Sean Cuenin already has much to be proud of from his fledgling tennis career.

A career-high junior ranking of No. 10, a semi-final appearance during the 2021 Roland Garros boys’ singles championship and a first professional title-victory just two months after his 18th birthday this year are all very well – but the 18-year-old, who is playing his first junior event of the year in his final season as a junior, is determined to add one more achievement to his resumé in Paris this week.

“For sure, it was a good experience,” he said of his run to the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, after winning his opening match of this year’s junior event on Monday. “But for me, I want to win this tournament. I will do my best for that this week.”

On the evidence of his first round victory, Cuenin will take some stopping. The Frenchman dominated Slovakia’s Peter Nad throughout their 64-minute encounter, posting a 6-2 6-2 victory to progress to next stage.  

Waiting for him in the second round is No. 1 seed and Australian Open boys’ singles champion Bruno Kuzuhara, who eased past qualifier Togan Tokac 6-1 6-3 in his first round match on Sunday. The potential match-up – now a reality – was one that many following the junior tournament in Paris had their eye on as soon as the draw was made.

The clash will be Cuenin’s fifth singles match at Roland Garros this year, with the 18-year-old having come close to qualifying for the men’s singles main draw here. Ranked at No. 603 in the ATP rankings, and as a wild card in the men’s qualifying tournament, Cuenin defeated Clement Tabur and Ramkumar Ramanathan before falling to Giulio Zeppieri in the final round.

Cuenin’s extra experience here was a factor that Kuzuhara acknowledged on Monday.

“I know that he's been doing really well, he made final rounds of qualies here in the men's,” said the world No. 1 of Cuenin. “I've never played him but we've practised a couple of times. I just know that tomorrow, a lot of people are going to be watching. It's going to be a good match, hopefully.”

The home fans have indeed been turning out in force to support the French players this week – and Tuesday’s match between Cuenin and Kuzuhara, which is scheduled third on Court 7, a small but atmospheric arena, should be no different.

Kuzuhara was confident, however, that he would have no problems with the majority of the crowd rooting for his opponent.

“I played Arthur Fils, another French guy, on Court 14 last year, which is a big court,” he explained. “It was pretty full. Of course they were cheering for him but they were respectful, which was nice.”

The Frenchman may have the crowd support, but Kuzuhara has the status as a junior Grand Slam champion that Cuenin so desperately desires. And having already won a major title this year, Kuzuhara was relaxed about the remainder of the season.

“One of my big goals for this year was to win a Grand Slam, so it helped me just relieve the pressure a bit,” he said when asked about his success in Melbourne this year. “I know that I have the level to win a Grand Slam. But obviously, I'm always coming to every tournament wanting to win.”

While perhaps a shame that two such accomplished players are meeting so early in the event, the spectators on Court 7 on Tuesday are unlikely to be disappointed with the spectacle that the duo put on.

Elsewhere on the second day of the junior tournament, the fourth and fifth seeds in the boys’ singles, Croatia’s Mili Poljicak and USA’s Nishesh Basavareddy suffered upset defeats. Basavareddy fell to Switzerland’s Mika Brunold in a first round match, while Poljicak lost to American Michael Zheng in a second round clash.

In the girls’ singles event, top seed Petra Marcinko advanced to the third round after a victory against Angella Okutoyi, but fourth-seeded Brenda Fruhvirtova exited the tournament after a first-round defeat to Argentina’s Solana Sierra.

The remaining second round matches will be completed on Tuesday.