Stan Wawrinka could be making his final Roland Garros appearance and it will begin against Jake Fearnley on Monday. Francisco Cerundolo will try to maintain his impressive form at the expense of Gabriel Diallo.
Jake Fearnley vs. (WC) Stan Wawrinka
It will be a battle between two players at opposite ends of the career spectrum when Fearnley and Wawrinka square off for the first time in their careers in round one of the French Open on Monday. Fearnley is 23 years old and his professional career has been underway for just a year following an impressive college run at TCU. Wawrinka, on the other hand, is a three-time Grand Slam champion whose career is presumably coming to an end soon at 40 years old.
Whereas the Swiss is understandably on the decline, Fearnley is firmly on the rise. The Brit is up to No. 55 in the rankings and nine of his 11 lifetime main-tour match victories have come this season. He has been a quick learner on clay, with successful qualification in Barcelona (second round) and Madrid (third round). Wawrinka is a hopeless 1-7 at the ATP level in 2025 and has fallen to 138th in the rankings. The 2015 Roland Garros winner should be able to raise his level on arguably his favorite surface and at one of his favorite events, but youth and form are on Fearnley’s side.
Pick: Fearnley in 4
(18) Francisco Cerundolo vs. Gabriel Diallo
Like Fearnley, Diallo is a former college star (Kentucky) whose professional career is off to a stellar start. The 23-year-old is up to No. 54 in the world and he found his footing on clay with a surprising run to the Madrid quarterfinals earlier this month. Diallo is never going to be at his best on this surface, but he has the kind of firepower that can work well in any conditions.
Up first for the Canadian is Cerundolo, who lost their only previous meeting 6-4, 6-2 on the indoor hard courts of Almaty this past fall. Things figure to be a lot different on the red clay of Roland Garros, where Cerundolo certainly has the potential to make some serious noise. The 18th-ranked Argentine is playing by far the best tennis of his life and has already earned 27 main-tour match victories in 2025. With the added benefit of being a much more experienced clay-courter, this should be mostly routine for Cerundolo.
Pick: Cerundolo in 4
WWW?
While Stan might be going down, he’s still always dialed in and won this title before so it won’t be easy, he’s currently the oldest ranked player in the world, Fearnley has shown something on the clay so far, so I have to go with him, Fearnley in 5.
When it comes to the fast clay Diallo has been good, but slow clay he’s had a very hard time, so I expect Cerundolo to roll here, Cerundolo in 3.
So the biggest most out of the blue shock happened, Diallo rolls Cerundolo in 3, not only does he take him out, he does it in 3.
Fearnley was quite good today.
the college kids are no joke