MATCH POINTS
Top seed Ashleigh Barty lost her only previous encounter with lucky loser Luksika Kumkhum 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying in 2016. However, the Thai player is yet to win a WTA main draw match on clay - and indeed, this will be just the second she has played following her first-round loss at Roland Garros 2014 to Teliana Pereira.
Last year, Samantha Stosur and Daria Gavrilova played the first all-Australian final on the WTA Tour in 12 years here; this year, if both win their first-round matches today, they will meet in the second round. Having raised the Strasbourg trophy twice, in 2015 and 2017, this is Stosur's second-most successful tournament following Osaka, where she is a three-time champion. Osaka is also the only title Stosur has defended, winning in 2009, 2013 and 2014.
No.8 seed Hsieh Su-Wei leads her head-to-head against Kaia Kanepi 2-1, winning in Cincinnati qualifying in 2010 and the first round of Wimbledon in 2015. However, the Estonian won their most recent encounter 6-2, 6-4 in last year's US Open qualifying.
No.3 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is all square at 1-1 against Tatjana Maria, having lost to the German 6-1, 6-2 in Cincinnati qualifying in 2009 but avenged that result 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of Monterrey last year. Maria enters Strasbourg with just a 2-11 main draw record this year, while Pavlyuchenkova's is only 5-9.
Former World No.5 Lucie Safarova returns to competition for the first time since February today, having spent three months on the sidelines due to illness. She faces qualifier Marina Melnikova, who is playing her first main draw since Nanchang in 2016.
ORDER OF PLAY (all courts start 11am
PATRICE DOMINGUEZ
Samantha STOSUR (AUS) vs Sofia KENIN (USA)
WANG Yafan (CHN) vs Pauline PARMENTIER (FRA)
Not before 2pm
[1] Ashleigh BARTY (AUS) vs [LL] Luksika KUMKHUM (THA)
Not before 5.30pm
[5] [WC] Dominika CIBULKOVA (SVK) vs [Q] Chloe PAQUET (FRA)
COURT 1
[8] HSIEH Su-Wei (TPE) vs [Q] Kaia KANEPI (EST)
[Q] Marina MELNIKOVA (RUS) vs [WC] Lucie SAFAROVA (CZE)
Jennifer BRADY (USA) vs [2] Daria GAVRILOVA (AUS)
[3] Anastasia PAVLYUCHENKOVA (RUS) vs Tatjana MARIA (GER)
[WC] Fiona FERRO (FRA) vs [6] Timea BABOS (HUN)
COURT 2
Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS) / Maria IRIGOYEN (ARG) vs [3] Nadiia KICHENOK (UKR) / Arina RODIONOVA (AUS)
[1] CHAN Hao-Ching (TPE) / YANG Zhaoxuan (CHN) vs Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU) / Raluca OLARU (ROU)
Jaqueline CRISTIAN (ROU) / Sofia KENIN (USA) vs Reka-Luca JANI (HUN) / Tereza MRDEZA (CRO)
[WC] Joanna TOMERA (FRA) / Wallis VITIS (FRA) vs Kaia KANEPI (EST) / Katarzyna PITER (POL)
