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 Rafael Nadal vs Marton Fucsovics, Alexander Zverev vs Jaume Munar and Lorenzo Musetti vs Gael Monfils. These matches are predicted by 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
Ugo Humbert (France) vs Fabian Marozsan (Hungary)
Yesh
Two rising youngsters who are both solid on clay. Humbert is further along in his development, but Marozsan likes the surface better. This should be fun. I’ll go with home-court advantage
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Ateet
Ugo Humbert has had a good season with two titles and deep runs in several tournaments but his game on clay needs a lot of improvement. However, this being his home Olympics will spur him on to do well. Fabian Marozsan played at a good level in Umag and with matches under his belt, he can cause real trouble to Humbert. This should be close but Marozsan is the better player on this surface.
Prediction: Marozsan in 3
Damian
Humbert’s form disappeared a little bit recently and this is not an easy matchup for him on his least preferred surface. Marozsan has the type of game to really speed things up off the ground and pile on the pressure. That lack of rhythm can be extremely dangerous especially in the opening rounds.
Prediction: Marozsan in 3
Dusan Lajovic (Serbia) vs Maximilian Marterer (Germany)
Yesh
Marterer has been playing pretty well in recent weeks. I’m not sure I can say the same about Lajovic, though the Serb does have a higher ceiling.
Prediction: Marterer in 3
Ateet
Dusan Lajovic has been consistent this year, especially on clay. Lajovic has had a long career but this will be his first appearance at the Olympics and he would want to put on a good show. Marterer has won just two matches on the tour level all year and was destroyed in his last match by Francisco Cerundolo. He has been a top-50 player in the past but his current form is not good enough to trouble the Serb.
Prediction: Lajovic in 2
Damian
Marterer has had perhaps the most disappointing season of anyone on tour, failing to live up to how incredible he was in the latter half of 2023. Even when he posted a win in Hamburg, he then took just two games off Cerundolo in the second round. Seems like a rather fortunate draw for Lajovic at the moment.
Prediction: Lajovic in 2
Corentin Moutet (France) vs Sumit Nagal (India)
Yesh
Nagal has quietly improved and is now a consistent Top 100 player. He’s a bit more consistent than Moutet, but the Frenchman has a higher upside. In front of a French crowd, I’d guess Moutet will play his best.
Prediction: Moutet in 2
Ateet
Corentin Moutet reached the second week at the French Open and played his best tennis in front of his home crowd. He will expect a similar performance again and make a mark in his first Olympics. Sumit Nagal is also playing in his first Olympics and has played lots of matches on clay this year. He has played some high-level tennis at times but Moutet is still a level above the Indian and will feed off the home crowd.
Prediction: Moutet in 3
Damian
Moutet has been injured recently, but we know what sort of magic he can bring at home and especially at this venue. The crowd will be so loud and it’s not easy to survive in that setting. Nagal defeated him in Marrakech on clay earlier this year, but doing it at Roland Garros will be a much tougher task.
Prediction: Nagal in 3
Casper Ruud (Norway) vs Taro Daniel (Japan)
Yesh
Ruud should be considered a dark horse to win Gold here, and this might be his last chance to win a prestigious event. Don’t underestimate him.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
Ateet
Casper Ruud will be happy to see his draw as he has a great chance to reach the quarterfinals if he plays at his best. Ruud has been extremely successful on the Roland Garros courts, which should help. Taro Daniel has lost his last four matches and has not had a good year after the Auckland final. He won the last time these two met but on clay, Ruud is the clear favourite.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
Damian
Ruud just lost to Monteiro in Bastad and was blown off the court by all the Brazilian’s forehand winners. This shouldn’t mean all that much for his chances in this event though, he’s still one of the best players in the draw. And on clay, Daniel can’t impose himself enough to take the racket out of his hands.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
Other Olympic Predictions:
- Men’s day two singles including Lorenzo Musetti vs Gael Monfils
- Men’s day two singles including Alexander Zverev vs Jaume Munar
- Men’s day two singles including Rafael Nadal vs Marton Fucsovics
- 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: Susan Mullane – USA TODAY Sports
