French Open 2025 | Men’s Day 1 Tips & Preview

Musetti has compiled a 13-3 record during the three Masters Series events on clay this season. Made the final in Mone Carlo and followed that up with semi final appearances in Madrid and Rome. He is one of our value bets to win the tournament but this could turn out to be a tricky opening round match. The pair have met three times on tour will all three battles being played on clay. Hanfmann got the better of Musetti at the Madrid Masters two years ago and holds a 2-1 edge in this series. Musetti’s form is superior but based on the history, we will be taking Hanfmann to win a set.

Making the final of the US Clay Court Championships is fool’s gold. The courts in Houston to not play like traditional clay courts and we will not be giving Tiafoe any credit for that result here. He has lost 3 of his last 4 matches on the red dirt and his record in Paris is atrocious. The American has never made it beyond the 3rd Round, has a 4-9 career record, and has lost in the 1st Round five times! If there is a positive for Tiafoe it is that Safiullin also struggles on this surface and has lost his last three leading into this. Can see one player getting on top and dominating so like a play on the Unders.

The French crowd will be getting right behind Mpetshi Perricard but there are multiple concerns for the youngster. He is 0-2 at the French Open and has lost in the opening round in 4 of the 5 Grand Slams that he has appeared in. Bergs made the 3rd Round here 12 months ago and a recent win over Bublik shows that he can handle big servers. Really like the Belgian here and will continue to back against Mpethi-Perricard on this surface for the foreseeable future.

This is the fourth meeting between them and the prior three have all come in big tournaments. The American won a tight three set contest at the Cincinnati Masters (2022) and also go the better of Sonego at the Australian Open earlier this year. That said, the match of interest was their battle in the opening round of this tournament two years ago. On that occasion, Sonego won in four sets and most notably was able to break the Shelton serve 7 times. Shelton made the final in Munich on clay last month but is coming off consecutive straight sets losses to Mensik and Munar. Sonego has lost 5 of his last 6 matches on tour but has made the 4th round here on multiple occasions and is the more accomplished player on this surface.