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Stan Wawrinka - Australian Open 2021, Alexander Zverev - Miami Open 2024, Rafael Nadal - Roland Garros 2022, Andy Murray - Miami Open 2024
Alexander Zverev, Andy Murray, ATP Tennis Players, British Tennis Players, Rafa Nadal, Roland Garros, Tennis News

Roland Garros 2024: Popcorn matches from the men’s singles draw


The Roland Garros men’s singles draw has produced a plethora of popcorn matches, that include 14-time champion Rafael Nadal and former world No.1 Andy Murray.

And we, at Tennishead, have shortlisted our picks for you to check out in the coming days:

Alexander Zverev (4) vs Rafael Nadal

No Roland Garros draw feels complete without the aforementioned Rafael Nadal, and this may be his final appearance at the tournament where he has found so much success.

However, the Spaniard will have to overcome the odds if he is to avoid a first round loss at the tournament for the first time in his career, after drawing fourth seed Alexander Zverev.

Zverev is coming off the back of winning his second Italian Open title last week, and will be one of the favourites for the title in Paris.

The last time that Nadal played Zverev was in the 2022 Roland Garros semi-final, when the German suffered a serious ankle injury in the latter stages of the second set.

Andy Murray vs Stan Wawrinka 

Andy Murray last competed at Roland Garros in 2020, and it looked like he would never return to the tournament again after injuring his ankle back in March.

However, the Brit appears to have made good progress and has returned to the matchcourt in recent weeks ahead of the Paris major.

Back in 2020, Murray suffered a first round loss to fellow three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, and he will be hoping to avoid the same fate this time round.

Wawrinka is a former Roland Garros champion (2015), but has only won two of his seven matches on the clay this year.

This will be their 22nd overall meeting and fourth at Roland Garros, with Murray leading the overall and Wawrinka ahead in the tournament head-to-head.

READ NEXT: Andy Murray and Dan Evans make history with French Open wildcard

Ugo Humbert (17) vs Lorenzo Sonego

As always there will be a lot of expectation on the backs of home players at Roland Garros, and none more so than French No.1 Ugo Humbert.

However, Humbert has not been handed an easy opener against Lorenzo Sonego, who has reached the second week twice at Roland Garros.

This included last year, when Sonego actually beat Humbert en route to reaching the last-16 in Paris.

That being said, Humbert does have the most recent victory in their head-to-head that came on the clay of Monte Carlo back in April.

Although Roland Garros is Humbert’s home Grand Slam, the Frenchman has only ever won one of his six main draw matches at the tournament and will be hoping to break that trend in 2024.

Holger Rune (13) vs Dan Evans 

With the men’s singles draw at Roland Garros seemingly more open than ever, you would think Holger Rune would be one of those eyeing up a potential Grand Slam breakthrough.

However, his form of late suggests that may not be the case after failing to win more than two consecutive matches throughout the entire clay court season and falling outside the top 10.

The Dane will need to refind some form against the unpredictable Dan Evans, who is also looking for some form of his own.

Despite losing his past six consecutive main ATP tour matches, Evans is the sort of player that can have a breakthrough run out of nowhere and what better place to do it than at Roland Garros!

Casper Ruud (7) vs Jakub Mensik 

Casper Ruud has reached the Roland Garros final in both of the past two years, only suffering losses at the tournament to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

The Norwegian has already impressed on the clay in 2024, reaching the Monte Carlo Masters final and winning the biggest title of his career in Barcelona.

It will be a new experience for Ruud this year when playing exciting Czech teenager Jakub Mensik in the first round, who will be making his debut at the tournament.

Mensik made his breakthrough on the senior circuit by reaching the third round of the US Open and the final of the Qatar Open on hard courts, but how will he transition to the clay?

READ MORE – Roland Garros 2024: Popcorn matches from the women’s singles draw

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.