Roland Garros, it’s off to the third round in Paris: it’s the turn of the tennis players drawn at the bottom of the draw. Predictions.
Neither American Eubanks nor French veteran Gasquet have been able to trouble world number two Jannik Sinner, on velvet in the first two rounds of Roland Garros 2024. The Italian seems to have put behind him the difficult times of the past two months, in which he had to deal with a nagging hip problem that did not allow him to participate in the Internazionali d’Italia.
The clay may not be his favorite surface but the level tends to soar even on the crushed brick and in the French capital he has everything to go all the way. In the third round he will face Russian Pavel Kotov, whom he faced last April in Madrid. This is a player undoubtedly within Sinner’s reach but nevertheless steadily growing, who on red is having a decent season and the improvements were evident in the first two rounds against two more experienced players like Norrie and Wawrinka, beaten in five and four sets respectively. In the Spanish capital a month ago, although he lost in two sets (6-2 7-5), he managed to create some problems for Sinner with his powerful forehand, even though the Italian was struggling with hip pain. The South Tyrolean should settle the match in three sets but it’s not certain that everything will go smoothly.
The other Italian to survive to the second round is Matteo Arnaldi. The Ligurian, number 35 in the world, “gifted” himself an intriguing challenge with the number 6 ranked Andrey Rublev after taking out two Frenchmen, Fils and Muller. Arnaldi has never gotten the better of a top 20 on clay, however, he could prove to be a tough nut to crack for the Russian, in any case favored to pass the round.
Hurkacz, watch out for the talented Shapovalov
A compelling match between Hubert Hurkacz and Denis Shapovalov is looming. The Pole is playing as well on this surface as he has perhaps ever played before, but he will have to pay close attention to the talented Canadian, fresh off an exciting marathon against American Tiafoe, which ended after four sets.
Today’s less “emblazoned” match is between France’s Corentin Moutet and Austria’s Sebastian Ofner. For both is a great chance to reach the fourth round in a Slam. The Frenchman starts favored against a player who was on the court for more than five hours in the second round, coming out on top in the last set tie break over Argentina’s Baez.
American Ben Shelton is showing that he can also do well on slower surfaces and, despite having less experience, can surprise Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in a match that could easily end in the fifth set. Strong favorites, finally, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Carlos Alcaraz: however, China’s Zhang and America’s Korda will sell their skins dearly.
Roland Garros: possible winners
Rublev in Rublev-Arnaldi.
Hurkacz in Hurkacz-Shapovalov
Moutet in Moutet-Ofner
Shelton in Shelton-Auger Aliassime
Roland Garros, predictions on the games
Rublev-Arnaldi (over 36.5).
Kotov-Sinner (over 28.5)
Shelton-Auger Aliassime (over 40.5)
Zhang-Tsitsipas (over 33.5)
Korda-Alcaraz (over 32.5)