Day 5: Keys, Tomic, Stephens face fellow young opponents, No. 1s return

French Open Day 5 schedule features No. 1s Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams on Lenglen and Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray on Chatrier.

Courtney Nguyen | May 27, 2015

Day 5: Keys, Tomic, Stephens face fellow young opponents, No. 1s return /

PARIS – Day 5 at the French Open features No. 1s Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams on Lenglen and Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray on Chatrier. Play begins at 5 a.m. ET on ESPN2, with coverage moving to Tennis Channel at 10 a.m. Full television and broadcast schedule can be found here. Full order of play can be found here.

Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray lead the way on Court Philippe Chatrier: The Spaniard looked sharp in his opening win over French wildcard Quentin Halys, but he'll face a far tougher opponent in his countryman Nicolas Almagro (second match, Chatrier). Almagro got his first career win over Nadal last year on the red clay in Barcelona, but he still trails 1-12 in their head-to-head. This should be a good early test for Nadal's movement and return.

Murray follows Nadal on Chatrier as he takes on Joao Sousa. Murray is 5–0 against Sousa and he's never lost a set to him.

Day 4 recap: Federer, Sharapova win in straight sets; Johnson advances

No. 1s go back-to-back on Court Suzanne Lenglen: Roland Garros' secondary court is the better ticket on Thursday, as Serena Williams takes on Anna-Lena Friedsam (second match) and Novak Djokovic plays Gilles Muller (third match). They're bookended by Petra Kvitova, who will try to rebound from a near-loss against Spain's Silvia Soler-Espinosa (first match) and a potentially exciting match between Richard Gasquet and Carlos Berlocq (fourth match). I don't anticipate too much drama in the first three matches, as Soler-Espinosa simply doesn't have the weapons to bother Kvitova. Same goes for Germany's Friedsam against Serena. While Muller is always game for an upset at a major, his second round match was called for light on Tuesday and he had to resume on Wednesday, winning in five sets. He'll be too fatigued to give Djokovic a challenge.

The Future of Tennis on display on Court 7: Want to see what tennis will look like on the main stadiums in five years? Just park yourself on the cozy confines of Court 7, where play begins with an Aussie intramural featuring Bernard Tomic and 18-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis, after Britain's Kyle Edmund withdrew with a stomach injury on Wednesday, giving Nick Kyrgios a walkover into the third round. Next is 20-year-old Madison Keys vs. 19-year-old Belinda Bencic. And the day ends with the veteran affair of the day, in Sloane Stephens vs. Heather Watson.

Will Nadal's dominant opening win in Paris restore his confidence?

Victoria Azarenka looks to set up a blockbuster third round vs. Serena: She's got a potentially tricky one against Lucie Hradecka (second match, Court 1), who is playing her best tennis in years. But if Azarenka and Serena win on Thursday they'll face off in a massive third round match on Saturday.

John Isner eyeing a deep run in Paris: He's playing as well as he ever has on clay but he'll have to step it up against Jeremy Chardy (third match, Court 1). Isner is a potential fourth round opponent for Murray.

Can Tommy Robredo school another teenager? The Spanish veteran put on a clinic to dismantle Nick Kyrgios last year at the U.S. Open. On Thursday he plays 18-year-old Borna Coric (third match, Court 2).

SNAPSHOTS FROM DAY 4

French Open Day 4

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

Lucic-Baroni scored an upset over No. 3 seed Simona Halep.

Kei Nishikori

Nishikori d. Bellucci 7–5, 6–4, 6–4.

Sam Stosur

Stosur d. Hesse 6–0, 6–1.

Thomaz Bellucci

Amandine Hesse

Hesse lost to Sam Stosur in the second round.

Simona Halep

Maria Sharapova

Francesca Schiavone, Kimiko Date-Krumm

Ana Ivanovic

Sergiy Stakhovsky

Stakhovsky lost to American Steve Johnson.

Steve Johnson

Daria Gavrilova

Gavrilova retired with injury down 6-1 No. 20 Sabine Lisicki.

Elina Svitolina

Jo-Wilfred Tsonga

Tsonga d. Dudi Sela 6–4, 6–1, 6–1.

Gael Monfils

Fans at the French Open

Yulia Putintseva

Nicolas Mahut

Mahut upset No. 24 seed Ernests Gulbis in four sets.

Misaki Doi

Aleksandra Krunic

Gael Monfils

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Ana Ivanovic

Published May 27, 2015

COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.