Teen star’s dream/nightmare French Open draw
Ian Chadband |
Teenage tennis star Emerson Jones has been handed the dream, nothing-to-lose French Open draw against a nightmarish opponent as she has to tackle four-time champion Iga Swiatek on her Roland Garros main draw debut.
As Alex de Minaur, Australia’s top hope in Paris, contemplated a potentially gentle route into the men’s tournament with a first-round clash against a qualifier, 17-year-old wildcard Jones landed arguably the most difficult draw of all against the Wimbledon champion on her favourite surface.
Jones, the former world No.1 junior, has so far been handed only glamour draws in her fledgling grand slam career, but also hugely difficult ones, losing to sixth seed Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open in 2025 and to Canadian 16th seed Victoria Mboko.
The other Aussie women didn’t get much luck either in Thursday’s draw at Roland Garros, with national No.1 Maya Joint, on the comeback trail, having to tackle a tough opener against Russian-turned-Austrian 28th seed Anastasia Potapova, who’s already reached one clay-court final this year in Linz.
Kim Birrell must tackle American No.5 seed Jessica Pegula, while Ajla Tomljanovic is up against American Caty McNally, and Talia Gibson faces feisty Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.
After his opener, it certainly won’t be plain sailing for eighth seed de Minaur, as he could face rising Belgian star Alexander Blockx in the last-64 — the round he got knocked out by Alexander Bublik in last year — with a potential third-round date with Czech youngster Jakub Mensik, the 26th seed, to follow.
If he negotiates those hurdles, he’d more than likely be tackling 11th seed Andrey Rublev in the fourth round before either two-time finalist Casper Ruud or three-time champion Novak Djokovic in the quarters.
Alexei Popyrin, the Aussie No.2 men’s player who’s found some form, will tackle Zachary Svajda, a 23-year-old American ranked 85 in the world, but is likely to run into Daniil Medvedev in the second round if the Russian No.6 seed can get past another Aussie, wildcard Adam Walton, in his opener.
Thanasi Kokkinakis’s return to grand slam action after battling back from his latest shoulder injury will probably make him feel pretty friendless as he’ll have to face local hope Terence Atmane.
Jannik Sinner won’t have the crowd on his side either when he starts his quest for a career grand slam, having been paired with French wildcard Clement Tabur, the world No.165.
Djokovic, who like de Minaur will be relieved to know he can’t meet Sinner until the final, opens with an even bigger French blockbuster against huge-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
In the women’s draw, Coco Gauff, attempting to become just the third woman to defend the Roland Garros title this century after Justine Henin and Swiatek, will open up against fellow American, double specialist Taylor Townsend.
WHO THE AUSTRALIAN CONTINGENT WILL FACE IN THE FRENCH OPEN FIRST ROUND AT ROLAND GARROS (number denotes seeding)
Men’s singles
8-Alex de Minaur v Qualifer
Alexei Popyrin v Zachary Svajda (USA)
Adam Walton (wildcard) v 6-Daniil Medvedev
Aleksandar Vukic v Raphael Collignon (BEL)
James Duckworth v Gabriel Diallo (CAN)
Thanasi Kokkinakis v Terence Atmane (FRA)
Rinky Hijikata v 24-Tommy Paul (USA)
Women’s singles
Maya Joint v 28-Anastasia Potapova (AUT)
Daria Kasatkina v Zeynep Sonmez (TUR)
Ajla Tomljanovic v Caty McNally (USA)
Kim Birrell v 5-Jessica Pegula (USA)
Emerson Jones (wildcard) v 3-Iga Swiatek (POL)
Talia Gibson v Yulia Putintseva (KAZ)
AAP