Sunday at the French Open is opening the show with some exciting match-ups, including Andrey Rublev playing his opener. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match. Who do you think will be victorious on Day 1?
French Open Day 1 Predictions
Matteo Arnaldi vs Daniel Elahi Galan
Andreas Pelekis: Arnaldi stunned the tennis world with a win over Casper Ruud in Madrid, and look for him to continue the momentum in Paris. Galan made a challenger final this year, but hasn’t been in his best form compared to last season.
Prediction: Arnaldi in 4
Damian Kust: Besides the prodigies like Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, Matteo Arnaldi is the first of the young Italian army to break the top 100. He absolutely deserves it too with some amazing development especially in his attacking game. Getting a Slam win would be a very logical step and he’s in better form than Daniel Elahi Galan right now.
Prediction: Arnaldi in 5
Jakub Bobro: Galan beat Arnaldi in the final round of US Open qualifying before he took out Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Colombian reached semifinals at Challengers 175s in Cagliari and Turin while Anraldi reached the third round in Madrid out of qualifying. I expect a close contest with Galan coming out on top.
Prediction: Galan in 5
Alexander Shevchenko vs Oscar Otte
Andreas: Shevchenko has flown under the radar recently and took Medvedev to 7-5 in the third in Madrid. Otte is also nowhere near his best form, falling out of the top 100 this season. While Shevchenko is making his main draw debut, he should win this one in a close battle.
Prediction: Shevchenko in 5
Damian: Oscar Otte had his peak last year, but he hasn’t been himself since that injury in the summer. Now he’s kinda plodding along and not really getting that many wins. Alexander Shevchenko is here to stay on the main tour and even physically, he should have a pretty firm advantage in this one.
Prediction: Shevchenko in 3
Jakub: Otte has struggled to string wins together and has not really had an impressive one outside of beating Sebastian Baez on home turf in Munich. Shevchenko has broken out this year and with clay being his best surface, he could emerge as a dark horse here.
Prediction: Shevchenko in 4
[cta id=4013 type=cta]
Lucas Pouille vs Jurij Rodionov
Andreas: A familiar matchup, as it will be four days since their match in the final round of qualifying. Pouille sealed an emotional victory assisted by the home crowd, and with a larger court and bigger crowd for this match, the outcome should be the same in their main draw match.
Prediction: Pouille in 4
Damian: This match has already happened in the final qualifying round and Jurij Rodionov totally crumbled under pressure from the crowd and Lucas Pouille, who’s suddenly playing his best stuff in years. Can he replicate this over the best-of-five format? My gut says no, although his performances this week certainly would suggest so.
Prediction: Rodionov in 5
Jakub: A rematch of a final qualifying round from a couple of days ago, Pouille winning with a third-set bagel and Rodionov getting in as a lucky loser. I see the Austrian pushing him all the way but it is clear that Pouille has managed to recapture some of his former magic in Paris and I expect him to come through.
Prediction: Pouille in 5
Andrey Rublev vs Laslo Djere
Andreas: Djere made the Round of 16 in Rome and has shown signs of improvement, but Rublev should be too solid. Djere may take the first set, but Rublev will shake off nerves and cruise to the second round.
Prediction: Rublev in 4
Damian: These two have had some contentious matches in the past, including in the longer format (five-setter at least year’s US Open). Even if Andrey Rublev falls into some trouble here, the best-of-five scenario should give him enough time to sort out the issues and eventually take down Laslo Djere.
Prediction: Rublev in 4
Jakub: Rublev has won four of their five previous matches, not losing the Djere since 2016. The Serb did push him all the way in their US Open opener last year but 12-3 on clay on the season, I see Rublev taking care of business here.
Prediction: Rublev in 3
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
