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Can Daria Gavrilova get her tournament off to a good start or will Mariana Duque-Marino‘s recent form prove too much for the Australian? Join The Roar for live scores from around 11:30pm (AEST).
Dasha Gavrilova is carrying the weight of a nation as she hopes to become the first Australian since Margaret Court in 1973 to win at Roland Garros.
Gavrilova has a tough road ahead, with a draw that could see her face Madison Keys, Johanna Konta and Angelique Kerber before a possible match-up in the quarter-finals with either Timea Bacsinszky or Venus Williams.
However, Daria will need to hold her focus on unseating Duque-Marino first, with the 26-year old offering tough opposition for the 2016 Hopman Cup winner, who has quickly become an Australian favourite and one of the most exciting players on the WTA Tour.
Duque-Marino has been in strong form recently, reaching the final at Nuremberg last week following wins over the likes of Annika Beck, Laura Siegemund and Varvara Lepchenko, before losing to Kiki Bertens in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
The Colombian also crashed out of the Rome Masters last week, with a second-round loss to Daria Kasatkina by the same scoreline that saw her exit at Nuremberg.
She has now won seven of her last ten matches and, like Gavrilova, has spent the past five weeks playing on clay.
Gavrilova and Duque-Marino have met twice, both coming within a week of each other in qualifying for the Brisbane and Hobart Internationals.
Dasha won their first meeting in straight sets, before Mariana Duque-Marino sent the Aussie packing in Tasmania with a straight sets win the following week.
The winner will take on either Donna Vekic or 15th seed Madison Keys in the second round.
Prediction
Gavrilova will take awhile to get into it however once she gets going, Duque-Marino will find it hard to contain the livewire Australian.
Gavrilova in three sets.
Join The Roar for live scores from around 11:30pm (AEST) following the completion of Facundo Bagnis and Kenny De Schepper, and drop a comment in the box below if you’re watching the match.
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