LEARNING

Petra Kvitova enters Roland Garros on an 11-match winning streak following her title runs in Prague and Madrid, and with a Tour-leading 30 main draw victories this season. The No.8 seed made the second week of a major for the first time on her Paris debut in 2008, and has only lost in the first round here once - in 2010, to Sophie Ferguson.

Maria Sharapova is making her first appearance at Roland Garros since 2015. The No.28 seed has not lost in the first round of a major since the 2010 Australian Open, when she fell to Maria Kirilenko - and her only opening-round loss in Paris was on her 2003 debut, at the hands of Magui Serna.

CoCo Vandeweghe's first-round match against Laura Siegemund reprises one of the season's best matches, a second-round encounter in Stuttgart that the American won 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to extend her head-to-head dominance to 4-0. Vandeweghe went on to a career-best clay result there by reaching the final - but won just seven games across her next two matches, opening-round losses in Madrid and Rome, and has only won two matches in six previous visits to Roland Garros.

Roland Garros debutante Danielle Collins will face the No.2 seed in the first round of a Slam for the second time. Previously, in her first Slam main draw at the 2014 US Open, the American took a set off Simona Halep before falling 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2. Today, she will aim to notch up a second career Top 10 win over Caroline Wozniacki. The Australian Open champion has only lost in the first round here twice before: on her 2007 debut to Nathalie Dechy, and in 2014 to Yanina Wickmayer.

Two seeds in trouble could be No.14 Daria Kasatkina and No.29 Kristina Mladenovic, a quarterfinalist last year. Kasatkina is 1-2 against her opening opponent Kaia Kanepi, including straight-sets defeats in the fourth round of last year's US Open and the first round of Brisbane in January. Mladenovic is 0-4 against her first rival, 2014 semifinalist Andrea Petkovic. The only time the Frenchwoman has won a set against Petkovic was, in fact, during that run to the final four - a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 third-round defeat.

Andrea Petkovic embraces Kristina Mladenovic after defeating the Frenchwoman 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the third round of Roland Garros in 2014 (Getty)

21-year-old Naomi Osaka is seeded at a major for the first time here. The No.21 seed faces Sofia Kenin - to whom she lost their only previous meeting 6-4, 7-5, in the qualifying of the ITF $25,000 event in Vero Beach in 2014.

Former Top 20 players Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh return from extended injury layoffs today. Bencic has not played since a second-round loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Indian Wells in March due to a stress fracture in her foot, while Konjuh has played just one tournament - Brisbane in January - since last year's US Open due to two elbow surgeries.

The first-round match between Lesia Tsurenko and Stefanie Voegele reprises one of this year's most dramatic finals, the Ukrainian's 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2 triumph in Acapulco. Overall, Tsurenko leads the head-to-head 5-1, including their only clay encounter in Madrid qualifying in 2013.

Karolina Pliskova faces compatriot (and Grand Slam debutante) Barbora Krejcikova for the first time since 2011 today. The No.6 seed won that encounter, in the first round of an ITF $25,000 event in Bratislava, 6-1, 6-3 - and has also won 13 of her last 16 matches against fellow Czechs. Pliskova reached her second major semifinal in Paris last year, but in her six overall appearances here has lost her opener three times: in 2012 to Marion Bartoli, in 2013 to Garbiñe Muguruza and in 2016 to Shelby Rogers.

This time last year, Mihaela Buzarnescu was ranked No.377 and had never played a tour-level main draw. Now, the 30-year-old Romanian is fresh off a semifinal showing in Strasbourg, having reached finals in Hobart and Prague this year - and on her Roland Garros debut is seeded in a major for the first time at No.31.

TRENDING

READING

Yesterday, Wang Qiang faced Venus Williams for the third time in the past five Slams - and having pushed the seven-time major champion to two tight sets at last year's Roland Garros and to three sets at Wimbledon, the Chinese player finally scored a win over Williams. Steve Tignor breaks down her victory at tennis.com.

World No.1 Simona Halep discussed her quest for her first major in an interview with Jon Wertheim for Sports Illustrated.

WATCHING

From Garbiñe Muguruza in Stella McCartney to Karolina Pliskova in Fila, find out what the WTA stars will be wearing this fortnight.