The 2024 French Open has already played host to an eventful week and day five is set to bring more compelling action live from the hallowed Parisian clay.
This week has already seen numerous rain delays, a match of the year contender and the major’s greatest player possibly playing his final match at the tournament.
Due to the unsettled weather, some players are having to come back out and complete matches which began the previous day.
Day five is set to be a jam-packed day in which there could be some upsets, and The Tennis Gazette looks at the players whose French Open campaign may come to an earlier than expected.
Which four players are in danger of suffering an upset on day five at Roland Garros?
Casper Ruud
It may come as a surprise to see the two-time French Open runner-up Casper Ruud on this list given his recent record at the major and Geneva Open title run just days before arriving in Paris.
But the last person not named Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic to beat the Norwegian at the event is Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who he faces in round two and Stefanos Tsitsipas thinks can claim the win.
The Spaniard, who beat qualifier Valentin Vacherot in round one, has won two of his four meetings against Ruud, who he beat 7-6(3) 2-6 7-6(6) 0-6 7-5 in French Open third round in 2021.
Though the 24-year-old has failed to reach the semifinals of any event this year and has particularly struggled during the clay court season, he has the game to cause Ruud problems and potentially cause another upset.
Ben Shelton
The 21-year-old began his French Open second round encounter with Kei Nishikori on Tuesday.
With the score locked at 5–5 in the first set, the match was suspended due to rain and it will conclude on day five.
Though Nishikori has registered just one win so far this year due to injury, Shelton is up against the 2014 US Open finalist and a former top 10 player, with plenty of experience in big matches.
He holds the record for the best five-set win percentage in Grand Slam history, and he still has the weapons to trouble Shelton, who is still new to playing at this level. It will be interesting to see who the rain delay will impact more when their intriguing matchup resumes.
Victoria Azarenka
The Belarusian knows what it takes to succeed at Grand Slam level after winning the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open titles.
She has reached as far as the semi-finals at Roland Garros and she plans to build on that in 2024, but she will not have it easy against Russian starlet Mirra Andreeva.
The 17-year has emerged as one of the WTA’s bright young talents and she has what it takes to defeat the best players on the big stage, as she did by beating Ons Jabeur at the Australian Open in January.
After reaching successive quarter-finals in the The Open de Rouen and Madrid, Andreeva is playing with confidence and Azarenka will need to be at her best to beat a player who is half her age and can become one of the world’s best.
Tommy Paul
Paul entered the French Open coming off an impressive run to the Italian Open semi-finals and was agonisingly close to reaching the championship match.
The American has worked hard on improving his clay-court game and he aims to continue building on that momentum in Paris.
But he faces a tricky prospect of taking on the maverick that is Fabio Fognini in round two. The Italian is a dangerous customer on his day and can leave opponents bamboozled by his relentless brilliance.
He has the weight of shot to push Paul back and cause him trouble, and having won their only previous meeting in 2019, the veteran will fancy his chances against the 14th seed.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
