Three to See, Day 2: Arthur Fils and Elina Svitolina, tune-up champs, turn to Paris. And Djokovic, too

Novak Djokovic vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic

An American of Serbian heritage, Kovacevic admits that simply meeting Djokovic was “a dream come true.” Now the 24-year-old New York City native will get his first chance to play him, in Court Philippe Chatrier. This is the type of thing that dreams, and nightmares, are made of.

Unfortunately, this may not be the best moment for Kovacevic to show off his game, and his one-handed backhand, to Djokovic and the world. Since reaching the main draw in Miami, he has lost all four matches he’s played on clay, two of them in Challengers. Granted, Djokovic admits he hasn’t had ideal run to Roland Garros himself. But he also says that Grand Slams are a “whole different ball game”; the 22-time major winner would know. This seems like an ideal opponent for Djokovic to ease his way into the tournament and begin finding the form that can take him to No. 23. Winner: Djokovic

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Arthur Fils

French tennis is desperate for a new French man, and this weekend they woke up to the possibility that the 18-year-old Fils may be exactly what they’ve spent the past decade waiting for. Fils won his first career title in Lyon, and beat a high-quality clay-courter in Francisco Cerundolo to close it out. Now Paris awaits his entrance, last up on the Greenhouse court on Monday.

The only trouble is, he won’t be walking into a coronation. Davidovich Fokina is another high-quality clay-courter. The 23-year-old Spaniard is ranked 34th, 29 spots ahead of Fils. He’s been to a couple of quarterfinals on dirt this spring. He has a win over Djokovic on the surface. And he made the quarters at Roland Garros two years ago. By all rights, he should be the favorite here.

But Fils is on a roll, and if he’s anything like the last, departing generation of Frenchmen, he’ll rise to the early-round occasion in the country’s capital. Winner: Fils

Elina Svitolina vs. Martina Trevisan

The match before Fils-Davidovich Fokina in the Greenhouse also features a player who made herself into a story during the final pre-RG warm-up. Over the past year, Svitolina has given birth to a daughter, raged against the Russian invasion, and taken a sabbatical for her mental health. Then, last week, ranked 508th, she won the title in Strasbourg.

Now, like Fils, she’ll try to keep her roll going against a player who knows her way around a clay court. The 24th-ranked Trevisan hasn’t had much of a season to speak of; she’s just 11-13. But she saves her best for Paris, where she made the quarterfinals in 2020 and the semifinals in 2022.

The Italian and the Ukrainian have never played. On a normal day, perhaps on a different court, Svitolina would probably have too much firepower for Trevisan. But on clay, at Roland Garros, against a player who is still working her way back, Trevisan may be just unflagging enough to get by. Winner: Trevisan