After a pretty upset-heavy opening two rounds at the French Open in Paris this year, the big favorites for the title remain. Two of them will play on Friday with Rafael Nadal taking on Stefano Travaglia. We also have predictions for the rest of the matches on day six, including Dominic Thiem vs the in-form Casper Ruud. Offering their predictions today are Andrew Watson, Jim Smith and Damian Kust.
French Open Day 6 Predictions
Stan Wawrinka vs Hugo Gaston
Andrew: Going to keep this one short and sweet. The Swiss will win because he looks fit enough and therefore is a much better player than Gaston.
Prediction: Wawrinka in 3
Jim: It is a great shame for Gaston that there have been no real crowds to cheer his run into the third round. Indeed, the 20-year-old has been a rare bright spot in what has been a largely disappointing tournament for French tennis. But do not expect him to keep the tricolour flying into the second week. The conditions in Paris are almost perfect for Wawrinka and whilst the title will still almost certainly be beyond the Swiss, beating Gaston will not be.
Prediction: Wawrinka in 3
Damian: The Swiss appears to be in his Stanimal mode again. That’s pretty much all I have to say here, because when Wawrinka turns it on, there aren’t many players that can take him on. Hugo Gaston is not that tough to outpower and the conditions seem to suit Wawrinka very well.
Prediction: Wawrinka in 3
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Taylor Fritz vs Lorenzo Sonego
Andrew: Both of these players made me look rather silly with my predictions in the last round. So I really don’t know what to make of this one. Both men have identical records coming into this match, as well as poor form pre-tournament. The piece of form I will rely on here is the 2-0 H2H record that Fritz carries into the match and so the young American gets the vote.
Prediction: Fritz in 5
Jim: Sonego has much work to do on his consistency, but when the Italian is playing well, as he has been so far in Paris, he can be a hard man to beat. But the same could be said of Fritz. And the American, although he does not have as much clay-court pedigree as his opponent, may well have the edge here thanks to his superior weight of shot off the ground. But it seems likely to be a close contest.
Prediction: Fritz in 5
Damian: Both struggled mightily in their first rounds before upping it for the next match. Fritz really upped his game on the clay in the past two years or so, up to a point where he might be the best American on this surface. He was clinical on break points against Albot and if his serve is firing again, he should pull this off.
Prediction: Fritz in 4
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Jannik Sinner vs Federico Coria
Andrew: Looking forward to this one. The Argentine is (obviously) very comfortable on the clay but the young Italian has hit the ground running in this tournament and has perhaps surprised a few with his level. With that level of form, I have to lean towards Sinner to edge this one.
Prediction: Sinner in 4
Jim: Sinner’s breakout run at a Major is perhaps slightly overdue, despite his tender years. But it looks to have arrived at the French Open, with the young Italian having played superbly to beat David Goffin and Benjamin Bonzi in comprehensive fashion. As well as Coria has played, and make no mistake he has played very well, it seems certain that it will take a better player than him to stop Sinner this fortnight.
Prediction: Sinner in 3
Damian: Coria is a classic clay-court specialist and he took advantage of a very good draw to make it to the third round here. But he shouldn’t be able to do much against Sinner. The Italian’s performances to beat David Goffin and Benjamin Bonzi were top-class and showed a maturity that wasn’t really there before. His potential is sky-high and he should show it here again.
Prediction: Sinner in 3
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Rafael Nadal vs Stefano Travaglia
Andrew: The Italian should win this in 3. Haha, no, with the way that Nadal accelerated in his second-round match I don’t think that anyone in their right mind could predict that Stefano Travaglia will take down the King of Clay. I like the Italian, but he is surely up against it.
Prediction: Nadal in 3
Jim: Stefano Travaglia heading into this match is akin to a lamb going to the slaughter. Nadal has clearly come to Paris smarting from his surprise loss at the Italian Open to Diego Schwartzman and determined to stamp his authority on the French Open. Whilst he still has a difficult draw to navigate, Travaglia seems unlikely to prove much of an obstacle to his ambitions.
Prediction: Nadal in 3
Damian: I don’t want to end up saying the same thing for the umpteenth time, but Travaglia does not have the set of weapons required to take out Nadal on the clay, especially at the French Open. Oops, I did it again.
Prediction: Nadal in 3
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