Paris Olympics Men’s Day 1 Predictions Including Carlos Alcaraz vs Hedy Habib

The tennis tournaments at the Paris Olympics start with 15 men’s singles matches on Saturday. 64 men will begin their quest for Gold, and we’ll rapidly get to the winner in a bit over a week. As always, we here at LastWordOnTennis will predict all of the matches for you. We split the 15 matches into four articles. The other articles feature Novak Djokovic vs Matthew Ebden, Carlos Alcaraz vs Hedy Habib, and Daniil Medvedev vs Rinky Hijikata. Predicting these matches are Damian Kust, Shane Black, and Yesh Ginsburg. Who do you think will move on to Round 2?

As a special for the Olympics, we will also be predicting all of the other Day 1 matches, including doubles. We will link to our other Olympic predictions at the bottom of the article. Enjoy!

Paris Olympics Men’s Day 1 Predictions

Tallon Griekspoor (Netherlands) vs Cameron Norrie (Great Britain)

Damian:
Two players out of form and kind of desperate for the win. Griekspoor was so close to beating Zverev at this venue two months ago, but couldn’t deliver from 4-1 up in the deciding set. He should be able to bring a bit more fire to the court here and will probably end up creating play in most of the rallies.
Prediction: Griekspoor in 3

Shane:
Norrie has struggled this season, and his lack of weapons has hindered his ability to compete against the world’s top players. Griekspoor is not the best clay-court player, so this match should be interesting. Give me Norrie grinding out a win in a decider.
Prediction: Norrie in 3

Yesh:
Griekspoor is playing really solid tennis right now. He was more solid a few months ago, but he’s still strong. Norrie is also better now than a few months ago, but he hasn’t quite fully risen back from a terrible slump yet.
Prediction: Griekspoor in 3

Christoper Eubanks (United States) vs Benjamin Hassan (Lebanon)

Damian:
Both players wouldn’t be able to beat 95% of the draw and they’re pretty lucky to run into each other. Eubanks is back outside the Top 100 and is only decent on clay in patches. Hassan’s game on the dirt is pretty neat, but he’s a mercurial competitor instead. Might not be the highest-quality match out there and it’s tough to pick a winner.
Prediction: Hassan in 3

Shane:
Eubanks has had a rough season after a career-best in 2023. He reached the Newport semis earlier this month, but his serve does not carry the same weight on the clay. Hassan plays a lot of Challenger events on the clay and should have the advantage in this match.
Prediction: Hassan in 3

Yesh:
Hassan got into the event as a selection to increase Lebanon’s representation at the Games, and he’s picked up the perfect draw. Against a slumping Eubanks on clay? That’s winnable for any Top 200 player.
Prediction: Hassan in 2

Embed from Getty Images

Tomas Machac (Czech Republic) vs Zhizhen Zhang (China)

Damian:
Fun match with these two getting some big doubles scalps this year. Their Challenger final in Kozerki two years ago featured some excellent micro-adjustments from Machac after getting blown out in the opener. Zhang is in better form and has polished up the tactical side of his game a little bit. He might be the slight favorite.
Prediction: Zhang in 3

Shane:
Machac continues to impress every time he steps on a tennis court. The 23-year-old is 8-4 on the clay this year. Zhang strikes a clean ball, but I do not see him bringing the rally tolerance against the Czech.
Prediction: Machac in 2

Yesh:
This should be a fun battle. Zhang was rapidly rising but seems to have stalled around the edge of the Top 20. That’s better than Machac, though clay evens things up a bit.
Prediction: Zhang in 3

Embed from Getty Images

Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) vs Hady Habib (Lebanon)

Damian:
Habib is into the Top 300 but hasn’t done all that much even at the Challenger level (outside of a couple of 50s in South America); this is just a completely different quality than what he’s usually facing on tour. Alcaraz shouldn’t be in trouble here and will probably make relatively light work of the Lebanese.
Prediction: Alcaraz in 2

Shane:
Alcaraz is coming off back-to-back Slam titles. Is he fatigued? Potentially, but that will not matter in this match.
Prediction: Alcaraz in 2

Yesh:
What an opportunity for Hady Habib, receiving an Olympics invitation even though he’s outside the Top 250 in the world. Unfortunately, the draw was not kind to him.
Prediction: Alcaraz in 2