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Roland Garros 2017 Day 1 – Three to See

Jake Davies
Tennis

 

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By Jake Davies

  • The three matches to see on Day 1 of 2017 Roland Garros
  • Dominic Thiem [6] vs Bernard Tomic
  • Angelique Kerber [1] vs Ekaterina Makarova
  • Petra Kvitova [15] vs Julia Boserup
PARIS, FRANCE – The second Slam of the year is finally here, and the traditional Sunday start serves up some corking matches, and a welcome back to a firm fan favourite.

 

Dominic Thiem [6] vs Bernard Tomic H2H: Thiem leads 1-0

The first of the matches not to be missed sees the No.6 seed Dominic Thiem take on Australia’s Bernard Tomic in the first round of Roland Garros. Aside from nine-time champion Rafael Nadal, Thiem has been the most impressive player of all the contenders for the 2017 title, displaying tremendous results from the beginning of the clay court season up until Rome last week.

Tomic’s year has been far from great. At one point he had lost five matches in succession and he has not exactly hit the ground running on the red clay. The great thing about the Australian is that when he plays to his capabilities he can beat most players on tour, but he has not shown that level of tennis for quite some time. Tomic and Thiem played a fantastic, memorable ATP final in Acapulco last season, which Thiem edged and I expect him to win this first round match too.

Prediction: Thiem in straight sets.

 

Angelique Kerber [1] vs Ekaterina Makarova H2H: Kerber leads 7-4

The World No.1 Angelique Kerber did not have the greatest of clay preparation coming into the second Grand Slam of the season and she drew one of the most dangerous floaters in Ekaterina Makarova in the first round.

The Russian is a former Top 10 player and has made the semi-final of two of the four majors, so in many ways she’s a much better player than her current ranking suggests. It will be an interesting battle between two lefties, but the Russian really does get a lot out of her first serve in comparison to the World No.1.

Kerber fell in the first round of Roland Garros to Kiki Bertens last season and Makarova should be a tough hurdle to overcome with no real form on the red clay.

Prediction: Makarova in three sets

 

Petra Kvitova [15] vs Julia Boserup H2H: First meeting

Petra Kvitova – 2017 Roland Garros (c) Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova makes her return to professional tennis on Sunday. The main goal for Kvitova will be to get some competitive matchplay under her belt going into her favourite swing of the year – the grass season. She plays American Julia Boserup in the first round, who is playing some of her best tennis at a relatively later stage in her career. She qualified for her first major at Wimbledon last year and is now placed neatly inside the World’s Top 100.

Kvitova goes into this grand slam as 15th seed thanks to using a protected ranking.

Prediction: Boserup in two sets.