Day 5 at the French Open: Plíšková and Kolář will compete for the third round

Karolina Pliskova (8th) – Leolia Jeanjeanová (227.) | Court Simonne-Mathieu (11:00 SELČ)
Karolína Plíšková won the inaugural round of the grand slam for the 22nd time in a row and today she is fighting for her first Paris participation in the top 32 since 2019. The former semifinalist will compete for the first time in this year’s French Open with a domestic wild card, this time by Leolia Jeanjean.

After breaking her arm, Plíšková did not jump into the current season until March in Indian Wells and celebrated her first victory a month later on clay court in Charleston. She entered the last general race in Strasbourg with a lousy balance of 2-6, in the French city she eliminated Marta Kosťuková, Bernard Peraová and Maryna Zaněvská, for the first time since the US Open she advanced to the quarterfinals and scored the first winning series this year. She lost to Kaja Juvan in the semifinals. In Paris, she began a turnaround against Tessah Andrianjafitrim.

Jeanjean was never in the second hundred of the WTA rankings at the age of 26 and is gaining success on the lower ITF circuit, where she triumphed once this year and played two more finals. Most matches have been played on clay (balance 67-32). In the opening round of the French Open in two sets, she surprised the favored Nuria Párrizasová and managed her first match in the main competitions on the highest tour.

Although Plíšková is still not in optimal form, she should manage with another inexperienced opponent. Jeanjean will only have her third career battle with the Top 100 players (success rate 1-1) and the first with members of the top ten.

Winner’s tip: Karolína Plíšková

Karolína Plíšková – This season
Best results: Strasbourg (SF)
The biggest achievements on clay: Strasbourg (SF)
Balance: 6-7
Balance from the last 10 matches: 5-5
Balance on clay: 6-5
Balance against players outside the Top 100: 3-0 (career 241-109)
Grandslamy: Australian Open (-)

Karolina Pliskova – French Open
Career balance: 14-10
Best result: semifinal (2017)
Last year’s result: 2. kolo
Dress rehearsal: Madrid (1R), Rome (2R), Strasbourg (SF)
Tournament route: Andrianjafitrimová (2-6 6-3 6-1)

Leolia Jeanjean – This season
Best results: French Open (2K)
The biggest achievements on clay: French Open (2K)
Balance: 27-9
Balance from the last 10 matches: 7-3
Balance on clay: 8-4
Top 10 Player Balance: 0-0 (career 0-0)
Grandslamy: Australian Open (-)

Leolia Jeanjeanová – French Open
Career balance: 1-0
Best result: 2. kolo (2022)
Last year’s result: did not play
Dress rehearsal: WTA 125k Saint-Malo (1K)
Tournament route: Parrizas (6-4 6-3)

Zdenek Kolar (134) – Stefanos Tsitsipas (4.) | Court Suzanne-Lenglen (16:00 CEST)
Zdeněk Kolář will continue his successful debut in the main stage of the majors against last year’s finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas. He will play against the biggest favorite of the lower half of the spider for the first time and will complete the premiere duel with the Top 10 players.

Before traveling to Paris, Kolář did not experience the most successful season, his maximum this year is only two semifinals on challengers. The 25-year-old Czech nevertheless reached the goal he had been striving for for several years, namely participation in the main grand slam competition. He won here in Paris thanks to victories over Federico Gai, Altugo Celikbilek and Franco Agamenon. He managed the three-round qualification of grand slam tournaments until the 17th attempt. And in the first round of the main competition, he took advantage of a favorable lottery, plaguing the former world top ten, and played Lucas Pouille’s home wild card in four sets.

Tsitsipas underwent elbow surgery in November and immediately returned to the tennis carousel. This year he has the most wins (31) and arrived in Paris with a 14-3 clay record. This includes a successful defense in Monte Carlo, a quarterfinal in Barcelona, ​​a semifinal in Madrid and a final in Rome. On the slowest surface, he lost this year only to the best (Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic, respectively). In Paris, he had a small start, he turned 0-2 against Lorenzo Musetti.

Kolář is doing better than expected in Paris, but today his life’s journey is most likely to end. Tsitsipas is two years younger, but in terms of gameplay, results and experience he is completely different from the native of Bystřice nad Pernštejnem.

Tip of the winner: Stefanos Tsitsipas

Zdeněk Kolář – This season
Best results: French Open (2K)
The biggest achievements on clay: French Open (2K)
Balance: 16-13
Balance from the last 10 matches: 7-3
Balance on clay: 15-11
Top 10 Player Balance: 0-0 (career 0-0)
Grandslamy: Australian Open (Q)

Zdenek Kolar – French Open
Career balance: 1-0
Best result: 2. kolo (2022)
Last year’s result: qualifications
Dress rehearsal: Ostrava challenger (QF), Mauthausen challenger (2R)
Tournament route: Puglia (6-3 4-6 7-5 6-4)

Stefanos Tsitsipas – This season
Best results: Monte Carlo (T); Rome, Rotterdam (F); Madrid, Acapulco, Australian Open (SF)
The biggest achievements on clay: Monte Carlo (T); Rome (F); Madrid (SF)
Balance: 32-10
Balance from the last 10 matches: 8-2
Balance on clay: 15-3
Balance against players outside the Top 100: 5-1 (career 148-65)
Grandslamy: Australian Open (SF)

Stefanos Tsitsipas – French Open
Career balance: 16-5
Best result: final (2021)
Last year’s result: finals
Dress rehearsal: Madrid (SF), Rome (F)
Tournament route: Musetti (5-7 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-2)