French Open 2019: Wednesday Schedule and Predictions for Roland-Garros Bracket

Wednesday's French Open second-round schedule is packed to the brim with former champions.

In the men's draw, Rafael Nadal takes on Yannick Maden, Roger Federer meets Oscar Otte, Novak Djokovic faces Henri Laaksonen and Stan Wawrinka goes up against Cristian Garin.

Meanwhile, in the women's draw, 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza has her second-round match against Sweden's Johanna Larsson, and three-time champion Serena Williams meets Japanese qualifier Kurumi Nara.

Here is a selected schedule for the day's play (predicted winners in brackets), with play set to start at 11 a.m. BST (6 a.m. ET):

Men's Draw

(29) Stan Wawrinka vs. Cristian Garin (Garin)

Yannick Maden vs. (2) Rafael Nadal (Nadal)

Grigor Dimitrov vs. (11) Marin Cilic (Dimitrov)

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Henri Laaksonen (Djokovic)

(7) Kei Nishikori vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Nishikori)

(3) Roger Federer vs. Oscar Otte (Federer)

(4) Dominic Thiem vs. Alexander Bublik (Thiem)

Women's Draw

(19) Garbine Muguruza vs. Johanna Larsson (Muguruza)

(7) Sloane Stephens vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo (Stephens)

Kateryna Kozlova vs. (9) Elina Svitolina (Svitolina)

(10) Serena Williams vs. Kurumi Nara (Williams)

Danielle Collins vs. (8) Ashleigh Barty (Collins)

Kristina Kucova vs (2) Karolina Pliskova (Pliskova)

Viktoria Kuzmova vs. (4) Kiki Bertens (Bertens)

For a look at the full schedule, visit RolandGarros.com.

Wednesday Preview

Nadal, 32, has won a staggering 11 titles at Roland Garros and went in to the 2019 tournament on the back of victory in the Italian Open.

He brushed aside Yannick Hanfmann in the first round and looks in good shape as he aims for a 12th French Open.

Clearly, there is a long way to go in the second Grand Slam of the year, but the chances of world No. 114 Maden ousting the second seed on Wednesday seem minuscule.

There are only a handful of players in the entire men's draw capable of beating Nadal on clay, and the German qualifier is not one of them.

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Similarly, world No. 104 Laaksonen appears to have little hope against top seed Djokovic, who is aiming to win his fourth Grand Slam in succession and last went out in the first week of the French Open back in 2009.

Of the underdogs in action on Wednesday, perhaps Otte is the man with the best chance of causing a major upset. 

That is simply because Federer has not played very much clay-court tennis in the last few years and is taking part in his first French Open since 2015.

That did not seem to affect the Swiss legend much as he swept past Lorenzo Sonego in the first round:

And Federer is hardly in poor form having won two titles already in 2019.

But clay is not his favourite surface, and when compared to Maden and Laaksonen, Otte looks to have a slightly better chance of causing an upset.

In the women's draw, all eyes will be on Williams as she continues her campaign to win a first Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2016.

She has reached the final of two of the last three Grand Slams and responded well to going down early in her first round match in Paris:

Serena pulled out of the Italian Open through injury as she prepared for the French Open, a factor which will likely give Nara hope the American will not be on her best form.

But even if Williams is not at her physical peak on Wednesday, she should have more than enough to book a spot in the third round.