French Open: Opening tests facing Australian stars

With the start of the 2024 French Open upon us there are a number of Australian stars hoping to make a big mark in Paris, led by Alex de Minaur.

De Minaur is almost certainly the only Aussie with genuine hopes of making a bid for the title in the French capital, with the women's first-round draw containing just two Australian players.

What	2024 French Open
Where	Paris, France
When	Sunday 26th May - Sunday 9th June
How to watch	Discovery+
Odds	Men: Carlos Alcaraz 3.00, Novak Djokovic 4.33, Jannik Sinner 5.50 Women: Iga Swiatek 1.61, Aryna Sabalenka 5.50, Coco Gauff 9.00

De Minaur expected to ease through

Alex de Minaur opens his French Open campaign with a meeting with teenage American Alex Michelsen, with the Aussie number one and the 11th seed looking to build on making the fourth round at the last two Grand Slams.

De Minaur reached round four at the US Open last year, before backing that up by reaching the same stage of his home Australian Open in early 2024.

The furthest he has gone at a major remains his quarter-final appearance at the 2020 US Open and clay is not his best surface, so he may struggle to repeat that run, especially as Daniil Medvedev is a possible fourth-round opponent.

De Minaur is a massive 1.083 favourite to see off Michelsen, but will have to be careful as the American youngster won their only previous meeting in Los Cabos earlier this year in straight sets.

Joining De Minaur in the top half of the men's draw are five other Aussies, with Christopher O’Connell likely to fancy his chance of progressing past Australian qualifier Filip Misolic, who will be making his debut at a Grand Slam.

Wildcard Adam Walton faces a major test as he takes on home hope Arthur Rinderknech and the Brisbane native is 4.50 to defeat the Frenchman and record a first singles win at a Grand Slam.

Also in the top half of the draw is Rinky Hijikata, but he is as long as 10.00 to get the better of Italian opponent Lucian Dardari, who will be making his first appearance in a major draw proper.

One Australian is guaranteed to make round two in Paris as compatriots Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alexie Popyrin will face-off in their Paris opener.

The pair have only met on one previous occasion and that came on home soil in Adelaide last year, when Kokkinakis recorded a 6-0 6-7 7-5 victory.

Another close encounter is expected on the French clay, with Kokkinakis 1.80 to make round two and Popyrin 2.00 to take the win.

The latter made round two in Paris on his debut back in 2019, but lost his opener in each of the following four years.

In the bottom half of the men's draw there are a further three Aussies, the first of whom is Aleksandar Vukic.

He takes on Zhizhen Zhang, with the Aussie 3.40 to beat the Chinese player who reached the third round 12 months ago before losing in four sets to fourth seed Casper Ruud.

Max Purcell will fancy his chances of winning his Paris opener against German qualifier Henri Squire, having made round two 12 months ago by beating fellow Aussie Jordan Thompson in four sets.

And it is Thompson who is the final Australian in the men's draw and he faces German Maximilian Marterer, who went all the way through to the fourth round in 2018 before being demolished in three sets by Rafa Nadal.

A tight match is expected, with Thompson 1.66 to prevail and Marterer available at 2.20.

Tough openers await Aussie women

While the men's draw sees nine Aussies hoping to enjoy a strong run on the Paris clay, the women's draw includes just two Australian players, Alja Tomljanovic and Daria Saville.

Tomljanovic has received a wildcard after her mountain of injury problems in recent times and she has been drawn to play Ukrainian 30th seed Dayana Yastremska.

Having reached round four on her French Open debut back in 2014, Tomljanovic has not progressed any further than the second round since and is 4.00 to get the better of 1.25 Yastremska.

The Ukrainian has won all three previous meetings with Tomljanovic, with two of those three matches stretching to three sets, although the last of those encounters came back in 2019.

While Tomljanovic is in the top half of the draw, Saville is in the bottom half and faces Italian 12th seed Jasmine Paolini in her opening match.

Saville is a lengthy 5.00 to get the better of 1.16 Paolini, who took the title at the Dubai Tennis Championship earlier this year.

One point of optimism for Saville is that she has won her two previous meetings with Paolini, including a 6-0 7-6 win on the clay in Hamburg last year, with the Aussie going on to reach the semi-finals in Germany.