Don’t expect the veteran Frenchwoman to go out easily in her last time playing on the terre battue.

While Rafael Nadal’s potential farewell is making all the headlines, one player is definitely calling it a career at Roland Garros: Alize Cornet. The 34-year-old has fallen out of the Top 100, and her best tennis is clearly behind her. And with Cornet being a wild-card entrant, she was always going to have a tough opening-round matchup. In this case, it’s world No. 8 and 2024 Australian Open runner-up Zheng Qinwen.

While this match will present all sorts of challenges for Cornet, I do like the Frenchwoman to cover a massive game spread.

Zheng has world-class power from the baseline, which is why she is such a dangerous player on hard courts. And the 21-year-old actually has a higher win percentage on clay than she does hard courts. However, Zheng has played only 33 WTA-level matches on the dirt, and I still think of her as a bit of a one-dimensional player right now. She is capable of going big on her serve, and she has huge power from the forehand and backhand wings. But Zheng wants to end points very quickly, so she swings with purpose early and often. Winning at Roland Garros requires a little more variety than that, which is why I think Cornet can push her.