{"id":70892,"date":"2024-07-26T13:30:48","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T17:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=70892"},"modified":"2024-07-26T13:58:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T17:58:14","slug":"paris-olympics-mens-day-1-predictions-alcaraz-habib","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/07\/26\/paris-olympics-mens-day-1-predictions-alcaraz-habib\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris Olympics Men’s Day 1 Predictions Including Carlos Alcaraz vs Hedy Habib"},"content":{"rendered":"

The tennis tournaments at the Paris Olympics start with 15 men’s singles matches on Saturday. 64 men will begin their quest for Gold, and we’ll rapidly get to the winner in a bit over a week. As always, we here at LastWordOnTennis will predict all of the matches for you. We split the 15 matches into four articles. The other articles feature Novak Djokovic vs Matthew Ebden<\/a>, Carlos Alcaraz vs Hedy Habib<\/a>, and Daniil Medvedev vs Rinky Hijikata<\/a>. Predicting these matches are Damian Kust, Shane Black, and Yesh Ginsburg. Who do you think will move on to Round 2?<\/p>\n

As a special for the Olympics, we will also be predicting all of the other Day 1 matches, including doubles. We will link to our other Olympic predictions at the bottom of the article. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

Paris Olympics Men’s Day 1 Predictions<\/h2>\n

Tallon Griekspoor (Netherlands) vs Cameron Norrie (Great Britain)<\/h4>\n

Damian:<\/em>
\nTwo players out of form and kind of desperate for the win. Griekspoor was so close to beating Zverev at this venue two months ago, but couldn\u2019t deliver from 4-1 up in the deciding set. He should be able to bring a bit more fire to the court here and will probably end up creating play in most of the rallies.
\nPrediction: Griekspoor in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Shane:<\/em>
\nNorrie has struggled this season, and his lack of weapons has hindered his ability to compete against the world\u2019s top players. Griekspoor is not the best clay-court player, so this match should be interesting. Give me Norrie grinding out a win in a decider.
\nPrediction: Norrie in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesh:<\/em>
\nGriekspoor is playing really solid tennis right now. He was more solid a few months ago, but he\u2019s still strong. Norrie is also better now than a few months ago, but he hasn\u2019t quite fully risen back from a terrible slump yet.
\nPrediction: Griekspoor in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

[tgdcta items=”1″ id=”170476″]<\/p>\n

Christoper Eubanks (United States) vs Benjamin Hassan (Lebanon)<\/h4>\n

Damian:<\/em>
\nBoth players wouldn\u2019t be able to beat 95% of the draw and they\u2019re pretty lucky to run into each other. Eubanks is back outside the Top 100 and is only decent on clay in patches. Hassan\u2019s game on the dirt is pretty neat, but he\u2019s a mercurial competitor instead. Might not be the highest-quality match out there and it\u2019s tough to pick a winner.
\nPrediction: Hassan in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Shane:<\/em>
\nEubanks has had a rough season after a career-best in 2023. He reached the Newport semis earlier this month, but his serve does not carry the same weight on the clay. Hassan plays a lot of Challenger events on the clay and should have the advantage in this match.
\nPrediction: Hassan in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesh:<\/em>
\nHassan got into the event as a selection to increase Lebanon\u2019s representation at the Games, and he\u2019s picked up the perfect draw. Against a slumping Eubanks on clay? That\u2019s winnable for any Top 200 player.
\nPrediction: Hassan in 2<\/em><\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>