{"id":7566,"date":"2018-05-26T18:44:35","date_gmt":"2018-05-26T22:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=7566"},"modified":"2018-05-28T16:28:11","modified_gmt":"2018-05-28T20:28:11","slug":"french-open-main-draw-starts-tomorrow-featuring-jelena-ostapenko-and-kei-nishikori","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2018\/05\/26\/french-open-main-draw-starts-tomorrow-featuring-jelena-ostapenko-and-kei-nishikori\/","title":{"rendered":"French Open Main Draw Starts Tomorrow Featuring Jelena Ostapenko and Kei Nishikori"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/french-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">French Open<\/a> Main Draw Starts Tomorrow <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tomorrow tennis fans everywhere will live and breathe the year\u2019s second Slam, fan-favorite French Open. While most Americans will set their DVRs and hope no one spills before they have time to watch, European Countries will be excited with the matches scheduled for Opening Day and the opportunity to catch the action in real time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Look at the Men<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On the men\u2019s side, no one has won more titles at Roland Garros than World #1 Rafael Nadal. His 10 titles don\u2019t give the full picture; he also holds the record for the most consecutive wins in the Open Era with five titles from 2010 to 2014. \u00a0\u00a0The odds makers are giving Nadal 2 to 5 odds for the win, with 21-year-old Madrid Open titleholder and World #3 Alexander Zverev their second choice at 10 to 1 odds.\u00a0 Opening day shouldn\u2019t hold many surprises, but here\u2019s a few to watch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Troicki vs Dimitrov<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/959132460\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/959132460?et=0MXMSzs3RgdvG5efWoo_ZA&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=trCWwTNaCKVOsxXkPAO6O_CbUvby0bGcxfl3VWsHris=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Will Dimitrov hold his nerve against fiery and volatile Troicki?\u00a0 Dimitrov is coming into the French on a three-match losing streak. In a recent interview, Dimitrov admits he \u201chasn\u2019t found my game right now\u201d, evidenced by his losses. For Dimitrov to prevail, he\u2019ll need to find a way through on the red dirt. He\u2019s hoping not to repeat his 2016 first round match-up with Troicki where he lost in five sets.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Berankis vs A. Zverev<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It should be \u2018business as usual\u2019 for Sasha Zverev when he meets 27-year-old Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis on Suzanne-Lenglen on Sunday. Zevrev comes into the French Open in top form, showing both power and finesse on clay. His recent win at the Madrid Open, taking out Thiem in straight sets, combined with his Italian Open performance taking the second set 6-1 from Nadal, gives him the confidence to make a deep run. And, don\u2019t forget, according to the odds-makers, he favored to win the tournament behind Clay Court King Rafa Nadal. Despite odds-makers\u2019 confidence, Zverev had the unfortunate luck of landing in the same quarter as Madrid finalist Thiem and returning 2017 finalist Stan Wawrinka.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nihsikori vs Janvier<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/959907296\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 70.03367% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/959907296?et=TTKEs4sNRZVjyw3VrNusKw&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=GnI59fp13XjpqOyMHrSzrHec8o6-LaP8tyHSrk31nSk=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"416\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>This may qualify as a \u2018don\u2019t blink or you\u2019ll miss it\u2019 match.\u00a0 Receiving a wildcard into the French Open, 21-year-old Maxime Janvier\u2019s game won\u2019t stand up to a healthy Kei Nishikori. But, here\u2019s why we\u2019re watching: World #21 Nishikori has struggled with injuries but when healthy, is a threat on any surface. While this first round win should come easy for Kei, his lower ranking will force him to find a way through a lot of tough competitors. His unwillingness to play a more aggressive style may take a toll on his rebuilt wrist.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Look at the Women<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If the odds makers are to be believed, Elina Svitolina or Simona Halep should walk away with a win. Rounding out oddsmakers\u2019 Top 5 are Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova and Serena Williams. Jelena Ostapenko, last year\u2019s titleholder, didn\u2019t make the list, but we all know she\u2019s a player to never rule out. After all, how many people predicted her 2017 Rolland Garros win?! Here\u2019s a few matches worth watching.