The tennis tournaments at the Paris Olympics continue with 17 men’s singles matches on Sunday. The quest for Gold features some of the top players in the sport. As always, we here at LastWordOnTennis will predict all matches for you. We split the 17 matches into four articles. The other articles feature Casper Ruud vs Taro Daniel, Lorenzo Musetti vs Gael Monfils and Alexander Zverev vs Jaume Munar . Predicting these matches are Yesh Ginsburg, Ateet Shrivastava, and Damian Kust. Who do you think will move on to Round 2?
We will link to our other Olympic predictions, including doubles, at the bottom of the article. Enjoy!
Paris Olympics Men’s Day 2 Predictions
Milos Raonic (Canada) vs Dominik Koepfer (Germany)
Yesh
The Raonic serve isn’t what it once was, and it’s hard to know how healthy he is. Plus he’s never loved the clay. That’s a bad combination.
Prediction: Koepfer in 2
Ateet
Milos Raonic hasn’t played a clay court match since 2020, and the only reason he’s here is because it’s his final Olympic appearance. He looked good in his previous matches on grass and his serve will be a weapon on clay as well. Even if Dominik Koepfer isn’t playing well right now, he has more match practice on clay and sould succeed.
Prediction: Koepfer in 3
Damian
Raonic’s health is a mystery as usual, but on clay this is going to be a very tricky match for him. Koepfer can neutralize powerful players and is such a tricky opponent to face. Any extended rally should be going in favor of the German, regardless of Raonic showing up healthy or injured.
Prediction: Koepfer in 2
Arthur Fils (France) vs Matteo Arnaldi (Italy)
Yesh
This is a great matchup for the opening round. These two could have easily met later in the tournament with a different draw. Fils is better, but Arnaldi has the matchup advantages.
Prediction: Arnadli in 2
Ateet
This has the potential to be one of the matches of the day as these two talented young players will want to make their mark at the Olympics. Matteo Arnaldi has had the upper hand in this rivalry but Fils has grown as a player since their last meeting at the French Open. The Frenchman won his biggest title in Hamburg and would be determined to get a win over the Italian. Fils, with the support of the home fans, has the edge.
Prediction: Fils in 3
Damian
Arnaldi is dominating this head-to-head, including the opening round at Roland Garros this year. Every time he plays Fils, he just brings so much clarity to the court and knows exactly what to do to extract the errors. But after the Frenchman picked up the ATP 500 title in Hamburg recently, maybe this is his moment to start turning this rivalry around.
Prediction: Fils in 3
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (Argentina) vs Thiago Seyboth Wild (Brazil)
Yesh
Both of these men have high ceilings on clay, so this could be a really good match. These two have met twice on clay this season, and Etcheverry won both in straight sets. He seems to have the measure of this matchup, though he is not so superior that he can take it for granted.
Prediction: Etcheverry in 2
Ateet
This promises to be a good match with two exciting players. Seyboth Wild is extremely talented and shows the glimpses from time to time but the consistency is missing. Etcheverry plays his best tennis on clay and rarely has an off day on this surface. Etcheverry won both the meetings when these two met on clay this year and should be the favourite for this one as well. However, this encounter could be much closer.
Prediction: Etcheverry in 3
Damian
Etcheverry pulled out of Kitzbuhel with a low back issue, let’s see how serious it is. The only loss he’s had to Seyboth Wild in five meetings came on green clay in the United States though. Seems like as long as he shows up healthy, he’s got the game to be a slight favorite here as he won’t be scared of Seyboth Wild’s all-out aggression.
Prediction: Etcheverry in 3
Rafael Nadal (Spain) vs Marton Fucsovics (Hungary)
Yesh
How healthy is Nadal? Almost certainly healthy enough to handle Fucsovics. Djokovic in Round 2 will be another issue, though.
Prediction: Nadal in 2
Ateet
Rafael Nadal is playing in his final Olympics and everyone will be watching him. Nadal has been practising on clay for a long time and got some good reps in Bastad. He has a tough first-round opponent in Marton Fucsovics, who is in horrible form but is capable of playing at a high level. Nadal had some problems with his hamstring during practice so his fitness will be in question. If Nadal is fit he should win it. Fucsovics’ power will trouble Nadal but if he is fit, he should win.
Prediction: Nadal in 3
Damian
Some considered Nadal a medal contender, but his stock went down significantly after the draw. But not because of the opening round with Fucsovics being at a pretty average difficulty level. The Spaniard should probably take this match and might play a bit better as this is literally his venue.
Prediction: Nadal in 2
Other Olympic Predictions:
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- Men’s day two singles including Casper Ruud vs Taro Daniel
- Men’s day two singles including Lorenzo Musetti vs Gael Monfils
- Men’s day two singles including Alexander Zverev vs Jaume Munar
- Women’s day two singles including Barbora Krejcikova vs Sara Sorribes Tormo
- Women’s day two singles including Caroline Wozniacki vs Mayar Sherif
- Women’s day two singles including Jessica Pegula vs Viktoriya Golubic
- Women’s day two singles including Coco Gauff vs Ajla Tomljanovic
- Men’s day two doubles including Fritz and Paul vs Auger-Aliassime and Raonic
- Men’s day two doubles including Tsitsipas and Tsitsipas vs Borges and Cabral
- Men’s day two doubles including Murray and Evans vs Nishikori and Daniel
- Women’s day two doubles including Collins and Krawczyk vs Sakkari and Papamichail
- Women’s day two doubles including Garcia and Parry vs Schuurs and Rus
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey – USA TODAY Sports
