Ajla Tomljanović opens her French Open campaign on Sunday against Caty McNally of the United States as the 2026 tournament begins in Paris. Nearly one-third of the women’s draw is scheduled to take the red clay at Roland-Garros on the first day, giving opening-round prediction pieces plenty to work with.
The Tomljanovic-McNally match is one of several first-round contests being watched closely, with Nurein Ahmed, Ilemona Onekutu and Tope Oke offering their views on the slate. Their previews also put Marta Kostyuk in focus, after she arrives with a 12-match clay winning streak and back-to-back titles in Rouen and Madrid.
That kind of form is the clearest marker of the week ahead. On paper, Katie Volynets is viewed as the favorite in one preview, while Clara Burel comes into Paris still trying to find her footing after an ACL setback. Volynets has also hovered around the early rounds at Roland-Garros before, with a couple of second-round appearances that suggest she is familiar with the rhythm of the place even if she has not broken through deep into the second week.
The early-day women’s schedule matters because it sets the tone for the tournament before the heavyweight names fully settle in. Roland-Garros is built on clay, a surface that can flatten rankings and reward players who arrive with confidence, patience and a steady return game. Kostyuk has all of that right now, which is why her run is being treated as more than a hot streak, while Burel’s return from injury makes her one of the more uncertain names in the opening round.
Tomljanovic, meanwhile, gets a matchup that looks straightforward only on paper. McNally, also from the United States, brings the kind of first-round variability that can make predictions tricky, especially in Paris, where nearly one-third of the women’s slate is packed into Sunday. That leaves little room for slow starts.
For Tomljanovic, the immediate challenge is not the draw alone but the timing of it: opening day, on clay, in a tournament where early momentum often becomes its own advantage. If the previews are right, the first rounds could already be telling enough to shape the rest of the women’s bracket.
