[ad_1]
| Dates: 28 May-11 June Venue: Roland Garros, Paris |
| Coverage: Live text and radio commentaries of selected matches across BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website and app |
Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper will aim to maintain British interest in the French Open singles draw as they begin their campaigns on day two in Paris.
British number one Norrie opens against French wildcard Benoit Paire, while main draw debutant Draper faces Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Two-time champion Novak Djokovic and men’s world number one Carlos Alcaraz are also in action on Monday.
Djokovic plays Aleksandar Kovacevic while Alcaraz meets Flavio Cobolli.
In the women’s draw, French fifth seed Carolina Garcia will look to impress her home crowd as she faces China’s Xiyu Wang on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Latvia’s 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko comes up against Czech Tereza Martincova, with two-time semi-finalist Petra Kvitova taking on Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy.
In the first night session of the 2023 tournament, Italian eighth seed Jannik Sinner will play Alexandre Muller (not before 19:15 BST).
Tournament organisers were criticised last year after just one of 10 night-session matches involved female players. However, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said she could not promise an equal share of men’s and women’s matches in the slot in 2023.
‘Breath of fresh air’ Alcaraz begins French Open bid
Defeat for Dan Evans on Sunday left Norrie and Draper as the only Britons remaining in the Roland Garros singles event, with no British women coming through qualifying.
Norrie, who reached his first major semi-final at Wimbledon last year, has reached the third round in his previous two French Open appearances and won the Rio Open on clay in February.
His match against Paire is the first of the day on Court Suzanne Lenglen and will get under way from 10:00 BST.
Draper, 21, is looking to build on a breakthrough 2022 season and improve on his first round exit at the Australian Open earlier this year when he meets world number 49 Etcheverry, who is ranked six places above him.
Meanwhile, Spanish 20-year-old Alcaraz begins a Grand Slam tournament as the top seed for the first time in his career.
The youngest number one seed in Paris since Bjorn Borg (19) in 1976, Alcaraz was forced to miss the year’s first major because of injury but he has quickly returned to form, collecting back-to-titles titles on clay in Barcelona and Madrid.
Speaking following his first round win on Sunday, Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas paid tribute to the US Open champion’s approach to the sport.
“I had a practice session with Carlitos the other day and I did throw in a thank you, just randomly, and I don’t know if he understood that or not,” Tsitsipas said.
“I owe a lot to him because he’s such a breath of fresh air. He’s so competitive and always with a smile on his face. There is so much charisma to him and so much positive energy that he distributes.
“I think that’s contributed a lot to his growth as a tennis player and his consistency too. He seems to be having fun. I kind of admire him for who he is.”
Serbia’s Djokovic, 36, is bidding to win a record 23rd men’s Grand Slam title, with record 14-time men’s champion Rafael Nadal missing with injury.
“It’s no secret that one of the main reasons I play today and compete in professional tennis is to try to break more records and make more history,” Djokovic said.
“That’s extremely motivating and inspiring for me. History being on the line is something that is very flattering and is very motivating, no doubt about it.”
