Rackets at the start: what to expect from Russians at Roland Garros

The draw for the main draw of the second major of the season, Roland Garros, took place in Paris. Russian tennis players also learned about their rivals in the first round and the potential path to the title. About the chances of our players, especially the country's first rackets, Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva, in the Izvestia article.

Without pressure

Three Russians qualified for the men's main draw according to the rating: Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov. Roman Safiullin may also be added to them, who will play the decisive qualifying match on May 22.

The Big Russian Three are still getting seeded in the Majors: Medvedev will perform at number six, Rublev at number eleven, Khachanov at number thirteen.

The first racket of the country in Paris has no pressure related to the need to protect points. Last year turned out to be a failure for Daniel, which led to a change of coaching staff. Roland Garros ended that season for him in the first round. This means that winning one match is enough for him to earn points. Our tennis player must pass Adam Walton's opponent in the first round. Medvedev met with the Australian twice last season: before the coach change, he lost to Walton, and after the change, he won.

Daniil got into the top half of the grid with Yannick Sinner, whom he can face in the semifinals. On the way to a potential match with the current boss of men's tennis, the most difficult opponent is not even Felix Auger-Alliassim in the quarterfinals, whom Medvedev knows how to handle, but Lerner Tien in the fourth round. It was the American who launched our tennis player's last disastrous season, beating him in the second round of the Australian Open, and then stopped him at the tournament in Beijing. The Russian seemed to respond with a victory at the Masters in Shanghai, but at the beginning of 2026, Tien again proved stronger in Melbourne.

Rublev and Khachanov got into the lower half of the grid, where there is no second racket in the world — Carlos Alcaraz is missing Roland Garros due to injury and will not compete at Wimbledon. Karen got into the same section with the second seed Alexander Zverev, who she will potentially face in the fourth round. Andrey may have a fight with Alex de Minaur at this stage. At the start, both Russians will face opponents they have not played with before: Rublev — with Peruvian Ignacio Buse, Khachanov — with Frenchman Arthur Gea.

The possible quarterfinals are as follows: Yannick Sinner – Ben Shelton, Felix Auger-Alliassim – Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic – Alex De Minaur, Alexander Zverev – Taylor Fritz.

The main favorite of the men's tournament is Yannick Sinner, who is currently on a 29-win streak. The only thing missing from the 24-year-old Italian's large trophy collection is the Roland Garros title. He has already won all the other Masters and majors. Last year, Sinner was close to success in Paris, but in the final he was stopped by Alcaraz, who is absent this year.

Midi fashion: Andreeva and Schneider took the second "thousandth"

However, despite the success in Rome, the Russian duo will not play at Roland Garros.

A dangerous start

There are usually more representatives of Russia in the women's draw at Roland Garros — eight tennis players went directly to the base. Five of them were among the 32 seeds: Mirra Andreeva (8), Ekaterina Alexandrova (14), Lyudmila Samsonova (20), Anna Kalinskaya (22) and Diana Schneider (25).

The country's first racket Andreeva is having a good clay season. She reached the finals at the thousandth edition in Madrid, and at the tournament of the same category in Rome, she stopped in the quarterfinals without finding the keys to victory over Coco Gauff. At the "RG" 2026, Mirra can only meet with an American woman who is still impassable for her in the finals. Gauff won the title in Paris a year ago.

In the first round, the 19-year-old Russian contested Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro, who received a wild card from the organizers. They faced each other in 2023 in the final of the ITF tournament in Switzerland, where our tennis player was stronger, but only in three sets. Despite her low ranking (200th place), Mirra should be wary of Ferro. The French cheer for their own people very loudly and not always tactfully, which can make our tennis player lose her temper. Last season, in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, Andreeva lost to Lois Boisson, who also got into the main draw thanks to a wild card.

Mirra could potentially face two Czech women in Paris: Marie Bouzkova in the third round and Karolina Mukhova in the fourth. The Russian has not lost a single match to both of them yet. In the quarterfinals, Andreeva may have a match with the second racket of the world Elena Rybakina. The representative of Kazakhstan returned to her prime form, but she is not so dangerous on the ground.

Arina Sobolenko – Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff – Amanda Anisimova, Elina Svitolina – Iga Sventek may meet in other quarterfinals.

Anna Kalinskaya got an unpleasant opponent in the first round. She will have to play with the Roland-Garros 2025 semi–finalist Boisson. Two Russian-Ukrainian confrontations are also expected at the start: Anna Blinkova will face Yulia Starodubtseva, and Oksana Selekhmetyeva will face Marta Kostyuk, who took the title from Mirra Andreeva in the final of the thousandth in Madrid.

Matches involving Russians at Roland Garros 2026 in the first round

Daniil Medvedev (Russia) – Adam Walton (Australia)

Andrey Rublev (Russia) – Ignacio Buse (Peru)

Karen Khachanov (Russia) – Artur Gea (France)

Mirra Andreeva (Russia) – Fiona Ferro (France)

Ekaterina Alexandrova (Russia) – Camila Osorio (Colombia)

Lyudmila Samsonova (Russia) – Gilles Thijkmann (Switzerland)

Anna Kalinskaya (Russia) – Lois Boisson (France)

Diana Schneider (Russia) – Renata Sarasua (Mexico)

Anastasia Zakharova (Russia) – Karolina Mukhova (Czech Republic)

Oksana Selekhmetyeva (Russia) – Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine)

Anna Blinkova (Russia) – Yulia Starodubtseva (Ukraine)