{"id":56989,"date":"2023-05-29T10:37:54","date_gmt":"2023-05-29T14:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=56989"},"modified":"2023-05-29T11:05:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T15:05:03","slug":"french-open-day-3-predictions-monfils-baez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2023\/05\/29\/french-open-day-3-predictions-monfils-baez\/","title":{"rendered":"French Open Men\u2019s Day 3 Predictions Including Gael Monfils vs Sebastian Baez"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After two great days of tennis, the first round draws to a close on day three at Roland Garros. There are 20 matches on the schedule and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2023\/05\/29\/french-open-mens-day-3-predictions-ruud-ymer\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Casper Ruud vs Elias Ymer<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2023\/05\/29\/french-open-mens-day-3-predictions-medvedev-seyboth-wild\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Daniil Medvedev vs Thiago Seyboth Wild<\/a>, Holger Rune vs Christopher Eubanks and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2023\/05\/29\/french-open-mens-day-3-predictions-fritz-mmoh\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Taylor Fritz vs Michael Mmoh<\/a>. But who will book their spot in the second round?<\/p>\n<h2><strong>French Open Day 3 Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h4><strong>Gael Monfils vs Sebastian Baez<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Jim: Has Gael Monfils got one last burst of magic in him? Based on his recent showings, the answer to that question appears to be no. Sebastian Baez\u2019s confidence is probably still low, but it would be a real surprise to see Monfils trouble the Argentine here.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Baez in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Damian: One of the cases where we might see a close match depending on how much Monfils can get from the crowd support and the magic of Roland Garros. But regardless of that, based on the last few performances he\u2019s had, it\u2019s hard to see him winning this in the longer format simply from a fitness standpoint.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Baez in 4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jack: Monfils won\u2019t go down quietly. He\u2019s shown his level is returning slowly but surely, taking a set off of established clay courter Pedro Cachin last week in Lyon. Baez isn\u2019t the man you want to play, however, if you are at all struggling with your physicality. The crowd will rally the Frenchman and Baez\u2019s level will likely yo-yo but the Argentinian should ultimately succeed in exhausting the former world #6.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Baez in 4<br \/>\n<a id=\"6-dhJZPJTzpjaDuqabPK5Q\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1493541470\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'6-dhJZPJTzpjaDuqabPK5Q',sig:'sa-mtADMcfPti9p4H_G3EvzNBWIgVJanprZVW0VzKU8=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1493541470',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Jordan Thompson vs Max Purcell<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Jim: Neither man exactly took the classic route to prepare for the French Open \u2013 spending their time playing on hard courts in Asia rather than on the European clay. That should make the playing field reasonably level. Which counts in Jordan Thompson\u2019s favour. His game is better-suited to these conditions and he beat Purcell handily when they played last.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Thompson in 4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Damian: They\u2019ve just recently played in a Challenger final and Purcell put in a terrible showing. That was on hard courts though and this match could be completely different. That said, Thompson remains the favorite as of the two Australians, his game is the one which seems to translate to the dirt a bit more effectively.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Thompson in 4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[cta id=4014 type=cta]<\/p>\n<p>Jack: Both Purcell and Thompson opted for the hard-court swing of East Asia instead of playing clay court warm-up events. They\u2019re both in a similar boat in that the winner will likely get knocked out in the next round. I actually quite like Purcell\u2019s all-court game for finishing off points on this speed of court so I\u2019ll back him to take out his compatriot relatively comfortably.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Purcell in 3<br \/>\n<a id=\"2URAI-RxRVNd4dAeyghQkQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1480649067\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'2URAI-RxRVNd4dAeyghQkQ',sig:'7y4mRgr9f7yC3kHSQPZzieHRngGe-pr72ZrYqTTIRWg=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1480649067',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/em><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Tommy Paul vs Dominic Stricker<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Jim: Tommy Paul has not hit the heights on the clay so far this season \u2013 his best effort being a final showing at the Aix-En-Provence Challenger. But he will probably benefit from playing best-of-five set tennis and should have the athleticism to contain the debutant Dominic Stricker\u2019s power.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Paul in 4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Damian: The fact that this is Stricker\u2019s first Slam main draw and he still hasn\u2019t been inside the top 100 is so surprising given his potential. After losing to Thiago Tirante in the final qualifying round, he had to enter the event through the back door. Now that he\u2019s here though, this is a winnable match against Paul, whose clay season hasn\u2019t worked out well so far.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Stricker in 5<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jack: Paul hasn\u2019t been close this clay season to the athletic heights he\u2019s reached on hard-courts. A lot of his main weapons are stifled which might allow Stricker to impose his own game on the American. Paul is talented enough to tame Stricker\u2019s power but there will be plenty of bumps in the road.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Paul in 5<br \/>\n<a id=\"1DevkCl_S-1eqyBZPO3rlA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1493739636\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'1DevkCl_S-1eqyBZPO3rlA',sig:'X72vYWEML5aOAT51m1_tRldT9IQLrSEOd8fvsmKxoeA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1493739636',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Quentin Halys vs Guido Pella<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Jim: Quentin Halys is finally living up to his promise, with his easy power making him a real threat on any surface. Once upon a time, Guido Pella\u2019s consistency and court coverage might have enabled him to grind Halys down. But Pella isn\u2019t the player he was before developing Morton&#8217;s neuroma.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Halys in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Damian: Halys withdrew from his last couple of events, so there\u2019s not much info on the physical shape he\u2019ll be in. If he\u2019s fine, then this is a great opportunity for him. It looks like Pella\u2019s comeback will not be that meaningful \u2013 so far he\u2019s mostly just collecting the paycheques for first-round exits.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Halys in 4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jack: The numbers Halys posts on his serve are a joke, even on this surface. He\u2019s impressed me so much with his level whilst Pella\u2019s slow return from injury will leave him a little off his best. Halys should showcase how he\u2019s been defeating some of the best players in the world recently.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Halys in 4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Main photo credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After two great days of tennis, the first round draws to a close on day three at Roland Garros. There are 20 matches on the schedule and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Casper Ruud vs Elias Ymer, Daniil Medvedev vs Thiago Seyboth [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2815,"featured_media":56990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[15779,15807,2942,144,15824,499,15463,1661,15493,10333,16112,390,16700,896,2941,13328,16260,2373,2369,1635,15665],"class_list":["post-56989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-dominic-stricker","tag-dominic-stricker-predictions","tag-french-open-predictions","tag-gael-monfils","tag-gael-monfils-predictions","tag-guido-pella","tag-guido-pella-predictions","tag-jordan-thompson","tag-jordan-thompson-predictions","tag-max-purcell","tag-max-purcell-predictions","tag-quentin-halys","tag-quentin-halys-predictions","tag-roland-garros","tag-roland-garros-predictions","tag-sebastian-baez","tag-sebastian-baez-predictions","tag-tennis-picks","tag-tennis-predictions","tag-tommy-paul","tag-tommy-paul-predictions"],"modified_by":"Jim Smith","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2815"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}