They loudly booed and derisively whistled at her as she walked directly over to acknowledge the chair umpire instead of congratulating the winner after the lopsided result. The negative response grew louder as she gathered her belongings and walked off the court toward the locker room.
“I have to say,” Kostyuk said, “I didn’t expect it. … People should be, honestly, embarrassed.”
Kostyuk is based now in Monaco, and her mother and sister are there, too, but her father and grandfather are still in Kyiv. Perhaps the fans on hand at the clay-court event’s main stadium were unaware of the backstory and figured Kostyuk simply failed to follow usual tennis etiquette.
Initially, Sabalenka – who had approached the net as if anticipating some sort of exchange with Kostyuk – thought the noise was directed at her.
“At first, I thought they were booing me,” Sabalenka said. “I was a little confused, and I was, like, ‘OK, what should I do?’”
Sabalenka tried to ask the chair umpire what was going on. She looked up at her entourage in the stands, too. Then she realized that while she is aware Kostyuk and other Ukrainian tennis players have been declining to greet opponents from Russia or Belarus after a match, the spectators might not have known – and so responded in a way Sabalenka didn’t think was deserved.
“They saw it,” she surmised, “as disrespect (for) me.”
All in all, if the tennis itself was not particularly memorable, the whole scene, including the lack of the customary pre-match photo of the players following the coin toss, became the most noteworthy development on Day 1 in Paris.
The highest-seeded player to go home was No. 7 Maria Sakkari, who lost, 7-6 (5), 7-5, to 42nd-ranked Karolina Muchova in what wasn’t necessarily that momentous of an upset. Both have been major semifinalists, and Muchova has won her past four Slam matches against players ranked in the top 10 – including beating Sakkari at the French Open last year. Also out: No. 21 Magda Linette, a semifinalist at the Australian Open, who lost, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, to 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, and No. 29 Zhang Shuai.
The first seeded men to bow out were No. 20 Dan Evans and No. 30 Ben Shelton, an Australian Open quarterfinalist and 2022 NCAA champion from Florida making his French Open debut. No. 11 Karen Khachanov, a semifinalist at the past two majors, came all the way back after dropping the opening two sets to beat Constant Lestienne, a French player once banned for gambling, by a 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 score in front of a boisterous crowd at Court Suzanne Lenglen. Two-time Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas came within a point of being forced to a fifth set, too, but got past Jiri Vesely, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7). No. 24 Sebastian Korda, who missed three months after hurting his wrist at the Australian Open, was a straight-set winner in an all-American matchup against Mackenzie McDonald, the last player to face – and beat – Nadal.
Sabalenka called Sunday “emotionally tough” – because of mundane, tennis-related reasons, such as the nerves that come with any first-round match, but more significantly because of the unusual circumstances involving the war.
“You’re playing against (a) Ukrainian and you never know what’s going to happen. You never know how people will – will they support you or not?” explained Sabalenka, who went down an early break and trailed 3-2 before reeling off six consecutive games with powerful first-strike hitting. “I was worried, like, people will be against me, and I don’t like to play when people (are) so much against me.”
A journalist from Ukraine asked Sabalenka what her message to the world is with regard to the war, particularly in this context: She can overtake Iga Swiatek at No. 1 in the rankings based on results over the next two weeks and, therefore, serves as a role model.
“Nobody in this world, Russian athletes or Belarusian athletes, support the war. Nobody. How can we support the war? Nobody – normal people – will never support it. Why (do) we have to go loud and say that things? This is like: ‘One plus one (is) two.’ Of course we don’t support war,” Sabalenka said. “If it could affect anyhow the war, if it could like stop it, we would do it. But unfortunately, it’s not in our hands.”
When a portion of those comments was read to Kostyuk by a reporter, she responded in calm, measured tones that she doesn’t get why Sabalenka does not come out and say that “she personally doesn’t support this war.”
Kostyuk also rejected the notion that players from Russia or Belarus could be in a tough spot upon returning to those countries if they were to speak out about what is happening in Ukraine.
“I don’t know why it’s a difficult situation,” Kostyuk said with a chuckle.
“I don’t know what other players are afraid of,” she said. “I go back to Ukraine, where I can die any second from drones or missiles or whatever it is.”
GET CAUGHT UP
What you need to know about the year’s second Grand Slam tennis tournament:
• Nadal is not here
• Djokovic can break a tie with Nadal by winning Slam No. 23; Alcaraz and Djokovic are drawn to meet in the semifinals
• Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina split past four major titles
• Facts and figures about the French Open, including a look back at 2022
BETTING GUIDE
Alcaraz is minus-7000 to win his opener, which seems overwhelming until you see that Djokovic is minus-10,000 for Monday, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Alcaraz remains the tournament favorite on the men’s side, at plus-155, followed by Djokovic, who has moved from plus-230 to plus-200. Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune are all next for the men’s title at plus-1000. Defending champion Iga Swiatek, whose first match is Tuesday, remains a significant moneyline favorite for the women’s championship at Roland Garros, listed at minus-125. Next up is Australian Open champion Sabalenka, who moved up to plus-430 after her first-round win. Elena Rybakina is the third choice at plus-650.
HOW TO WATCH
-In the U.S.: Tennis Channel, NBC, Peacock.
-In France: France TV, Amazon Prime.
-Other countries listed here.
UPCOMING SINGLES SCHEDULE
-Tuesday: First Round (Women and Men)
-Wednesday-Thursday: Second Round (Women and Men)
-Friday-Saturday: Third Round (Women and Men)
-Sunday-Monday: Fourth Round (Women and Men)
-June 6-7: Quarterfinals (Women and Men)
-June 8: Women’s Semifinals
-June 9: Men’s Semifinals
-June 10: Women’s Final
-June 11: Men’s Final
THE NUMBER TO KNOW
675 — Lucas Pouille’s current ATP ranking, making the 29-year-old from France the lowest-ranked man to win a first-round match at Roland Garros in 10 years. Pouille is 4-0 over the past week — three victories in qualifying, plus a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 win over Jurij Rodionov in the first round of the main draw Sunday — after going a year without playing a tour-level match while dealing with depression and alcoholism. Pouille also beat Rodionov in the last round of qualifying; Rodionov then was placed in the bracket as a “lucky loser” when another player withdrew.
THE QUOTE TO KNOW
“No. Not really. More time to enjoy red wine.” — No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, a two-time major finalist, when asked after his victory Sunday whether getting that Day 1 assignment affected his focus (the other three Grand Slam tournaments start on a Monday). Tsitsipas now gets extra rest before his second-round match on Wednesday.