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cornet vs. Errani<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/954882026\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 63.804714% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/954882026?et=IYR3l3ioSgloEgQ6uMrBUw&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=Yu7ZoBCZdp6xj0p3t21Sul8HzqGpgfpfnhPMBUnrm_k=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"379\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Known for her defensive play and fast court coverage Italian Sara Errani enters this Slam in WTA Rankings as #74. More than 30 places higher sits her opponent, Alize Cornet, a Frenchwoman who the crowd will surely get behind. Don\u2019t let the rankings gap fool you; Errani is a former Top 10 player while Cornet hasn\u2019t yet broken that barrier. In Cornet\u2019s aggressive baseline style where she swings hard and paints the lines, she\u2019ll attempt to push Errani back.\u00a0 With a 60% first serve and plenty of double faults, Cornet will have to make each shot count.\u00a0 With Errani\u2019s comfort level behind the baseline, this shouldn\u2019t be too daunting. Combine that talent with her prowess at net learned through her many doubles titles, you\u2019ll find Errani a worthy opponent once the point begins.\u00a0 Don\u2019t expect much on the 5\u20195\u201d Italian\u2019s serve. Errani still holds the record for the slowest serve at a club level player 45 mph. It will likely take three sets for the Frenchwoman to move through, but my guess is we\u2019ll see Cornet in the second round.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ostapenko vs. Kozlova<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This should be an easy match for Jelena Ostapenko to reacquaint herself with Philippe-Chatrier Stadium, the very same stadium where Ostapenko won her first (and only) Slam. It should be a routine outing for World #5 as she meets Kateryna Kozlova on the opening day of the Main Draw of the French Open. Yet, Kozlova\u2019s success at the WTA Taiwan Open shows she\u2019s a capable opponent, noted for moving exceptionally well and strong defensive play. The mercurial Ostapenko will need to keep a sharp mental focus to knock out Kozlova in straight sets &#8211; perhaps the best strategy Coach David Taylorfor his lively player.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also In Action<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We rarely see first rounds for seeded players yield dramatic upsets; and, that should be the case on Sunday when Venus Williams, Elina Svitolina and Sloan Stephens start their run at Roland Garros. With the outcome nearly preordained, I know I\u2019ll still watch!<\/p>\n<p><strong>And, For All the Club Players Who Love Doubles \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, Tournament organizers announced that Serena &amp; Venus Williams were given a wildcard entry for doubles. The competition will be fierce and they\u2019ll need to move through top talent in the form of Bethanie Mattek-Sands &amp; Latisha Chan, Jelena Ostapenko &amp; Elena Vesnina, and Miami Open winners Ashleigh Barty &amp; Coco Vandeweghe.<\/p>\n<p>The men\u2019s doubles entries show some interesting pairings. For this tournament, the Bryan Brothers will change to a singular \u2018brother\u2019 as Bob Bryan will miss the French Open, not fully recovered from a hip injury. Mike Bryan will be playing alongside fellow American Sam Querry. It\u2019ll be a disadvantage for Mike as he loses the familiarity of Bob\u2019s game, but few players have the huge serve his partner Sam will bring to the game. Defending Champions Ryan Harrison &amp; Michael Venus have chosen not to play together. Instead, look for Ryan Harrison &amp; Vasek Pospisil to join and create a formidable presence. Michael Venus will try to repeat last year\u2019s success teaming up with Raven Klaasen.<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/906261446\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/906261446?et=XdXrlzM0SU9SX-6hOZMGcA&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=Uln7aiNTi6865Uy62H9PvmdPqBl3EfLsRUxt9IjIkh4=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Doubles action begins May 29.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/959826224\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/959826224?et=9Nmoj7aAS_ZfaISPlq8lvg&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=vqu3B8vUT5AswQwPESsto46OGA9w_OcaIh09Pn5Munc=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>French Open Main Draw Starts Tomorrow Tomorrow tennis fans everywhere will live and breathe the year\u2019s second Slam, fan-favorite French Open. While most Americans will set their DVRs and hope no one spills before they have time to watch, European Countries will be excited with the matches scheduled for Opening Day and the opportunity to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1838,"featured_media":7575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2,5,9,4],"tags":[85,470,394,204,2938,2940,411,473,146,2939,475,25,70,89],"class_list":["post-7566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atp","category-featured","category-french-open","category-news","category-wta","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-alize-cornet","tag-elina-svitolina","tag-french-open","tag-french-open-day-1","tag-french-open-doubles","tag-grigor-dimitrov","tag-jelena-ostapenko","tag-kei-nishikori","tag-roland-garros-day-1","tag-sara-errani","tag-serena-williams","tag-venus-williams","tag-viktor-troicki"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1838"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}