The last day of the opening round of the 2026 French Open today, May 26, with two intriguing clashes on the clay. These are previews and our betting picks for Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Daniel Altmaier and Marin Cilic vs. Moise Kouame.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Daniel Altmaier
These two players are all even in their H2H stats with two wins each, and one win each on clay courts.
While Auger-Aliassime enters as a clear favorite, he faces a tricky challenge against the clay-court specialist in Daniel Altmaier. The Canadian has struggled in his recent French Open openers, and enters this years tournament with mixed form. He’s 4-4 on clay this year and has not yet found consistency on this surface. His draw does look decent following the withdrawal of Alcaraz.
Altmaier arrives with a better career winning percentage on clay than his opponent and has done well so far, especially in the Bucharest and Hamburg events.
Predictions
I think Auger-Aliassime has got what’s needed in the end and will progress from today’s match, but not without a battle. 3-1 set betting and at least one tie’-break, gives great odds.
Marin Cilic vs. Moise Kouame
Former Grand Slam champion Marin Cilic faces the young French wildcard Moise Kouame in what is the game of age difference. Cilic was already on the tour while Kouame had yet to be born…
Marin Cilic brings immense experience and a powerful game to the court, looking to show his presence on the big stage once again. Currently ranked 46 in the world, he’s in fine form but the poor matches are starting to show up a bit more frequent now in the end of the career.
For the 318th-ranked Kouame (image on top), this match represents a massive opportunity to show his potential in front of a home crowd. The young Frenchman has been impressive recently and surely has what it takes to cause a few upsets on tour this season.
It will be a test for Cilic to keep consistency and handling the pressure of playing a motivated underdog, while Kouamé will aim to neutralise the opponents strong serve and keep the rallies long to test the veteran’s movement.
Predictions
Experience will win this one and Cilic has some serious weapons still that should be too much over a 5-set clash for an inexperienced player like Kouame.
Both predictions very badly wrong!
I wouldn’t say that. Cilic pick was prob my worst one ever, yes. The Auger-Aliassime win I got mainly right, him to win after a tough battle and we also saw a tie-break, (3-2 instead of 3-1). First round had some crazy results, not common in RG, I think from round 2 we’ll see more odds favorites get the win. Also, the worst heat is calming down a bit in a few days.