Opinion: Three best second round matches at 2026 French Open

The second round of the 2026 French Open will get under way on Wednesday from Roland Garros. Here are the three best second round French Open matches.

(19) Frances Tiafoe–USA vs. Hubert Hurkacz–POL

This is a battle of two grand slam semifinalists. Tiafoe reached the final four of the 2022 and 2024 United States Open. Hurkacz reached the final four of Wimbledon in 2021. Head-to-head, Tiafoe has won four of seven matches all-time. This will be their first ever meeting on clay. Tiafoe won their first two meetings, Hurkacz won the next three, and Tiafoe won their last two matches. Their last meeting came in the quarterfinals of Cincinnati in 2024. Tiafoe won the first set 6-3 before Hurkacz retired with a calf injury.

(16) Naomi Osaka–JPN vs. Donna Vekic–CRO

Osaka is a four-time grand slam champion. She won the United States Open in 2018 and 2020, and the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021. Vekic is a grand slam semifinalist, as she made the final four of Wimbledon in 2024. Osaka won the two prior matches. The first came in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open (6-3, 6-2). The second came in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, which Osaka won on clay, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.

(29) Jelena Ostapenko–LAT vs. Magda Linette–POL

Ostapenko is a major champion from the past as she won the 2017 French Open. Linette is a grand slam semifinalist as she made the final four of the 2023 Australian Open. Ostapenko and Linette have beaten each other once. Ostapenko won 6-3, 6-3 in 2018 Fed Cup action, and Linette won 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of Rome in 2020.