10 Things to Know, Day 3: Lopez's 69th straight Slam; moms in action

Trivia: Feliciano Lopez begins his 69th straight Grand Slam today, the most consecutive majors played by any man or woman in the Open era—his streak began at the 2002 French Open. Other than Lopez, who are the only two men who were in the 2002 French Open draw AND in the 2019 French Open draw?

The first round wraps up today

The opening is played over three days here, and today the last wave of first-round matches—40 new matches and three holdovers—will take to the terre battue.

Alexander Zverev is the highest seeded man in action

With Roger Federer playing Sunday and Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem playing Monday, No. 5-seeded Zverev leads Tuesday lineup on the men's side. The German opens against John Millman, who is best known for beating Federer at the US Open last year.

Zverev is fresh off his first title of the year in Geneva

He had to work for it though, going to three sets in his last three rounds there—including saving two match points to beat Nicolas Jarry in the final.

Only two women can take No. 1 from Naomi Osaka now

With Angelique Kerber losing in the first round and Kvitova pulling out, only Karolina Pliskova and Kiki Bertens are threatening Osaka for the top ranking—they both need at least to reach the final.

Simona Halep can’t get back to No. 1—or even No. 2—here

The No. 3-seeded Romanian is defending 2,000 points for winning the title last year, and she needs to win the title again just to have a chance at keeping her current ranking. She needs to reach the final just to have a chance at staying in the Top 5.

Halep and Ajla Tomljanovic’s only previous meeting was wild

They met in Cincinnati last summer and Tomljanovic was up a double break at 3-0 in the third set. Halep won the next four games to move ahead 4-3, then rain washed out play for the day. The former No. 1 finished off a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory the next day.

Juan Martin del Potro’s first round opponent is quite the giant-killer

The No. 9-ranked Argentine takes on 23-year-old Jarry, who already has a winning record against Top 10 players in his young career: 3-2. The wins were No. 8 Thiem (2018 Hamburg), No. 6 Marin Cilic (2018 Shanghai) and No. 3 Zverev (2019 Barcelona). The two losses were No. 6 Ferrer (2016 Rio) and No. 5 Zverev (Geneva three days ago).

The last two of six moms in the draw are in action

The first four moms to play their first rounds went 2-2—Serena and Mandy Minella won, Vera Zvonareva and Tatjana Maria lost. Today, Evgeniya Rodina (mom) plays Madison Keys while Victoria Azarenka (mom) plays Jelena Ostapenko. The Azarenka-Ostapenko winner could play Osaka next.

Show some 40-love to Ivo Karlovic

The big-serving Croation is the first 40-year-old to play men’s singles at a major since Jimmy Connor at the 1992 US Open. He’s also the oldest man to play at Roland Garros since 41-year-old Istvan Gulyas in 1973. There’s more: Karlovic is playing 37-year-old Lopez in the oldest men’s match-up in terms of combined age at Roland Garros in the Open era—seventh-oldest at all Grand Slams.

Bianca Andreescu and Genie Bouchard are the last Canadians standing

With Milos Raonic and Felix Auger-Aliassime withdrawing, and Denis Shapovalov losing on Monday, Andreescu and Bouchard are the last two Canadians left in singles here. The Indian Wells champion will complete her first-round match against Marie Bouzkova today, while Bouchard—a former semifinalist here—will play Lesia Tsurenko in her first match since Miami.

Trivia Answer: The only two players with two hands on both sides who’ve beaten Serena Williams are Monica Seles in the 2001 Los Angeles quarterfinal—Serena had six match points, and Marion Bartoli in the 2011 Wimbledon fourth round.