By Jake Davies
- Brandon Nakashima v Denis Shapovalov [26]
- Victoria Azarenka [18] v Bianca Andreescu
- Gael Monfils v Sebastian Baez
PARIS, FRANCE – With the Sunday start and the rest of the first round being split over Monday and Tuesday, we pick our the best of the first round action.
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Brandon Nakashima vs Denis Shapovalov [26] | H2H and Match Fundamentals
| Brandon Nakashima vs Denis Shapovalov [26] | H2H: Nakashima leads 1-0 |
| Roland Garros 2023 | Paris, France |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €69,000 |
| First on Court 7 at 11am (10:00 BST) | Discovery+ Add-on via Amazon Prime Sign up for 30 day free trial of Prime Video and a 7 day free trial of Discovery+ Player |
In the first of our three matches to watch, on Day Two of the French Open, Denis Shapovalov will be facing off with America’s Brandon Nakashima. Nakashima isn’t necessarily renowned for being a good clay-court player, but with that being said has actually built some form up coming into the event having made the semi-finals in Lyon. Shapovalov has been out of sorts for quite some time and has struggled to really back up match wins and go on deep runs at any event.
In many ways this is a contrast in two approaches, with Nakashima being more efficient and solid from the back of the court, while Shapovalov is mostly about getting the first strike in and using his all-court skills to his advantage. Nakashima has his own vulnerabilities in terms of technique on his forehand side, but I can’t see Shapovalov having that measured shot selection to exploit it often enough.
Prediction: Nakashima in five sets.
Victoria Azarenka [18] vs Bianca Andreescu | H2H and Match Fundamentals
| Victoria Azarenka [18] vs Bianca Andreescu | First Meeting |
| Roland Garros 2023 | Paris, France |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €69,000 |
| Tuesday TBC | Discovery+ Add-on via Amazon Prime Sign up for 30 day free trial of Prime Video and a 7 day free trial of Discovery+ Player |
Victoria Azarenka has experienced a bit of a resurgence in the last twelve months and now sits comfortably in the Top-20 even during what many would consider as the twilight years of her career. But looking to halt some of her progress in the first round will be another former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who has had a torrid time with an ankle problem in recent months which has impacted her clay season.
Andreescu has such a varied and balanced style of tennis and will need to use all of that variety if she is to get over the line here. Azarenka has a predominant counter-punching approach, but has always been very effective with time behind her backhand groundstroke and in slower conditions she could be very dangerous on her return of serve strength here also.
Prediction: Azarenka in three sets.
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Gael Monfils vs Sebastian Baez | H2H and Match Fundamentals
| Gael Monfils vs Sebastian Baez | First Meeting |
| Roland Garros 2023 | Paris, France |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €69,000 |
| Tuesday TBC | Discovery+ Add-on via Amazon Prime Sign up for 30 day free trial of Prime Video and a 7 day free trial of Discovery+ Player |
In the last of our three matches to watch, Gael Monfils will be facing Sebastian Baez for a place in the second round. Baez had been on one of his biggest slumps at the back-end of last year, but has since started to win matches on his much preferred clay in South America. Baez’s main strengths are his court coverage and packs a serious punch for his size on his forehand side, but often lacks a lot of power on first serve. Monfils will be looking to exploit that in this match-up although the Frenchman is an unknown quantity on tour at present as he makes his way back at Grand Slam level.
I think Baez will profit if this gets turned into a long physical battle, but Monfils should have more than enough in his game to really overwhelm Baez’s serve for long periods if he finds his range quite early.
Prediction: Monfils in four sets.
How to Watch/Follow Roland Garros 2023
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