Hubert Hurkacz will meet David Goffin in the First Round of the 2023 French Open. The match will be played on Sunday May 28th, 2023.
Hubert Hurkacz is the 13th seed here at the 2023 French Open and is ranked 13th on the ATP Tour. The tall Pole is well renowned for his huge serve and groundstrokes, but his clay court success has not matched that on the faster surfaces. His preparation for this event has not gone well, with his best performance of the four tournaments that he played was reaching the Third Round in Madrid. This is a winnable but tricky opener against David Goffin that he starts as the favorite, but knows that he will have to be much improved to get past the veteran.
David Goffin is unseeded here at the 2023 French Open and is ranked 113th in the world. The Belgian was once ranked as high as number seven, but is nowhere the player that he once was. His clay court preparation was even worse than that of his opponent Hubert Hurkacz, going 3-5 across the five tournaments that he took part in. He did reach the Semi-Finals of a Challenger event recently, but that is a whole different level. While he starts this match as the clear underdog, his experience and counterpunching game will give him a shot here.
This is a very interesting First Round match, and I am sure that Hubert Hurkacz would have preferred a weaker opponent given his current form. However, while David Goffin in highly accomplished and experienced I expect Hurkacz to simply be too good for him here. Goffin plays a game that relies on speed and physicality since he likes to wear opponents down, but he isn't capable of doing that at a high level anymore. Hurkacz will be tested here but will win and move on to the Second Round here at Roland Garros.
