Enticing matchups to open Roland Garros

France’s Stephane Houdet will face Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez and Dutchwomen Jiske Girffioen will face compatriot Marjolein Buis in the first round. 05 Jun 2013
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A picture of a girl in a wheelchair playing tennis

Marjolein Buis playing a forehand in her Wheelchair Doubles final match with Aniek Van Koot during day twelve of the 2012 Australian Open on January 27, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia.

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By ITF

Arguably the pick of the four opening women’s singles matches at Roland Garros is the matchup between second seed Jiske Griffioen and fellow Dutchwoman Marjolein Buis.

The world No. 2-ranked players will play the world No. 4-ranked players in both the men’s and women’s singles events to open the wheelchair tennis event at Roland Garros on Wednesday (5 June) in Paris, France.

Men’s draw

The tournament’s draw saw world No. 2 and defending champion Stephane Houdet, one of two Frenchman in the elite field of eight for the men’s singles, and Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina, pitted against each other at the bottom of the draw.

Houdet leads the career head-to-head between the two players 4-3, but Fernandez has won the last two of their three meetings this season.

After finishing runner-up at Roland Garros for the last two years, world No. 1 Shingo Kunieda of Japan will open his bid to regain the title against Sweden’s world No. 7 Stefan Olsson, the player Kunieda beat in the 2010 final to claim the most recent of his titles in Paris.

A Dutch semi-finalist is guaranteed in the men’s and women’s singles, with 2011 Roland Garros champion Maikel Scheffers set to meet world No. 5 Ronald Vink. World No. 9 Michael Jeremiasz faces world No. 6 Gordon Reid as the Brit makes his singles debut at a Grand Slam tournament.

Women’s draw

Arguably the pick of the four opening women’s singles matches at Roland Garros is the matchup between second seed Jiske Griffioen and fellow Dutchwoman Marjolein Buis.

World No. 4 Buis has won only five of her 16 matches to date against Griffioen, but those five wins include a close three-set semi-final at Roland Garros in 2011, when Buis claimed her first career win over Griffioen to reach her one and only Grand Slam final so far.

After finishing runner-up to Esther Vergeer in 2012, world No. 1 Aniek van Koot begins her campaign to add her name to Vergeer’s on the Roland Garros roll of honour with a contest against world No. 5 Lucy Shuker, the British player making her fourth appearance in Paris and her first since 2009.

There will be a German player in the semi-finals to face either van Koot or Shuker after world No. 3 Sabine Ellerbrock was drawn to face her compatriot Katharina Kruger. Ellerbrock is making her third successive appearance at Roland Garros, while Kruger returns for the second time, having made her debut in 2010.

One of the two German players will register their first singles win at the second Grand Slam of the year.

Meanwhile, after becoming the first African player to contest a Grand Slam wheelchair tennis event at the Australian Open in January, South Africa's world No. 6 Kgothatso Montjane will make her Roland Garros debut against Dutchwoman Sharon Walraven.

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