Novak Djokovic [1 SRB] – Alex Molcan [SVK]
Roland-Garros 2022 – Men’s Singles Second Round
- This will be the second meeting between Novak Djokovic and Alex Molcan: they faced each other in the Belgrade 2021 final, won by the Serbian 64 63.
- The only time Novak Djokovic did not advance through the Second Round at Roland-Garros in 17 previous appearances was in his debut, in 2005 (lost to Guillermo Coria).
- Novak Djokovic is 11-3 on clay court this season, excluding walkovers.
- If Novak Djokovic wins his third title in Paris (after 2016 and 2021), he will equal Rafael Nadal’s record of 21 Grand-Slam wins in the Open era.
- Last year Novak Djokovic won the French Open despite losing the opening set in three of his last four matches, including coming back from two sets down in the Final against Stefanos Tsitsipas and in the Fourth Round against Lorenzo Musetti.
- Novak Djokovic has an 82-15 record at Roland-Garros and he is 324-46 in Grand Slam overall.
- Alex Molcan has a 10-3 record on clay court this season.
- Alex Molcan reached two 4-win streaks in 2022, both on clay court tournaments: one right before Roland-Garros, in Lyon (lost the final to Cameron Norrie), and the other in April in Marrakech (lost to David Goffin).
- Alex Molcan is 1-1 against top-ten players this season: his last match was a defeat against #7 Casper Ruud in Munich and he has defeated #9 Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Second Round in Marrakech.
- This will be Alex Molcan’s first time playing at the Roland-Garros main draw. His best performance in a Grand Slam was in the 2021 US Open, where he reached the Third Round (lost to Diego Schwartzman).
Daniil Medvedev [2 RUS] – Laslo Djere [SRB]
Roland-Garros 2022 – Men’s Singles Second Round
- Laslo Djere has beaten Daniil Medvedev in the first-ever meeting they had, in Budapest 2017, on clay court: the Russian retired in the second set, when he was losing 60 55.
- Daniil Medvedev returned to clay last week in Geneva and lost to Richard Gasquet in the First Round; the Russian had not played a tournament on this surface since last year’s French Open.
- Daniil Medvedev has not won ATP-Tour matches consecutively since the Miami Open, in March.
- Out of five previous appearances, Daniil Medvedev only played the Second Round in Roland-Garros in 2021, the same year he reached the Quarter-finals.
- In Grand Slam play this season, Daniil Medvedev reached the Australian Open final for the second straight year (lost to Rafael Nadal), but his best performance at this level was winning the 2021 US Open.
- Daniil Medvedev has a career record of 52-19 in Grand Slams, and he has reached the final in three of his last five participations to a Major.
- Laslo Djere currently has a 0-4 losing streak against top-ten players in 2022 and 2-9 overall; the last time he defeated an opponent ranked this high was in 2019 in Madrid, against #8 Juan Martín Del Potro.
- Laslo Djere is 8-6 on clay-court play this season; three of these wins came from reaching the Semi-finals in Marrakech (lost to Alex Molcan).
- This is Laslo Djere’s sixth time playing at the Roland-Garros main draw and his best performance dates to both 2019 and 2021, when he reached the Third Round – he has not reached any further than this on Grand-Slam play.
- Both Laslo Djere’s Third Round exits in Roland-Garros were against top-ten players: #7 Kei Nishikori in 2019 and #6 Alexander Zverev in 2021.
Rafael Nadal [5 ESP] – Corentin Moutet [WC FRA]
Roland-Garros 2022 – Men’s Singles Second Round
- Corentin Moutet and Rafael Nadal have never played against each other in the ATP Tour or in a Major.
- Rafael Nadal is within one win from reaching the 300-triumph mark on Grand Slams, and he is 18-0 in First Round matches at the French Open.
