Day 3 at the French Open sees the conclusion of the first round in both the women’s and men’s draws. There are 20 matches (each) scheduled for Tuesday, and as always, we’re here to predict them all for you. We split the 20 women’s matches between five articles. In addition to this article we have four others–featuring Aryna Sabalenka vs Chloe Paquet, Karolina Pliskova vs Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, Paula Badosa vs Fiona Ferro, and Danielle Collins vs Viktoriya Tomova. Predicting these matches are Fraser Learmonth, Damian Kust, and Jim Smith. Who do you think will win?
French Open Day 3 Women’s Predictions
Alize Cornet vs Misaki Doi
Fraser:
Alize Cornet fell off the face of the earth after reaching her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal in Australia at the beginning of the year. Fortunately for her, Doi has been equally unimpressive this year. The Japanese has also only played two matches on clay this year and doesn’t like the surface. This is a good opportunity for Cornet to rediscover some form.
Prediction: Cornet in 3
Damian:
Misaki Doi beat Alize Cornet on clay six years ago, but the Japanese generally doesn’t do that well on this surface and only lost in Madrid and Rome qualifying this year. Alize Cornet didn’t win a match in these events either, but you can’t really blame her for losing to Simona Halep and she came very close to taking out Varvara Gracheva. In front of the home crowd, the veteran Frenchwoman shouldn’t lose this.
Prediction: Cornet in 2
Jim:
Alize Cornet tends to save her best for the big occasion, particularly when she is playing on home turf. She has not been in particularly impressive form leading into the French Open, but she has at least won a handful of matches and her game is generally well-suited to the clay. Misaki Doi, in contrast, has lost four on the bounce.
Prediction: Cornet in 3
Madison Brengle vs Mihaela Buzarnescu
Fraser:
I’ve learnt not to pick against Brengle in recent months. The American has a knack for putting together big tuns in big tournaments and this is a very winnable first round match for her. Buzarnescu is not the force she once was and will do well to keep this close barring a rediscovery of that lost form. I struggle to see that happening here though.
Prediction: Brengle in 2
Damian:
Mihaela Buzarnescu had her best event of the season so far in qualifying here, but still ended up getting rather comfortably defeated by Miriam Bjorklund. The Romanian has been struggling this year and while Madison Brengle isn’t exactly setting the world on fire, she’s been way more competitive than Buzarnescu, even though she’s been playing mostly Tour-level.
Prediction: Brengle in 3
Jim:
This is a tough first-round draw for Madison Brengle. Like most of her compatriots, clay is not her favorite surface, whilst Mihaela Buzarnescu looked sharp in the qualifying and has enjoyed some success at the French Open in the past. It could go either way, but make Buzarnescu the slight favorite.
Prediction: Buzarnescu in 3
Panna Udvardy vs Fernanda Contreras Gomez
Fraser:
Contreras Gomez beat McNally in the first round of qualifying for this tournament, so the Mexican is no slouch. However, Udvardy is definitely a step up in competition given this match is on clay. The Hungarian sits inside the top 100 in the women’s game thanks to a 62/15 record on clay last year. That makes her the clear favourite in this match and I expect that form to hold in the result.
Prediction: Udvardy in 2
Damian:
Fernanda Contreras Gomez and her celebrations were one of the stories of the qualifying, but this is going to be a pretty big step up already. Panna Udvardy is struggling to find her footing on the WTA Tour after a brilliant rise through ITF events, but should still be considered the favorite against the Mexican, who will be making her tour-level debut and won three deciding sets in the qualifying.
Prediction: Udvardy in 3
Jim:
This is a big opportunity for both of the players to reach the second round at a Major for the first time. But it is Panna Udvardy who looks better placed to do it. Fernanda Contreras Gomez will be match sharp after coming through the qualifying, but Udvardy is the higher ranked player for a reason and has been in solid form of late. Expect her to have just about too much for the Mexican.
Prediction: Udvardy in 3
Simona Halep vs Nastasja Mariana Schunk
Fraser:
No offense to Schunk, but if she wins six games in this match I’ll be surprised. Halep has looked determined and fired up in recent weeks and her tennis is close to its peak. If she continues that upward trend there may not be anyone in this tournament who can stop her. Schunk is a bright young talent who may well have a future on the WTA Tour, but she will have to wait a little bit longer to start realising that dream.
Prediction: Halep in 2
Damian:
Nastasja Maria Schunk has a very hit-or-miss game and we’ve seen these sorts of players trouble Simona Halep in the past. The 19-year-old German has very little experience at this level though and maintaining the quality required to beat an opponent of this class for at least two sets should be way too big of an ask.
Prediction: Halep in 2
Jim:
Simona Halep looked to be back to her best in Madrid, reaching the quarterfinals, but ran out into a red-hot Ons Jabeur there before crashing out early in Rome. That has rather dampened talk of a run to the title in Paris. But it will surely take a better player than lucky loser Nastasja Mariana Schunk to end Halep’s campaign.
Prediction: Halep in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
