The first-round will draw to a close on day three at the French Open with 20 matches on the slate. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on day three, including Daniil Medvedev vs Thiago Seyboth Wild, Gael Monfils vs Sebastian Baez, Holger Rune vs Christopher Eubanks and Taylor Fritz vs Michael Mmoh. But who will reach the second round?
French Open Day 3 Predictions
Alexander Zverev vs Lloyd Harris
Jim: Alexander Zverev is not yet back to his best coming up to a year on from his horror injury at the 2022 edition of Roland Garros. Lloyd Harris could cause him some problems with his power. But the South African has had injury troubles of his own and isn’t particularly well-suited to the clay.
Prediction: Zverev in 4
Damian: Harris has been so unlucky with his draws recently, playing well but losing first round. That was on hard courts in South Korea though and now he’s in a way more pleasant environment. Zverev isn’t at his best yet and you could imagine him losing to Harris, but just not on clay.
Prediction: Zverev in 3
Jack: Zverev should be a fair level above Harris in these conditions. The South African will struggle to keep up from the baseline and will rarely get a chance to break the Zverev serve. The German has been given a relatively comfortable route to the second round.
Prediction: Zverev in 3
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Emil Ruusuvuori vs Gregoire Barrere
Jim: Emil Ruusuvuori has been steadily improving on the clay and this is a relatively kind first-round draw. Gregoire Barrere will doubtless receive the fulsome backing of the French crowd, but the gulf in quality looks to large for him to bridge.
Prediction: Ruusuvuori in 3
Damian: This clay season has been quietly quite good for Ruusuvuori, who just landed some awful draws in Madrid and Rome (Carlos Alcaraz then Daniil Medvedev in the second round). Neither player is great on the dirt, but the Finn holds up better on it against top opposition. Barrere will need to get inspired by the crowd to win.
Prediction: Ruusuvuori in 4
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Jack: It’s tough to say why Ruusuvuori’s clay-court season hasn’t been more fruitful. He’s got the weapons on return to really dominate on this surface—he just hasn’t tightened the screws in the bigger points against great opponents. Barrere has shown plenty of promise lately so will keep things close but Ruusuvuori should have the arsenal required to get through.
Prediction: Ruusuvuori in 4
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Alexander Bublik vs Giulio Zeppieri
Jim: Bublik is a good enough player to win this match if he really wants to – but does he really want to? Even he probably won’t know the answer to that question until he steps on to court, but anything less than his full application probably won’t be enough on this surface against Guilio Zeppieiri.
Prediction: Zeppieri in 5
Damian: How do you go about predicting Bublik matches? One week he’s playing so well clay in Rome and the other he wins four games against Harold Mayot or Marcos Giron. For what it’s worth, even with all the improvements Zeppieri made recently, this is still a match that will depend on Bublik’s level and focus more than on the Italian’s.
Prediction: Bublik in 5
Jack: Make no mistake about it—Bublik still hates clay. Even with some decent results this clay swing, Bublik statistically struggles when his serve isn’t winning him a ton of free points. Zeppieri is a 22-year-old up-and-comer with the power to take this match by the scruff of the neck.
Prediction: Zeppieri in 4
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Casper Ruud vs Elias Ymer
Jim: It’s been a tough year for Casper Ruud after a banner 2022. But the Norwegian has shown some promising signs of late and will surely have fond memories of his memorable run at Roland Garros last season (up until the final anyway). He should have the beating of Elias Ymer.
Prediction: Ruud in 3
Damian: Ymer played a phenomenal match to take out Hanfmann in the final qualifying round and he will need nothing short of that here again. The chances are slim and maintaining that sort of level and tactical clarity over at least three sets has never been one of the things he’s known for.
Prediction: Ruud in 3
Jack: Ruud’s had his problems this year but he’s still got weapons that stand him well in front of Ymer on a clay court. Over best of five sets, he should have more than enough time to settle into the match. Look out for a potential Ruud upset further down the line.
Prediction: Ruud in 4
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
