French Open 2023 Day 1: Women's singles predictions ft. Daria Kasatkina vs Jule Niemeier
The opening day of the French Open 2023 will start on May 28 and there will be some interesting matchups to watch out for. Third seed Jessica Pegula faces a tricky test against compatriot Danielle Collins. Also, eighth-seed Maria Sakkari will face Karolina Muchova in what will be one of the most highly anticipated matches of the day.
The likes of Daria Kasatkina and Liudmila Samsonova will also be in action on Sunday and will aim to reach the second round of the French Open. On that note, let's take a look at the predictions for some of the women's singles matches on Day 1 of the clay-court Major.
#1 Daria Kasatkina vs Jule Niemeier
Ninth seed Daria Kasatkina will take on Jule Niemeier in the first round of the French Open. It will be the second meeting between the two, with Kasatkina winning their previous encounter 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 at last season's Bad Homburg Open.
Kasatkina's last appearance came at the Italian Open where she reached the Round of 16 before losing to Jelena Ostapenko. Niemeier suffered an opening-round defeat at the WTA 1000 event and followed it up with another first-round exit at a WTA 125 tournament in Florence.
Kasatkina has not had the best of seasons so far in 2023 but has produced some promising performances lately. The Russian will enter the match as the favorite to win and should be able to march through.
Predicted Winner: Daria Kasatkina.
#2 Taylor Townsend vs Anastasia Potapova
Taylor Townsend will take on 24th seed Anastasia Potapova in the first round of the French Open. It will be the very first meeting between the two on the WTA Tour. They locked horns in the qualifiers of the Adelaide International 1 this January, with the Russian winning 6-0, 6-1.
Potapova's last appearance came at the Italian Open, where she lost to eventual semifinalist Veronika Kudermetova in the third round. Townsend last competed at a WTA 125 tournament in Florence and reached the final before losing to Jasmine Paolini.
Potapova has produced some pretty good performances over the past couple of months and should be able to defeat the American with little trouble.
Predicted Winner: Anastasia Potapova.
#3 Zhang Shuai vs Magdalena Frech
The 29th seed Zhang Shuai will face Poland's Magdalena Frech in the first round of the French Open. It will be the second meeting between the two, with Zhang winning their previous encounter 7-5, 6-3 in the opening round of the 2018 Japan Women's Open.
The Chinese most recently competed at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, suffering a disappointing first-round exit at the hands of Anna-Lena Friedsam. Frech last competed at the Italian Open and reached the second round before losing 6-3, 6-2 to Madison Keys.
Zhang last won a singles match on February 2 and despite her poor form, she should be able to get past Frech and reach the second round of the French Open.
Predicted Winner: Zhang Shuai.
#4 Alize Cornet vs Camila Giorgi
Alize Cornet will face Camila Giorgi in the first round of the French Open. It will be the eighth meeting between the two, with Giorgi currently leading 5-2 in the head-to-head.
Cornet last competed at the Internationaux de Strasbourg and lost 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 to Viktoriya Tomova in the opening round. Giorgi's last tournament was the Italian Open where she reached the third round after beating Arantxa Rus and Ekaterina Alexandrova. Here, the 31-year-old lost 7-6(4), 6-2 to Karolina Muchova.
Giorgi will enter the match as the favorite to win given her higher ranking and superior head-to-head record, and should manage to come out on top.
Predicted Winner: Camila Giorgi.