Kwon to face Anderson in first round of French Open

Kwon Soon-woo in action against Novak Djokovic during their second round match of the Serbia Open in Belgrade, Serbia on April 21. [EPA]

Korean tennis player Kwon Soon-woo will face world No. 100 Kevin Anderson in the first round of the French Open tonight.

Kwon, currently ranked world No. 91, is scheduled to take on Anderson in the third match on Court 11 at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France, expected to start after 9 p.m. Korea time.

Kwon and Anderson have never faced each other, but the 30-year-old South African has experience on his side, with 583 ATP matches under his belt to Kwon's 49. Anderson has reached a grand slam final twice, at Wimbledon in 2018 — the same year he reached No. 5 on the world ranking — and the U.S. Open in 2017.

Yet despite Anderson's experience, Kwon has a higher world ranking and has been much more active in the last year. He has been busy this year, competing in 10 tournaments already this year and winning the ATP Challenger Tour Biella 2 in February. Kwon's biggest game of the year was in April, when he took on world No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Serbia Open, losing in straight sets.

Kwon was having the best year of his career last year before the coronavirus pandemic interrupted the tennis season. He advanced to the second round at the U.S. Open, his best grand slam performance to date. As a result, Kwon also briefly shot up to No. 69 in the ATP World Ranking.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]