Dominic Thiem’s career results have soared while Jack Sock’s took a turn for the worse in the past couple of seasons. Sock is now a heavy underdog in round 2 against one of the tournament favorites Thiem. Our panel of Damian Kust and Andrew Watson offer their French Open predictions for the second round of the tournament.
Jack Sock vs Dominic Thiem
Andrew: Sock has shown tremendous fight and desire to reach this round given that he started in qualifying. He was the better player by a distance against Reilly Opelka and managed to break serve in each set. However, Thiem looked more and more comfortable against Marin Cilic as the match wore on and he should be more than ready for this encounter. His pure ability should be too much for the American to handle. Thiem in 3
Damian: Expect Sock to raise a couple of questions but Thiem seems to be in impressive form again and he should provide all the answers. Thiem in 3
Mikhail Kukushkin vs Pedro Martinez
Andrew: The Spaniard made it 8 wins from 9 with his victory over Vukic in R1. However, the Kazakh produced a more impressive result in beating Fabio Fognini in four sets. Martinez feels very at home on this surface and in a tight match it may well be his ability on this court surface that allows him to grind out the win here. Martinez in 5
Damian: Kukushkin’s flatter shots actually don’t do that poorly in this year’s conditions. But Martinez is an expert dirt-baller and should be able to play his smart brand out of tennis to a win. Martinez in 4
Kei Nishikori vs Stefano Travaglia
Andrew: The Japanese continued his remarkable fifth set record to triumph over Dan Evans in five. However, he may find the Italian to be a more difficult opponent. Travaglia has had good clay results recently, including wins over Coric & Fritz before his win over Pablo Andujar on Sunday. I think the Italian will win here capitalising on the frail nature of Nishikori’s fitness at the moment. Travaglia in 4
Damian: Travaglia looked great in his dismissal of Pablo Andujar and Kei’s fitness is still suspect. This could be great but Travaglia is the player better prepared for best of 5 matches now. Travaglia in 4
Norbert Gombos vs Jurij Rodionov
Andrew: The neutrals may have been expecting a Coric vs Chardy match here but the odds were overturned in the first round. Gombos generally looked in control of his match against Coric and showed what an accomplished player he is, whereas Rodionov showed true grit and determination to not surrender in his first Grand Slam main draw match. Gombos is the pick here, it can often be tough to bring the same mentality to a match again after such a battle and Rodionov may suffer from that. Gombos in 4
Damian: Both really impressed in the opening round – Rodionov with nerves of steel and Gombos with a cold blood dismissal of Borna Coric. The Slovakian will be the attacking player here but I don’t think he will hit through the court well enough to win. Rodionov in 4
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