Monday at Roland Garros: Serena's gaudy numbers, Swiatek's birthday challenge

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Serena Williams can play this game.

Heading into Monday’s appearance at the French Open against Irina-Camelia Begu, Serena has a luminous 76-1 record (.987) in first-round matches at the Grand Slams.

Let that soak in for a moment. The 39-year-old American is as close to a sure thing as there is coming out of the gate at a major. Kim Clijsters (33-3, .917) and Naomi Osaka (16-2, .889) are next among active players.

There is, not surprisingly, more Roland Garros-specific proof of her greatness. Serena has played the most matches in Paris, 79, with a record of 66-13 – not bad on her least favorite surface. Sister Venus (71) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (69) aren’t far behind.

The active list for winning percentage at the French Open goes like this: Serena (.835), Garbiñe Muguruza (29-7, .806), Clijsters (23-8, .767), Simona Halep (31-10, .756), Kuznetsova (52-17, .754).

Since the tournament started on Sunday, Monday is a potpourri from the top and bottom halves of the draw, featuring some blazingly good matchups.

Out of nowhere

No.10 seed Belinda Bencic, a four-time WTA champion and a 2019 US Open semifinalist, is contemplating an uncomfortable first-round match against Nadia Podoroska. The two have never met.

Eight months ago, the headline from Paris was Iga Swiatek, the Polish teenager who, unseeded, won all seven of her matches to collect her first Grand Slam singles title. Well, Podoroska – who was ranked No. 131 coming in – actually won eight. In a span of 17 days, the Argentine played nine matches, qualifying and then blowing through to the semifinals. She beat Elina Svitolina handily in the quarterfinals before falling to Swiatek.

Podoroska’s achievement had historic implications, too. She was the first qualifier to reach the final four at Roland Garros and only the third to do it in an Open era Grand Slam, following Alexandra Stevenson (1999 Wimbledon) and Christine Dorey (1978 Australian Open).

Sixteen players won their three qualifying matches and were placed in the draw, along with two lucky losers. One of the most intriguing is Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, who is making her major main-draw debut. The 19-year-old from Colombia plays Madison Brengle on Monday.

Finding her rhythm

Swiatek, who turns 20 on Monday, opens her defense on Court Philippe Chatrier against Kaja Juvan, who was born six months earlier than the No.8-seeded Swiatek.

The two played earlier this year at the pre-Australian Open Gippsland Trophy 500 event in Melbourne, with Swiatek prevailing 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Winning that breakthrough Slam threw her life into chaos, but Swiatek said she’s starting to get her bearings.

“For me the harder part was actually learning how to deal with business side of sport and dealing with all the new obligations that I have and new responsibilities,” Swiatek said in her first press conference. “But as soon as I learned how to do that it was much, much better. That’s why the first few weeks were really, really hard for me, and then it became easier, because I just had to learn how to deal with that, as any other thing.

“When something is new for you, you’re not as confident as you would like to be. So, yeah, for sure when I started the season I felt like it’s a little bit overwhelming for me, but then after Australian Open and after Adelaide, I found my rhythm in all of that, so it was good.”

Level playing field

The disparity of the men’s draw prompted spirited discussion when it came out Thursday. Players in the top half have collected a staggering 59 Grand Slam singles titles, while the bottom has exactly one, belonging to Dominic Thiem.

The women’s draw has a much more level playing field.

There are seven former Grand Slam singles champions on each side:

Top half – Ashleigh Barty, Sloane Stephens, Venus, Williams, Sofia Kenin, Jelena Ostapenko, Garbine Muguruza and Iga Swiatek.

Bottom half – Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Bianca Andreescu and Naomi Osaka.

The bottom half has won a total of 37 majors, while the top has 14. If you subtract Serena’s 23 Grand Slams, it’s 14 each.

Six of these majors winners have at least one French Open title: Swiatek (2020), Barty (2019), Kuznetsova (2009), Muguruza (2016), Ostapenko (2017) and Serena (2002, 2013, 2015).

Monday finds No.4 seed Kenin and Ostapenko meeting on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Ostapenko owns the only victory, in a 2020 Billie Jean Cup qualifier that went three sets.

No.12 seed Muguruza faces Marta Kostyuk, a rising 18-year-old from Ukraine who is ranked No.81. Kostyuk, who reached the semifinals in Istanbul, has never faced Muguruza.

What to expect from Andreescu?

One of the great curiosities coming into Paris is Andreescu. The 2019 US Open winner won two matches last week in Strasbourg but withdrew before her quarterfinal match, citing an abdominal injury.

Still only 20, Andreescu reached the final earlier this year in Miami – beating Muguruza and Maria Sakkari – but retired against Barty.

On Monday the No. 6-seeded Andreescu plays Tamara Zidansek, a 23-year-old from Slovenia whom she has never played.

The trouble with teenagers … is they win

Coco Gauff, the 17-year-old American – and Rome semifinalist – is the youngest player in the field, but she’s one of 11 teenagers in the women’s singles draw: Gauff (17), Océane Babel (17),Elsa Jacquemot (18), Clara Tauson (18), Leylah Fernandez (18), Diane Parry (18), Marta Kostyuk (18), Amanda Anisimova (19), Hailey Baptiste (19), Maria Camila Osorio Serrano (19) and Swiatek (19).

Here’s some statistical mayhem.

The youngest player in Open era to:

• Play at Roland Garros: Mary Joe Fernandez (13 years, 280 days) in 1985.
• Win a match at Roland Garros: Stefanie Graf (13 years, 342 days) in 1983.
• Win Roland Garros: Monica Seles, who was 16 years, 6 months, when she won in 1990.
• Win any Grand Slam: Martina Hingis, who was 16 years, 4 months, when she won 1997 Australian Open.

Thirty-somethings

In the interest of fair play, we give you the flip side: There are 26 players in the field who are 30 years or older.

Six of them are 35 or older: Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Kaia Kanepi, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Hsieh Su-Wei and Varvara Lepchenko.

Thirty-plus players have won a total of 25 Grand Slam titles in the Open era, led by Serena Williams (10), Martina Navratilova and Margaret Court (3) and Chris Evert and Billie Jean King (2).

Venus, who turns 41 in June, will be playing doubles with Gauff. The year Gauff was born, 2004, Venus reached the quarterfinals in Paris, beating 2000 Roland Garros winner Mary Pierce along the way, before falling to eventual champion Anastasia Myskina.