We lost three seeded players from the bottom half in the opening round (Lehecka, Fritz and Etcheverry) with Ruud surviving a five setter and Djokovic coming from a set down to win in four. Rafael Jodar was without question the most impressive performer and is the one player to keep an eye on!
For the 9th time in his last 10 major appearances Tomas Machac has made it through to the 2nd Round. His reward, if you want to call it that, is a battle against the no.2 seed. Zverev cruised past Bonzi but will get more resistance this time around from the Czech. They have met once here before but it was a best of three set match in the 2024 Olympics. Zverev won 6-3 7-5 but Machac did break serve twice in that match. If he can average one break per set again, he will be winning at least one set. His recent performances suggest he is a genuine threat. He took a set off Jodar and Sinner to go with victories over accomplished clay courters including Cerundolo, Baez and Tsitsipas.
Best Bet: Over 34.5 games ($1.83)
He has defied age for longer than expected but the signs are not good for Djokovic. Not only did he lose to Pirzmic in Rome but dropping serve multiple times against Mpetshi-Perricard is concerning. Royer doesn’t exactly have many runs on the board but this is the Frenchman’s best surface with all 7 of the Challenger Tour finals he has contest being on clay. No is no replacement for time on court and Djokovic simply has not played enough matches this year. His experience will likely be enough but we will be backing Royer to win a set.
Best Bet: Royer To Win A Set – YES ($2.10)
Jodar to cover the handicap is THE BEST BET of the day. The Spaniard dropped a total of five games in his win over Kovacevic in a contest where he won 73% of 2nd serve points and broke serve at will. Duckworth progressed courtesy of a Diallo retirement and the Canadian probably should not have taken the court as he had sustained a finger injury leading into the event. The Aussie has registered just 1 win in 8 prior appearances at the French Open and will not be adding to that tally.
Best Bet: Jodar -8.5 ($1.80)
With a combined age of only 39 years this will be the first of many meetings between them on the main tour. They are also no strangers to success with Prizmic winning the Boy’s Singles here in 2023 while Fonseca claimed the US Open juniors in the same year. Both managed to win their respective opening round matches in straight sets but this will be a battle royale! There has been at least one breaker in each of Fonseca’s last three matches on clay and we know that Prizmic knows his way around a clay court having beaten Djokovic in Rome a fortnight ago. The outcome of this one will depend on which player wins the big moments. Four to five long sets.
Best Bet: Over 37.5 games ($1.73)
De Minaur v Blockx: De Minaur WIN ($1.67)
Navone v Mensik: Over 37.5 games ($1.87)
Borges v Kecmanovic: Borges win ($2.45)
Ugo Carabelli v Rublev: Rublev WIN
Ruud v Medjedovic: Ruud WIN ($1.42)
Sonego v Paul: Sonego To Win A Set – YES
Fonseca v Prizmic: Over 37.5 games ($1.73)
Royer v Djokovic: Royer To Win A Set – YES ($2.10)
Basavareddy v Michelsen: Michelsen -4.5 ($1.92)
Duckworth v Jodar: Jodar -8.5 ($1.80)
Davidovich Fokina v Tirante: Davidovich Fokina WIN ($1.98)
Kokkinakis v Carreno-Busta: Carreno-Busta WIN
Khachanov v Trungelliti: Over 36.5 games ($1.87)
Cina v De Jong: Cina WIN ($2.20)
Humbert v Halys: Humbert WIN ($1.68)
Machac v Zverev: Over 34.5 games ($1.83