{"id":57102,"date":"2023-06-03T08:52:04","date_gmt":"2023-06-03T12:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=57102"},"modified":"2023-06-03T08:52:04","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T12:52:04","slug":"french-open-day-8-predictions-djokovic-varillas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2023\/06\/03\/french-open-day-8-predictions-djokovic-varillas\/","title":{"rendered":"French Open Day 8 Predictions Including Novak Djokovic vs Juan Pablo Varillas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It promises to be an entertaining start to the second week at the French Open with four intriguing fourth-round matches on the schedule on day eight in Paris. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule,<\/p>\n<h2><strong>French Open Day 8 Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h4><strong>Novak Djokovic vs Juan Pablo Varillas<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Jim: It\u2019s been a great tournament for Juan Pablo Varillas, but it is hard to see it continuing past the fourth round. Novak Djokovic has looked sharp so far, winning all three of his matches in straight sets, and the great Serbian still has gears to go through. Winning the title may well be beyond him \u2013 beating Varillas won\u2019t be.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Djokovic in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<p>What a run for Varillas, who ended up winning three five-setters in a row. That\u2019s not gonna help his chances against Djokovic though and the run is almost surely coming to an end here. The Peruvian is such a great ball-striker, but he\u2019s also not steady enough to hit through one of the best (if not the best) players of all time.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Djokovic in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[cta id=4014 type=cta]<\/p>\n<p>Jakub: Varillas has had a brilliant event, fighting through five-setter after five-setter, taking out Hubert Hurkacz and moving inside the top 60 in the live rankings. We will see how much the Peruvian has left but awaiting him is Djokovic, who weathered the storm very well against Fucsovics and Davidovich Fokina and is yet to drop a set.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Djokovic in 3<br \/>\n<a id=\"pgEiR-1nRYp-5t-he70z_Q\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1495592383\" 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:'pgEiR-1nRYp-5t-he70z_Q',sig:'SmdQG6f4U6yPuFeOX4dun3PYfq--8hSPnGGpYNmcJYA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1495592383',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>Karen Khachanov vs Lorenzo Sonego<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Jim: Karen Khachanov flirted with disaster in the first round and has had some challenging moments since, but has managed to battle into the second week. He will need to raise his level if he is to get past Lorenzo Sonego, however, with the Italian delivering a reminder of his quality by beating Andrey Rublev in the third round. Khachanov is good enough to win this match, but Sonego looks the likelier winner.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Sonego in 4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Damian: Khachanov struggled so much in the opening round, but that was mostly due to Lestienne\u2019s unique style. Now he\u2019s already doing much better and has to like his chances here after Sonego eliminated Rublev. The Italian pulled off a great comeback and probably won\u2019t be ready to repeat that in the next round.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Khachanov in 4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jakub: After coming back from two sets down to take out Rublev, Sonego will face another Russian in Khachanov. Khachanov has recovered well from his initial stumble against Constant Lestienne but Sonego will be his toughest opponent yet. I see the Italian coming through again.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Sonego in 5<br \/>\n<a id=\"R90xAk1hTm5me5JKKdgD_Q\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1495353131\" 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:'R90xAk1hTm5me5JKKdgD_Q',sig:'uToHijfdMazKjT_inUCrtt0SDqcZj_8H2fbf1q_Iz9w=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1495353131',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>Sebastian Ofner vs Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Jim: Another player having a tournament to remember in the Paris sunshine is Sebastian Ofner. The Austrian has dropped just one set in beating Maxime Cressy, Sebastian Korda and Fabio Fognini, earnong him a shot at one of the world\u2019s best in Stefanos Tsitsipas. But the Greek is one of the world\u2019s best for a reason. Expect Ofner\u2019s dream run to end here.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Tsitsipas in 3<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Damian: This run clinches the top 100 debut for Ofner and it\u2019s incredibly deserved after a phenomenal season so far. But can he go a step further and punch above his weight a little bit? The matchup is actually quite decent for his power game and he should come closer than Tsitsipas\u2019s last two opponents. Not sure he has the tactical discipline to win this though.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Tsitsipas in 4 <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jakub: Ofner has taken full advantage of his favourable draw, beating Cressy, Korda, and Fognini to reach the second week as a qualifier. Tsitsipas will be a class above and while I expect a good contest from Ofner, the Greek should be winning here.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Tsitsipas in 4<br \/>\n<a id=\"XzLjYIOCTwFShgyhpZCIjg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1495595357\" 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:'XzLjYIOCTwFShgyhpZCIjg',sig:'ZCYK8cjjMaAvItfnvs6RmqM349N8AmpwtBzhomCeTGg=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1495595357',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>Lorenzo Musetti vs Carlos Alcaraz<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Jim: Carlos Alcaraz has been largely untroubled in reaching the second week \u2013 barring a loss of concentration in the second set against Taro Daniel. But he will need to avoid a repeat of that against Lorenzo Musetti. The Italian has been in an exceptional form and dismantled Cameron Norrie in the third round. This may be a challenge too far, but it should be a great watch.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Alcaraz in 5<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Damian: This will be the first serious test for Alcaraz. It didn\u2019t have to be, but Musetti was excellent last week, playing with awesome focus and tactical awareness. He\u2019s matched up well against the world #1 in the past two meetings, coming close in Trieste three years ago and beating him in Hamburg in 2022. Alcaraz will prevail, but he\u2019ll have to deliver.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Alcaraz in 4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jakub: First Slam meeting between Alcaraz and Musetti and the expectations are high. After Alcaraz dropped a set to Taro Daniel, the top seed didn\u2019t make the same mistake against Denis Shapovalov, coming back from 1-4 down in the second to win seven straight games and the match. Musetti has not dropped a set yet and I expect him to give Alcaraz a real run for his money here.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Alcaraz in 5<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It promises to be an entertaining start to the second week at the French Open with four intriguing fourth-round matches on the schedule on day eight in Paris. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, French Open Day 8 Predictions Novak Djokovic vs Juan Pablo [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2815,"featured_media":57104,"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":[5729,15513,2942,9166,16278,844,15516,10332,15491,2404,15736,22,15556,896,2941,1342,16058,304,15417,2373,2369],"class_list":["post-57102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-carlos-alcaraz-predictions","tag-french-open-predictions","tag-juan-pablo-varillas","tag-juan-pablo-varillas-predictions","tag-karen-khachanov","tag-karen-khachanov-predictions","tag-lorenzo-musetti","tag-lorenzo-musetti-predictions","tag-lorenzo-sonego","tag-lorenzo-sonego-predictions","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-novak-djokovic-predictions","tag-roland-garros","tag-roland-garros-predictions","tag-sebastian-ofner","tag-sebastian-ofner-predictions","tag-stefanos-tsitsipas","tag-stefanos-tsitsipas-predictions","tag-tennis-picks","tag-tennis-predictions"],"modified_by":"Jim Smith","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57102","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=57102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}