After a rocket of a Sunday start that saw Stefanos Tsitsipas thoroughly tested while Hubert Hurkacz and Karen Khachanov had to go five sets in their openers, Day 2 at the French Open will see top contenders Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz begin their campaigns. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match. Will we see a first-round upset?
French Open Day 2 Predictions
Christopher O’Connell vs Taro Daniel
Jack Edward: Both players are in pretty decent form but one look at Christopher O’Connell’s recent scalps on this surface give us an idea of just how heavy that one-hander can be. The Australian’s taken out Zapata Miralles, Krajinovic, Zverev and Humbert—he’ll be looking to add Daniel to that list imminently.
Prediction: O’Connell in 4
Nurein Ahmed: This should be interesting. O’Connell has played some breathtaking tennis on clay coming to Roland Garros. While Daniel will remain feisty as ever from the baseline, it is hard to dispute the formbook.
Prediction: O’Connell in 4
Damian Kust: Form-wise O’Connell definitely has the advantage, but will that present itself on the court? Geneva isn’t the perfect warm-up for Roland Garros after all. Should be a tight one with maybe just the slightest advantage for the Australian.
Prediction: O’Connell in 5
Embed from Getty Images
Botic van de Zandschulp vs Thiago Agustin Tirante
Jack: Tennis can be brutal. Botic Van De Zandschulp was unable to convert any of his four championship points in Munich and since then he’s lost five sets on the bounce. There might be some hangover lingering from that day going into his first round against a confident qualifier in Thiago Agustin Tirante. Van De Zandschulp’s base level should get him through but the win won’t come without its hitches.
Prediction: van de Zandschulp in 5
Nurein: Tirante notched an odds-defying win in the final round of qualifying which is cause enough for celebration as he is set to mark his main draw debut. Van de Zandschulp, however, is more accustomed to this stage, so he’ll have experience on his side.
Prediction: van de Zandschulp in 4
Damian: Tirante was surprisingly solid in qualifying with his backhand not leaking errors at all. On a hot and sunny day when the courts play faster, he could actually trouble van de Zandschulp here. But the points he won’t clean up quickly with his serve and forehand will likely not be going all that well for him.
Prediction: van de Zandschulp in 4
[cta id=445 type=cta]
Daniel Altmaier vs Marc-Andreas Huesler
Jack: The conditions at the French Open don’t come close to suiting the one-two punch of Marc-Andrea Huesler’s mercurial game style. He has enough talent to take a set but Daniel Altmaier will likely drive Huesler nuts in the long run with his high-margin weighty shots.
Prediction: Altmaier in 4
Nurein: Huesler’s season is in complete disarray. He’s won three of his last 10 matches. Hardly the sort of stat which would strike fear into Altmaeier. The German famously made the round of 16 here a few seasons ago and should be heavily favored to get past the wildly inconsistent Swiss.
Prediction: Altmaier in 4
Damian: Huesler’s results haven’t been great, but the last few matches he played were really competitive. He’s not doing as poorly as the streak of losses would suggest. On the slow clay in Paris you still gotta take Altmaier (especially coming off his Madrid and Rome showings), but the Swiss is such a threat when he has a good day at the office.
Prediction: Altmaier in 5
Embed from Getty Images
Novak Djokovic vs Aleksandar Kovacevic
Jack: There are question marks over Novak Djokovic’s form. This is one of the only times in his career he’s gone into Roland Garros without at least one noteworthy clay court tournament run during the season. Nonetheless, I trust the world #3 to use his experience to avoid his first round of 128 upset since 2006 and build up to full throttle against a lesser experienced player in Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Prediction: Djokovic in 3
Nurein: Djokovic is the most experienced player in the 128-man field in Paris. At 36, he’s still a sizable favorite and Nadal’s absence means that’s one less challenger out of the equation. Expecting him to cruise his opener.
Prediction: Djokovic in 3
Damian: Kovacevic is yet to win a match on red clay, whether it was Challenger qualifying in Italy, high altitude in Colombia, or the four that he lost this year. Even with Djokovic’s form under a slight question mark, this is extremely unlikely to be competitive. The Serbian should be pretty comfortable here.
Prediction: Djokovic in 3
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