- Rafael Nadal has now won 106 matches (a record in all Grand Slams, one more than Roger Federer’s 105 at Wimbledon) and only lost three times in Roland-Garros in his career, two of which against Novak Djokovic, in 2015 and 2021 (the other one against Robin Soderling in 2009).
- Rafael Nadal debuted at Roland-Garros in 2005 and aims for his 14th title there – and his 22nd
- Rafael Nadal made only one ace in the First Round, however he conceded just two break points to Jordan Thompson (dropping his serve once).
- Corentin Moutet has a career record of four wins and four losses so far at the French Open, where he has reached the Third Round only once so far (in 2019).
- Corentin Moutet’s Third Round performance in Paris was also his best in a Major, along with the Third Round in the 2020 US Open.
- Corentin Moutet has never won in his previous six matches against a top-ten opponent so far in his career: this is his first time facing someone ranked that high in 2022.
Zdenek Kolar [Q CZE] – Stefanos Tsitsipas [4 GRE]
Roland-Garros 2022 – Men’s Singles Second Round
- This will be the first meeting between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Zdenek Kolar.
- Stefanos Tsitsipas’ best performance in a Grand Slam was in Paris last year, when he lost the Final against Novak Djokovic despite leading by two sets.
- With a record of 32-10, Stefanos Tsitsipas keeps leading the ATP Tour in victories so far this season, followed by Carlos Alcaraz (29-3).
- Stefanos Tsitsipas is 15-3 on clay-court play this year (75-24 overall in his career). His only title won in 2022 was at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he successfully defended last year’s championship.
- In his last six participations to a Major tournament, Stefanos Tsitsipas has reached at least the Semi-finals in four of them.
- Zdenek Kolar’s last and only time playing an ATP-level main draw was in 2018, when he was defeated in the First Round in Bastad (lost to David Ferrer).
- This is Zdenek Kolar’s debut in a Grand Slam main draw; before that, the further he advanced was to the Third Round of the Qualifying draw in 2018, exactly at the French Open.
- In Challenger play, Zdenek Kolar’s best results were back-to-back semi-finals in Oeiras 2 and Barletta, on clay, losing both to Portuguese players (Gastao Elias and Nuno Borges, respectively).
- Zdenek Kolar played the Qualifying draw of three ATP Tour clay-court tournaments in 2022 but exited in the First Round in all of them (Cordoba, Buenos Aires and Santiago).
Albert Ramos-Vinolas [ESP] – Carlos Alcaraz [6 ESP]
Roland-Garros 2022 – Men’s Singles Second Round
- Carlos Alcaraz has won both previous matches against Albert Ramos-Vinolas so far, both on clay (Umag in 2021 and Rio de Janeiro in 2020). There were tie-breaks in these two clashes, all won by Alcaraz.
- Carlos Alcaraz has become the second-youngest player to win two Masters 1000 titles (Miami and Madrid), at age 19, after Rafael Nadal won Monte-Carlo and Rome in 2005, at the age of 18.
- Carlos Alcaraz could become the first player to win the French Open on his first-ever participation since Rafael Nadal did it in 2005.
- No other player has won more titles than Carlos Alcaraz in 2022 (four): Miami and Madrid Masters 1000, Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona.
- Carlos Alcaraz won 83% of his 1st serve points (34/41) and didn’t face a single break point in his First Round match, against Juan Ignacio Londero.
- Carlos Alcaraz is one win from matching his performance last year at Roland-Garros, when he reached the Third Round debuting in the tournament (lost to Jan-Lennard Struff).
- Albert Ramos-Vinolas has lost in the first round in his last three tournaments (Geneva, Rome and Madrid), all on clay, winning only one set in the process.
- Albert Ramos-Vinolas’ best result in a Grand Slam was right in Paris (Quarter-finals in 2016, lost to Stanislas Wawrinka).
- Albert Ramos-Vinolas last won consecutive matches in a Grand Slam tournament in the 2018 French Open (lost to Juan Martín del Potro in the Third Round).
