Which interesting names will be at Roland Garros on Thursday? Will the two Czech representatives stay in the game?

The French Open is moving forward at a brisk pace. The men’s and women’s rankings are now in the second round. Two Czech representatives will also be in action. But we will see more interesting players on the courts in Paris on Thursday.

Eighteen-year-old Linda Noskova is the penultimate player to remain in action in the women’s singles at Roland Garros. She will have a very difficult task in her second appearance at Roland Garros.

In her match against the world number four Rybakina, she can avenge the elimination of another young Czech, Brenda Fruhvirtova.

The native of Vsetín has nothing to lose in the match, advancing to the second round she has established her best record in the most valuable tournaments. Her goal is to reach the world top 30, and on Thursday she can get closer to that goal. Her duel with Kazakhstan opens the day’s programme at 11:00.

Jiri Lehecka is the only Czech representative among the men after his win over the seeded German Struff. Two days ago in Paris he enjoyed his first progression through the opening round of the local Grand Slam. Hopefully, the tennis player from Mladá Boleslav will remember his form from the Australian Open, where he reached the quarterfinals.

The twenty-one-year-old semi-finalist from Doha is playing in the rankings section with the favoured Northerners. To get closer to matches against them, he needs to overcome an obstacle named Marcos Giron.

The twenty-nine-year-old American is no lover of clay and the Czech player managed to beat him last year. Lehecka will be the favourite in this afternoon’s match on court number seven.

Other interesting names

Casper Ruud, the men’s number four of the tournament, will be the first to play on Philippe Chatrier’s court. The Norwegian tennis player is one of the wider favourites, but he hasn’t shown much conviction in his form so far this year. Will he do so in Paris? Quite possibly.

He took the first match against qualifier Ymer with ease. On Thursday, he’ll face Italian Zeppieri, who only made it through the first round after a five-set battle with Kazakh Bublik.

The Brazilian, who ended Daniil Medvedev’s expected journey through the tournament, will try to build on his lifetime win. Seyboth Wild garnered words of praise from the Russian after the match and also heard a positive vision of his tennis future. The 23-year-old Brazilian will challenge Argentine Pella in the second round, a lifetime high for the Brazilian at Grand Slams.

In the South American derby, Seyboth Wild will be the favourite. His Argentine opponent has won only five matches this year, albeit in more challenging tournaments than the Brazilian. He has 37 wins this year. Will he get win number 38 and start fulfilling Medvedev’s prediction?

The evening’s highlight on the Philippe Chatrier court will be the duel between Alexander Zverev and Alex Molchan. Germany’s Zverev is one of the most exciting players at the French Open and has a lot to build on.

Slovak Molchan can play very good matches and clay is his favourite tennis element. Will the Slovak number one surpass his best at Roland Garros or will Zverev confirm his highest ambitions?

Roland Garros