2021 ROLAND GARROSDAY 1 MEN’S NOTESSunday 30 May1st Round

In the first men’s match of the day on Court Philippe-Chatrier, 2-time Roland Garros finalist Dominic Thiem takes on Pablo Andujar, with the No. 4 seed aiming to maintain his perfect record against the Spaniard. Thiem has won all 3 matches he has played against Andujar, all of which have come on clay courts – and the Austrian has never lost in the 1st round in his 7 previous Roland Garros appearances. Andujar defeated Roger Federer in Geneva earlier this month, but will need to be at the top of his game if he is to overcome the 2020 US Open champion and record a victory against a Top 5 player for the first time in his career. • In the final match of the day on Chatrier, No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas faces home favourite Jeremy Chardy, with the Frenchman bidding for an upset against a player who has won more matches than anyone else in 2021. Tsitsipas has recorded 33 victories so far this season, including 2 title-wins, on clay at Monte Carlo-1000 and Lyon. The Greek reached the semifinals here in the autumn and followed that up with another Grand Slam semifinal finish at the Australian Open in February – and he will be determined to get off to a good start as he looks to go at least one better this time round. • On Court Suzanne-Lenglen, No. 6 seed Alexander Zverev begins his campaign with a match-up against fellow German Oscar Otte, who successfully came through qualifying at a Grand Slam for the first time, having made 2 appearances here as a lucky loser in 2018-19. It is the 14th all-German men’s singles match at Roland Garros in the Open Era. Zverev will hope for a smooth passage into the 2nd round – he has never lost to a player ranked as low as No. 152 Otte at the Grand Slams and has won both of his previous matches against qualifiers at Roland Garros. • Two unseeded Frenchmen face tricky encounters on Court Simonne-Mathieu today, with before Gilles Simon up against Marton Fucsovics before Corentin Moutet plays Laslo Djere. In both matches, the Frenchman is ranked lower than his opponent, and both Simon and Moutet will be hoping that the small number of fans allowed in the stadium will roar them on to wins. Moutet is looking to bounce back from a 1st round defeat here last year, when he fell to Lorenzo Giustino in a match that stretched beyond 6 hours and is the 4th-longest Grand Slam singles match on record. Simon, meanwhile, is aiming to record just his 3rd victory of the year and will need to rediscover some of the form that took him to the Top 10 in the world over a decade ago.