If you thought you could wait to get the popcorn cooking for Roland Garros, think again. There are plenty of intriguing matchups in the first round of the clay-court Grand Slam, and the ATP World Tour's best are ready to put on a show on the Parisian terre battue. Sam Querrey v Frances Tiafoe This is a battle of Americans that would be plenty entertaining even if it were to occur in a later round in Paris. But the second-ranked player from the United States, Querrey, will attempt to hold off #NextGenATP Tiafoe’s charge in their second FedEx ATP Head2Head series meeting. Tiafoe has proven to be in great form this year, sitting at No. 4 in the ATP Race...
One year ago, #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud fell short in the second round of qualifying at Roland Garros. But this week, Ruud is only one step away from playing in the main draw at Roland Garros for the first time. The 19-year-old beat Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third and final round of qualifying. Earlier this year, Ruud qualified and picked up his maiden Grand Slam win at the Australian Open before falling to Argentina's Diego Schwartzman in the second round. “It’s been two good matches, four good sets, I haven’t dropped one yet. It was a big test today, especially the last one,” Ruud told RolandGarros.com. “I felt it was almost over when I had...
#NextGenATP American Reilly Opelka moved to within two wins of qualifying for Roland Garros for the first time on Tuesday. The 20-year-old right-hander beat Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the second round of qualifying. Opelka won his first clay-court title on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Primrose, an ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Bordeaux, France. He lost in the final round of Roland Garros qualifying last year. The 6'10” Opelka will next meet 25-year-old Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia, who beat 30th seed Alexey Vatutin of Russia 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. [ALSO LIKE] Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who beat Roger Federer en route to the 2014 Roland Garros semi-finals (l. to Djokovic), also advanced on a rain-shortened day of qualifying...
Judging by their performance in the first round of Roland Garros qualifying, a slew of #NextGenATP players are ready to make their mark in Paris. Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime was one of nine #NextGenATP competitors to notch a win in the French capital on Monday, defeating South African Lloyd Harris 6-4, 6-3. The 17-year-old became the first player born in the 2000s to compete in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event earlier this year at the BNP Paribas Open, where he earned his maiden tour-level victory against compatriot Vasek Pospisil. Since, Auger-Aliassime has gained even more momentum by advancing to the quarter-finals at two ATP Challenger Tour events in Portugal. “Sometimes you expect to be nervous, to be tight, to...