Former champion Stan Wawrinka rolled past Andy Murray in round 1 and now faces Dominik Koepfer for a spot in the French Open third round. Our panel of Damian Kust and Andrew Watson offer their predictions.
Stan Wawrinka vs Dominik Koepfer
Damian: Stan’s power game was there against Murray and many expect him to thrive in these tough Paris conditions. The German has been doing extremely well recently but I’m not convinced he has the tools to disrupt the Swiss’ huge hitting. Wawrinka in 4
Andrew: This won’t be an easy task for the 2015 Roland Garros champion. Wawrinka was simply far too good for the current version of Andy Murray in the first round but the German is having a good moment and will put up better resistance than Murray. Wawrinka to progress but will have to show more to do so. Wawrinka in 4
Juan Ignacio Londero vs Marco Cecchinato
Damian: Cecchinato played great in the qualifying event and he’s keeping that up here. Londero might also be tired after that marathon win against Delbonis. Cecchinato in 3
Andrew: The battle of the Argentines in round one is going to have taken a lot out of the legs of Londero. His 14-12 5th set victory over Federico Delbonis was much needed, as he was on a long losing streak so maybe the confidence will return to the Argentine. However, Cecchinato won a first round match in a slam for only the 2nd time, and the last time he did that he reached the semi-finals here in 2018. He carries favouritism for me here because of his excellent run through to this point having not dropped a set in Paris through qualifying and the first round against Alex De Minaur. Cecchinato in 4
Alexander Bublik vs Lorenzo Sonego
Damian: It’s good to see Bublik suddenly pick up his game on the clay. You never quite know what to expect from the Kazakh but when he’s on, his mix of power and variety might be hard to endure. Bublik in 4
Andrew: The Kazakh produced another mesmeric display to dispatch Gael Monfils in the opening round. The Italian is a good clay court player with plenty of experience but a 5-set match against Emilio Gomez alongside poor recent form probably won’t be enough to stack up to Bublik when he is confident. Bublik in 3
Benjamin Bonzi vs Jannik Sinner
Damian: The young Italian impressed with a very mature and composed performance to stun David Goffin. Bonzi did well to get through the qualifying but this should be the end of the road. Sinner in 3
Andrew: To be ranked outside the top 200 in the world and then play so well against a top prospect in Emil Ruusuvuori will give Benjamin Bonzi a world of confidence. Unfortunately for the Frenchman he is coming up against another in Jannik Sinner. Sinner took David Goffin to the cleaners in the first round and he will be in no mood to end his run here. The Italian also has recent wins against Tsitsipas & Benoit Paire so his form is on another level to Bonzi’s. Sinner in 3
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