French Open 2016: Wednesday Schedule and Predictions for Roland Garros Bracket
The 2016 French Open rolls on from Paris with a full day of second-round action for the men and women, including matches for Andy Murray and Simona Halep.
Below are all the singles matches scheduled for Wednesday at Roland Garros, with play set to begin at 5 a.m. ET.
| Philippe-Chatrier Court | Simona Halep (ROU) [6] vs. Zarina Diyas (KAZ) |
| Philippe-Chatrier Court | Myrtille Georges (FRA) vs.Garbine Muguruza (ESP) [4] |
| Philippe-Chatrier Court | Mathias Bourgue (FRA) vs. Andy Murray (GBR) [2] |
| Philippe-Chatrier Court | Milos Raonic (CAN) [8] vs.Adrian Mannarino (FRA) |
| Suzanne-Lenglen Court | Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) vs.Petra Kvitova (CZE) [10] |
| Suzanne-Lenglen Court | Taro Daniel (JPN) vs.Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3] |
| Suzanne-Lenglen Court | Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) vs. Richard Gasquet (FRA) [9] |
| Suzanne-Lenglen Court | Caroline Garcia (FRA) vs.Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [2] |
| Court 1 | Kei Nishikori (JPN) [5] vs.Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) |
| Court 1 | Viktorija Golubic (SUI) vs.Lucie Safarova (CZE) [11] |
| Court 1 | Gilles Simon (FRA) [16] vs.Guido Pella (ARG) |
| Court 1 | Veronica Cepede Royg (PAR) vs.Sloane Stephens (USA) [19] |
| Court 2 | Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [13] vs.Heather Watson (GBR) |
| Court 2 | Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs.Benoit Paire (FRA) [19] |
| Court 2 | Coco Vandeweghe (USA) vs.Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) [25] |
| Court 3 | Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [27] vs.Jordan Thompson (AUS) |
| Court 3 | Samantha Stosur (AUS) [21] vs.Shuai Zhang (CHN) |
| Court 3 | Andrej Martin (SVK) vs.Lucas Pouille (FRA) [29] |
| Court 3 | Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) vs.Annika Beck (GER) |
| Court 4 | Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs.Marco Trungelliti (ARG) |
| Court 6 | Shelby Rogers (USA) vs.Elena Vesnina (RUS) |
| Court 6 | Jeremy Chardy (FRA) [30] vs.Adam Pavlasek (CZE) |
| Court 6 | Nick Kyrgios (AUS) [17] vs.Igor Sijsling (NED) |
| Court 6 | Barbora Strycova (CZE) [30] vs.Polona Hercog (SLO) |
| Court 14 | Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) vs.Naomi Osaka (JPN) |
| Court 14 | Jack Sock (USA) [23] vs.Dustin Brown (GER) |
| Court 14 | John Isner (USA) [15] vs.Kyle Edmund (GBR) |
| Court 14 | Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) vs.Johanna Larsson (SWE) |
| Court 16 | Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR) vs.Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) [24] |
| Court 16 | Dusan Lajovic (SRB) vs.Viktor Troicki (SRB) [22] |
| Court 17 | Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs.Fernando Verdasco (ESP) |
| Court 17 | Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [27] vs.Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) |
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If there's one thing we've learned so far in the French Open, it's that no match is as clear-cut as it seems. Kiki Bertens ousted Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in her first match.
On the men's side, Murray has a lot to prove after needing five sets against unranked Radek Stepanek in the opening round. He's played well overall this year and seemed to be building momentum with his win on clay at the Italian Open.
Making matters worse for Murray is the quick turnaround for his second-round match against Mathias Bourgue. Another potential distraction has come from his former coach Amelie Mauresmo, as he's now having to answer questions about his attitude on the court, per ESPN's Greg Garber:
"There was times when, like with all of my coaches, they said, you know, 'You need to concentrate more on the match. Stop directing your frustration at the box and being distracted from what's going on the court.' But to say that that's why we stopped working together is untrue.
Obviously what's happened the last few days has been difficult, because I didn't have a chance to talk about it or respond or anything. We certainly didn't fall out. And that is not true.
"
It's not like Murray has had problems making deep runs at the French Open before. He's advanced to the quarterfinals four times since 2011, including three semifinal appearances during that span. Another sloppy effort on Wednesday, however, will dramatically alter the men's bracket.
No. 3 Stan Wawrinka is in a similar position, needing five sets in his opening match before finally putting away Lukas Rosol. He's the defending champion at Roland Garros and didn't need five sets in any of his seven match victories last year.
Wawrinka did try to maintain a positive attitude about his victory over Rosol, while acknowledging it wasn't a good start, per Jamie Lisanti of Sports Illustrated:
"It's a good thing to get through, but it's never, never the best to start with five-set match and not play your best tennis. You always want to play good tennis and win matches in three sets. But today I'm really happy with the way I find solution. It's really good victory, good win for me, because it's first match. He was playing really well. Wasn't easy for myself to get into the match.
"
The only result that matters in any sport is the victory, so Murray and Wawrinka don't have to apologize. They just need to get back into form quickly if they are going to live up to their reputations. Expect both men to come out of the gate looking like they have something to prove.
No. 5 Kei Nishikori, No. 8 Milos Raonic and No. 9 Richard Gasquet are the other main draws on the men's side. All three advanced to the second round with straight-set wins in the first round and don't appear to be in any immediate danger.
If there is an upset to be found among that trio, Gasquet seems the most likely candidate. He has never advanced beyond the fourth round in 11 previous appearances at the French Open.
Looking at the women's side of the equation, No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska is the highest-seeded player in action. She lost two games in her opener against Bojana Jovanovski and has unranked challenger Caroline Garcia waiting in the wings.
Garcia does have one singles title under her belt this season at the Internationaux de Strasbourg last week, though that comes with the caveat she advanced to the semifinals after her quarterfinal opponent, Samantha Stosur, withdrew due to an injury.
Stosur was the only ranked opponent Garcia would have faced in the tournament. If Garcia defeats Radwanska, then she can claim to have all the momentum in the world.
No. 4 Garbine Muguruza and No. 6 Simona Halep get the prime women's spots on Philippe-Chatrier Court. The two women have not been dominant this season, owning a combined record of 31-19, per ESPN.com.
Halep has struggled on the clay at Roland Garros throughout her career, only advancing past the second round once since 2010 when she lost to Maria Sharapova in the finals two years ago.
The 24-year-old Halep does sound more comfortable and confident when stepping on clay than she has in the past, including when she went to the finals in 2014, after her 45-minute victory over Nao Hibino, per WTATennis.com:
"I feel more confident now playing on clay court. I had good matches in Madrid. The title is really important for me - it means a lot. You know, now I feel more confident, like everyone can see that that I play aggressive, I play my game.
Always when I go on court I feel that I can win the match. So this makes myself a little bit more positive, a little bit more stronger on court, and I just want to go to play. I'm already in the second round. I feel good, and I feel that I have the game to win matches here.
"
That level of comfort on the court at Roland Garros will serve Halep well if she wants to have another breakthrough this year.
There are certainly going to be upsets that happen on Wednesday, but there are mismatches on paper that make it impossible to predict right now. Keeping an eye on how players have performed on clay will be the great equalizer for underdogs trying to make a name for themselves.
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