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The most exciting women’s first-round matchups at the French Open

By Justin Gincauskas

KEY BISCAYNE, FL - APRIL 02: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus holds aloft the Butch Buchholz trophy after her straight sets victory against Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the womens final during the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on April 2, 2016 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
KEY BISCAYNE, FL - APRIL 02: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus holds aloft the Butch Buchholz trophy after her straight sets victory against Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the womens final during the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on April 2, 2016 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /
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The French Open begins on May 30th, and on Thursday the draws were announced for the event for both the women and men. Here is the full women’s draw below.

Iga Swiatek will be begin her title defense against Slovakian Kaja Juvan, while 2019 French Open champion Ash Barty will face American Bernarda Pera in the first round.

Those are not the matches worth popping the popcorn for though, as I expect Swiatek and Barty to get through their first-round opponents with no issues. However, there are a few first-round matchups in the women’s draw that you will not want to miss. Here are just a few of them.

Anastasija Sevastova vs Jennifer Brady

This will be a particularly good first-round match to watch, as this could easily be a second or third round match. Both players are currently ranked inside the top 50, as Sevastova sits at number 47, while Brady is ranked 14 in the world but is the 13 seed at the French.

STUTTGART, GERMANY – APRIL 20: Jennifer Brady of the United States plays a backhand during the match on day 4 of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix between Jennifer Brady of the United States and Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic at Porsche Arena on April 20, 2021 in Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Philipp Guelland – Pool/Getty Images)
STUTTGART, GERMANY – APRIL 20: Jennifer Brady of the United States plays a backhand during the match on day 4 of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix between Jennifer Brady of the United States and Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic at Porsche Arena on April 20, 2021 in Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Philipp Guelland – Pool/Getty Images) /

The last time Sevastova played at the French Open, which was back in 2019, she made the round of 16, while Jennifer Brady has never made it past the second round in Paris. This is a very tough first-round match for Brady, one that she could easily lose if she does not play her best. I expect this to be one of the closest matches of the first-round, as both are equally capable of winning this match, even though I still give the slight edge to Brady.

Carla Suarez Navarro vs Sloane Stephens

MONTREAL, QC – AUGUST 09: Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain congratulates Sloane Stephens for her 6-2, 7-5 victory during day four of the Rogers Cup at IGA Stadium on August 9, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC – AUGUST 09: Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain congratulates Sloane Stephens for her 6-2, 7-5 victory during day four of the Rogers Cup at IGA Stadium on August 9, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

The main reason why this match is on my most exciting list is because of Carla Suarez Navarro. Carla Suarez Navarro has not played a WTA match since February of last year and has since been diagnosed with early-stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma and had to go through six months of chemotherapy to treat it. She is now cured and will be playing in her last French Open of her career.

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This will be an extremely tough task for her in the first-round, as Stephens has been playing much better as of late, winning four or her last five matches coming into the French Open. This is one to watch since it is likely the last match at Roland Garros for the former world number six.

Sofia Kenin vs Jelena Ostapenko

This is by far the best first-round match in the women’s draw. What else can be better than two Grand Slam champions battling it out in the first round of a Major? Kenin is currently number five in the world rankings, while Ostapenko is at 44. What makes this match so interesting is that both of these players are excellent on clay, with Ostapenko winning the French in 2017, while Kenin made the final in Paris just last year.

PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 10: Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia poses with the trophy after her victory during her Women’s Single Final match with Simona Halep of Romania, on day fourteen at Roland Garros on June 10, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 10: Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia poses with the trophy after her victory during her Women’s Single Final match with Simona Halep of Romania, on day fourteen at Roland Garros on June 10, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /

Ostapenko will be coming into the match with more confidence, as she just beat two players inside the top 30 in the WTA 1000 event in Rome a couple weeks back. Kenin on the other hand is currently on a three-match losing streak, having not won a single match on clay in 2021 so far.

Victoria Azarenka vs Svetlana Kuznetsova

This will be a great matchup between two very experienced players on tour. Some might not know this, but Kuznetsova actually won the French Open back in 2009 and made the final in 2006. However, she has not made it past the first round since 2017, where she made a run to the round of 16. She will have her hands full against 15 seed Victoria Azarenka, who made the final of the US Open in 2020.

KEY BISCAYNE, FL – APRIL 02: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus holds aloft the Butch Buchholz trophy after her straight sets victory against Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the womens final during the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on April 2, 2016 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
KEY BISCAYNE, FL – APRIL 02: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus holds aloft the Butch Buchholz trophy after her straight sets victory against Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the womens final during the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on April 2, 2016 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /

This will be Kuznetsova’s first match on clay this year, as she has not played a match since losing in the first round of the Miami Open in March. Azarenka actually beat Kuznetsova earlier this year, defeating her in straight sets at the Qatar Total Open in the round of 32. This will be the 11th meeting between the two, as Azarenka leads the head-to-head 6-4.

Karolina Pliskova vs Donna Vekic

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 05: Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in action against Donna Vekic of Croatia during day seven of the 2019 Brisbane International at Pat Rafter Arena on January 5, 2019 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)”n”n”n
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 05: Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in action against Donna Vekic of Croatia during day seven of the 2019 Brisbane International at Pat Rafter Arena on January 5, 2019 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)”n”n”n /

This is a matchup between two highly ranked players, as both are currently ranked in the top 35 in the world. Pliskova is coming off of a final’s appearance in the WTA 1000 event in Rome, where she would end up losing to Iga Swiatek in the final. Donna Vekic on the other hand has not played a match since making the round of 16 of the Australian Open, losing to the finalist Jennifer Brady.

The two have played each other four other times in the past, with Pliskova leading the head-to-head 3-1. The last meeting came in 2019 in Brisbane, where Pliskova won in straight sets. Two of their four meetings have gone three sets though, so I expect a good match here in the first round.

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