French Open order of play Day 1: Carlos Alcaraz, Naomi Osaka, Murray-Wawrinka star on Chatrier
Four Grand Slam champions will take to Court Philippe Chatrier on the opening day of the 2024 French Open, with Naomi Osaka and Carlos Alcaraz in action before a blockbuster clash between Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.
Back in action at Roland Garros for the first time since 2021, four-time major winner and former world No 1 Naomi Osaka kickstarts play at the event, playing the opening match of the Chatrier schedule.
The Japanese star, currently ranked 134th as she continues her comeback from maternity leave, will open up against Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti.
Osaka has never made it past the third round of Roland Garros but has shown some promising form on the dirt this season, with a run to the fourth round at the Italian Open.
Should she prevail on Sunday she will likely play reigning world No 1 and French Open champion Iga Swiatek, with the Pole’s campaign set to begin on Monday.
Read More: French Open women’s draw – Iga Swiatek v Naomi Osaka potential round 2, Sabalenka and Rybakina in same half
Following on from Osaka, all eyes will be on Alcaraz as the world No 3 looks to win a first men’s singles crown in Paris – despite an injury-stricken build-up.
Alcaraz withdrew from Monte Carlo and Barcelona with an arm injury and, after losing in the last eight in Madrid, he then withdrew from Rome with the same issue.
But the Spaniard – who reached the semi-final a year ago – has looked in good spirits in practice since arriving on site, and has been handed a kind draw.
He starts his campaign in the second match on Chatrier against America’s JJ Wolf, who progressed to the main draw as a lucky loser after losing in the final round of qualifying.
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) May 22, 2024
After the conclusion of that contest, French WTA No 1 Caroline Garcia will then take to court, with the 21st seed looking to get off to a good start against German qualifier Eva Lys.
And that will then be followed by the night session match between Murray and Wawrinka, in what is one of the biggest round one encounters.
It will be the fourth time in as many appearances for Murray that he has played his fellow three-time major winner at the French Open.
After beating Wawrinka in the 2016 semi-final, he tasted defeat to the Swiss in their 2017 last-four clash, before losing again to the 2015 Roland Garros winner in round one four years ago.
The former world No 1 leads their head-to-head and is the higher-ranked of the two, but Wawrinka has won five of their six previous clay court matches.
Elsewhere, two former Roland Garros winners – Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova – begin their campaigns on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
2017 champion and ninth seed Ostapenko is the second match on, facing Jaqueline Cristian, while 2021 winner and 24th seed Krejcikova faces Viktorija Golubic.
Play opens on Lenglen with 17th seed and French ATP No 1 Ugo Humbert facing Lorenzo Sonego, while veteran Richard Gasquet faces Borna Coric in the third match on that court.
Other notable matches on the order of play include sixth seed Andrey Rublev opening his campaign against Taro Daniel on Court Simonne-Mathieu, while Grigor Dimitrov and Hubert Hurkacz are also in action.
