It’s not easy to be one of the girls to beat in the Roland Garros junior tournament. Australian Open champion Alina Korneeva had confirmation of that on Sunday when she played one of the thrillers of the day against German Ella Seidel.

Korneeva saved a match point in the second set at 4-5 before clawing her way back into the match to win 3-6 7-6(4) 7-5. 

Court 3 had all the shots and rallies through that battle and Korneeva was of course all smiles when time came to assess her performance.

“Such a tough battle for a first match, but that’s still a good start!," she said while making sure to find some shade after three sets under the blazing sun. Korneeva is not shying away from the fact that being the Melbourne champion adds a bit of pressure on her young shoulders, but at the same time it’s what might have saved her against Seidel.

“It’s a little bit different because I’m more nervous as I already won once and I want to win more. I want to win this title. When she had a match point today, I thought ‘Oh my god, I won that Grand Slam so I can’t lose in the first round!’.

"There were a lot of things in my head and maybe it helped me.”

Not yet a clay specialist, she laughs when asked whether she loves the surface. Korneeva believes in the power of getting through it, no matter what it takes.

“I know I need to play on clay but it’s more difficult for me as my game does better on hard courts," she admitted. "But I get better on clay after each match so I hope that in the future I will love clay.”

Her hopes for the future also include jumping comfortably into the professional world, and she still counts on the Roland-Garros junior event to polish her game enough for that.

“I’m going to play only the Grand Slams in the juniors this year, and next year I will start the Grand Slams already," she said confidently. "Playing the juniors again is important to prepare for next year as then I will know for example everything about Roland Garros because I played it this year. I feel I’m ready to move on.”

It’s Korneeva’s first time in Paris and she says she will sneak some time away from the court to see the Eiffel Tower. But despite being a Paris rookie, she already has fond memories of Roland-Garros.

“As a kid, I watched Rafael Nadal every time, he’s my god! I also watched Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams.”

For No. 2 seed Clervie Ngounoue, who had a very strong start against French player Lucie Pawlak, winning 6-3, 6-1, it also feels special to play at the same place as those famous names.

“I was always watching Serena, Venus, Federer, and Nadal play here. It’s a different feeling to just be here in the same halls that they’ve walked," she said. "Even if I was at home right now, I’d be watching it: it’s all learning and it’s how you improve.”

Ngounoue is already a big name in the junior world, winning the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors by Gainbridge Finals in Antalya, Türkiye, at 16 with the US team. She has no doubt about the place that playing Junior Grand Slams has in the future of her career.

“For sure, I think the Junior Grand Slams have helped me to develop my game. Not only is it a good experience but also an important one, and also recognition starts around this time and it’s important to all of us.”

She also takes valuable lessons from the junior tour when it comes to approaching any kind of match.

“I take every match seriously," she said. "Everybody is a fair contestant, everybody is worthy to win. It’s just about getting very disciplined. Overall, believing that you can be there as well is important. Where the pros are right now, they were doing what we’re doing now.

"We’re following in their footsteps and we have to use that to build.”

As far as pressure is concerned, she is aware of only one: the one she has control of.

“Billie Jean King said it first, ‘Pressure is a privilege’. There’s pressure around that can be added but it's what you put on yourself that really matters. I’m just really grateful to be here.”

Top seed Sara Saito is also very happy to be here and it showed on Sunday when she beat French player Daphnée Mpetshi Perricard 6-0 6-3. Being at Roland-Garros, she can’t help but dream of the opportunities she might have later in her career.

“I want to play on the centre court of Roland-Garros in the future! I want to be a player who will be cheered on and supported by the crowds," she said. 

Saito was half-satisfied only with her first match here though.

“I’m the first seed here so it’s a little bit of pressure but I’m just focusing on my game, on the efficiency of my strokes. The first set was very good today but in the second set I got a little bit nervous because I was doing too many mistakes.”

That rather goes against how she wants to play and the style of her favorite players: “Novak Djokovic because he’s making no mistakes. And Iga Swiatek.”

The footprint is set.