Five best third round matches at the 2023 French Open

Over the first five days of the 2023 French Open there was some outstanding tennis. Now it is time to take a look at round three. Here are the five must see matches.

5) (14) Cameron Norrie–Great Britain vs. (17) Lorenzo Musetti–Italy

In this third round match, we have the 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist in Norrie, against a clay court specialist in Musetti. The Italian won the 2022 Hamburg European Open on clay over Carlos Alcaraz this past July, and reached the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo and the fourth round of the Italian Open this year. Musetti won their only prior meeting. That was a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win in the third round of the Barcelona Open last month.

4) (9) Taylor Fritz–United States vs. (23) Francisco Cerundolo–Argentina

Fritz may be known as a great hard court player, but he made news on clay earlier this year when the reached the semifinals of Monte Carlo. Cerundolo won the 2022 Swedish Open where he beat Sebastian Baez of Argentina in the final, and reached the quarterfinals this year in Miami and Rome. This will be their first ever meeting.

3) (1) Carlos Alcaraz–Spain vs. (26) Denis Shapovalov–Canada

Here we have the best player on the planet and 2022 United States Open champion in Alcaraz, against the 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist in Shapovalov. This will be their first ever meeting too.

2) (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas–Greece vs. Diego Schwartzman–Argentina

Here we have two clay court specialists in Tsitsipas, the 2021 French Open finalist, against Schwartzman, the 2020 French Open semifinalist. Head-to-head, Tsitsipas has the 4-2 advantage over Schwartzman, with his wins coming in the second round of the 2018 Barcelona Open, the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo in 2022, the third round of the 2022 Cincinnati Masters, and the round robin of the 2022 Laver Cup.

1) (22) Alexander Zverev–Germany vs. (12) Frances Tiafoe–United States

Zverev suffered as severe ankle injury against Rafael Nadal of Spain in the 2022 French Open. The reigning Olympic gold medalist’s best grand slam result was a final at the 2020 United States Open where he lost to Dominic Thiem of Austria. Tiafoe’s best grand slam result was also at the U.S. Open, where he made the final four in 2022. Zverev has dominated Tiafoe in the past, as he has won six of seven meetings. But they have not played since Zverev’s ankle injury.