Tennis

Some of the top contenders were dominant winners on Day 1 including world number one Aryna Sabalenka who dropped just one game! It was a huge statement from the tournament favourite and it is the turn of her rivals to respond. Rebecca Sramkova vs Iga Swiatek 10:00pm, Monday | Philippe-Chatrier Swiatek -6.5 ($1.67) For defending champion Iga Swiatek, the last 12 months has arguably been the most difficult of her career. She has not won a singles title since winning her 4th French Open and has been on the wrong end of some unexplainable defeats. Lost 6-1 6-1 to Gauff…

Welcome to Paris and the second major of the season. With the opening round being split over three days we get an extra day of mouthwatering tennis. Carlos Alcaraz is the defending champion and form player on clay but will have to contend will the likes of Sinner, Djokovic, Zverev and Ruud is he is to defend his crown. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see the top two players in the world with the in-form Lorenzo Musetti to headline men’s action on Day 1. Lorenzo Musetti vs Jannik Hanfmann 12:20am*, Monday | Philippe-Chatrier Both Players to Win…

We are diving straight into the deep end with a host of the main contenders scheduled to play. That includes the world no.1 (Sabalenka), last year’s runner-up (Paolini) and the woman that won the gold medal (Qinwen Zheng) on this court less than a year ago. All three will want to make a fast start and send a message to the rest of the field. Aryna Sabalenka vs Kamilla Rakhimova 10:00pm, Sunday | Philippe-Chatrier Sabalenka -7.5 ($1.80) The world no.1 holds a 2-0 advantage in the H2H which includes victory over Rakhimova at this tournament two years ago. She won…

Iga Swiatek completed a three-peat of French Open victories last year and has now won 4 of the last 5 but a lot has happened in the last year for the defending champion. She has not won a singles title since and has been on the wrong end of some heavy losses. One of those came against Cori Gauff in Madrid with the American winning 6-1 6-1. Sabalenka is currently the clear no.1 with 4 finals appearances in her last 5 tournaments. The other name to take note of – Jasmine Paolini. Last year’s runner-up won the singles and doubles…

Twelve months ago, Carlos Alcaraz beat Auger-Aliassime, Dimitrov, Sinner and Zverev in consecutive matches to win his first French Open title. This time around he is the form player on clay having won 15 of his last 16 matches and of all the big names, has the easiest path to victory. Sinner remains the no.1 ranked player in the world and there is a clear gap to the rest of the field. Djokovic and Wawrinka are the only other former champions in the draw with the trio of Tsitsipas, Ruud and Zverev having finished runners-up across the last four years.…