Round 2 kicks off in Paris at French Open 2019 with fan favorites Kei Nishikori and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga facing off. The struggling Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic will also play for a spot in the third round. Yesh Ginsburg and Harsh Bhoot offer their predictions for these matches, and we also have predictions for matches featuring Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
French Open Day 4 Men’s Predictions Including Kei Nishikori vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Marin Cilic vs Grigor Dimitrov
Harsh: A matchup between two extremely talented players neither for whom clay is the best surface. Dimitrov looked jittery in his first round blowing a two sets to love lead to win in five sets whereas Cilic looked solid in his first outing. This is their first meeting on clay and will be a must watch second round encounter. Expect Dimitrov to come good for one set and that’s all he’s going to get. Cilic in 4
Yesh: Dimitrov almost threw away his first round match, but he got through. Getting through Marin Cilic will be another challenge, though, and one that is currently too much for the Bulgarian. Cilic in 4
Nicolas Mahut vs Philipp Kohlschreiber
Harsh: Another great second round match with very little to choose among the two. Mahut on the back a roaring Parisian crowd came back from two sets down to defeat Cecchinato and would be counting on the home support again. Expect this to go the distance with the German just performing better on the crucial points. Kohlschreiber in 5
Yesh: Mahut’s Round 1 win was amazing and emotional. His reward is a battle against a player with a very similar style. Expect this match to be on a razor’s edge, likely with several tiebreaks. I think that Mahut may have another story to add to this fairy tale run. Mahut in 5
Kei Nishikori vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Harsh: As far as second round clashes go, this definitely qualifies as must watch. Tsonga looked scrappy at times in his first encounter while the Japanese looked strong and confident winning in straight sets. Tsonga beat Kei in their only meeting ar Roland Garros, don’t expect him to repeat it. Nishikori in 4
Yesh: This should be another great match. Nishikori started strong in his opening match, but struggled against Quentin Halys in the third set. If he can’t bring his level back to how he started, he won’t survive this match against Tsonga. Tsonga in 5
Juan Ignacio Londero vs Richard Gasquet
Harsh: The Argentine, Londero notched up a confidence infusing win by knocking out Basilashvili the fifteenth seed in straight sets. However he will quickly find the French crowd and the craft of Richard Gasquet tough to crack and defeat. Gasquet in 3
Yesh: Gasquet was solid in his first match, while Londero pulled off an impressive upset. People think that it showed something off for Basilashvili, but Londero is very underrated. I think he continues with a breakthrough Slam here. Londero in 4
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