Roland Garros Day 1 previews: Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka meet again; Naomi Osaka, Carlos Alcaraz kick off campaigns

Andy Murray vs. Stan Wawrinka

Pro tennis matches don’t get much more, um, mature than this one. Wawrinka is 39, Murray is 37, and they first faced each other, in a Davis Cup match, all the way back in 2005. Nineteen years later, Murray leads their head to head 13-9, while Wawrinka has the edge on clay, 5-1. Three of those matches came at Roland Garros. Wawrinka won two of them, including a classic semifinal, from two sets to one down, in 2017. Murray’s lone victory, in the 2016 semis, was one of the most immaculate performances of his career.

Instead of the semis, the Scot and the Swiss are meeting on opening day this year, in what may be their final encounter. Murray is ranked 75th, Wawrinka is 97th, and they’ve spent the last couple of years fighting age and injury. Each entered a Challenger in Bordeaux last week to get ready for Paris, and each went out in the second round.

Wawrinka is older and ranked lower, but he is still probably the favorite here because of the surface. He’s a former Roland Garros champion, and, whatever else he may have lost over the years, he still has that backhand. Winner: Wawrinka

Naomi Osaka vs. Lucia Bronzetti

A Grand Slam event, when everything gets a little more real, is a good time to take stock of a former top player’s comeback. How is Osaka, a four-time major champ, doing after five months on tour? She comes to Paris ranked 134th, with a 12-9 record, and one quarterfinal appearance. That’s obviously not up to her past standard, and may be a disappointment even with the reduced expectations she had for 2024.

Still, Osaka had a decent run in Rome, where she won three matches before losing to Zheng Qinwen.

Osaka has never faced Bronzetti, a 25-year-old currently ranked 48th. The Italian is 6-11 on the year and 3-4 on clay, has a slightly unorthodox forehand and favors her two-handed backhand. At the moment, she may be a little scarred mentally. This week in Rabat, Bronzetti went up 5-0 in the third against Peyton Stearns and reached match point before losing seven straight games, and the match.

Osaka will surely be aware of that fact if she falls behind on Sunday. She’ll also, I would guess, do whatever she can to give herself a chance to face top seed Iga Swiatek in the second round. Winner: Osaka

Carlos Alcaraz vs. J.J. Wolf

The state of Alcaraz’s right arm is one of the major question marks on the men’s side. An injury to that wing kept him out of Monte Carlo and Rome, and contributed to his defeat to Andrey Rublev in Madrid. Even now Alcaraz says he’s “a little scared” to hit his forehand 100 percent, and he’s been practicing with a sleeve on his arm.

All of which should give some hope to the players in his quarter of the draw, which includes Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and his first-round opponent, J.J. Wolf.

Wolf and Alcaraz have never played. The American has been ranked as high as 39th, but is currently at No. 107 and doing most of his work at the Challenger level. He lost his last qualifying match at Roland Garros this week, but is into the main draw as a lucky loser. I’d like to say a surprisingly neat haircut might help Wolf’s cause, but this match will probably come to down Alcaraz’s forearm instead. Winner: Alcaraz