2021 ROLAND GARROS DAY 3 MEN’S NOTES Tuesday 1 June 1st Round

Featured matches No. 1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) v Tennys Sandgren (USA) No. 3 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v Alexei Popyrin (AUS) No. 7 Andrey Rublev (RUS) v Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) No. 9 Matteo Berrettini (ITA) v (Q) Taro Daniel (JPN) No. 10 Diego Schwartzman (ARG) v Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) No. 14 Gael Monfils (FRA) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) No. 20 Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) v Andreas Seppi (ITA) No. 29 Ugo Humbert (FRA) v Ricardas Berankis (LTU) Lucas Pouille (FRA) v Pablo Cuevas (URU) (WC) Hugo Gaston (FRA) v Richard Gasquet (FRA) On court today… • Rafael Nadal begins his campaign for a record-extending 14th Roland Garros title today, with the Mallorcan taking on world No. 63 Alexei Popyrin in the 3rd match on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Nadal has not lost a clay court match to a player ranked as low as Popyrin since 2013, when he fell to No. 73 Horacio Zeballoas in the final at Vina del Mar. Popyrin won the junior title here in 2017 and was competitive in his only previous match against Nadal, in the 3rd round at Madrid-1000 last month – but defeating Nadal at Roland Garros is perhaps the greatest challenge in tennis and Popyrin will need to have the match of his life if he is to become the 3rd man to beat Nadal here. • In the first men’s match to be scheduled in the night session on Chatrier, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic faces Tennys Sandgren, with the Serb bidding to maintain his unbeaten record against the American. Djokovic arrives in Paris in good form, having won his 16th clay court title at Belgrade II last week. Sandgren, by contrast, has struggled for form this year, with just 3 Tour-level match-wins under his belt – and he has won just one set in his 3 previous meetings with Djokovic. He will need to be at the top of his game if he is to defeat Djokovic and record just his 2nd match-win at Roland Garros. • French No. 1 Gael Monfils has endured a difficult season so far this year and has been handed a tough 1st round draw here – he plays Albert Ramos-Vinolas, the world No. 38, in the 2nd match on Court Suzanne-Lenglen today. Monfils has managed just one Tour-level match-win in 2021, while Ramos-Vinolas has amassed 18 victories this year, with 17 of them coming on clay. The Spaniard sits alongside Federico Delbonis and Stefanos Tsitsipas at the top of the list for most Tour-level clay court match-wins this season – and he will hope to record a victory today which would see him end a 6-match losing streak against Top 20 players. • Hugo Gaston won fans across the tennis world with his performances here in 2020, recording a 5-set victory over Stan Wawrinka before going down in 5 sets to Dominic Thiem in the round of 16. The draw has pitted the French wild card against another home favourite here, with Richard Gasquet standing between Gaston and a place in the next round. Gaston has made steady progress since his breakthrough here in October, and currently sits at a career-high ranking of No. 141. Gasquet, meanwhile, has dropped outside the world’s Top 50 but has rediscovered some form of late, having reached back-to-back quarterfinals at Lyon and Parma in the last 2 weeks – and the 34-year-old will hope to continue the momentum today.