It promises to be an entertaining day of tennis at Roland Garros and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate at the French Open, including Novak Djokovic vs Roberto Carballes Baena, Gael Monfils vs Lorenzo Musetti, and Casper Ruud vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. But who will reach the last 32?
French Open Day 5 Predictions
Daniil Medvedev vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Damian: Medvedev played for over three hours against Koepfer and he’ll probably have to get through more slugging matches like that to go far in this event. This one on paper should be one of them, but he actually had one of his best-ever Roland Garros performances against Kecmanovic two years ago and beat him in straights. When it matters, he’ll probably deliver.
Prediction: Medvedev in 4
Ateet: Daniil Medvedev was good in his first-round match despite losing a set. Props to Dominik Koepfer for playing a great match. Medvedev served well in the first two sets and displayed some variety with drop shots. Miomir Kecmanovic has found his form at the right time as he beat Thiago Monteiro, who has been in great form. Kecmanovic has a big forehand but has never taken a set-off Medvedev. This should be an interesting match.
Prediction: Medvedev in 4
Tope: There’s no doubt that Kecmanovic can challenge and even defeat Medvedev on clay but their head-to-head will give the Russian enough confidence heading into this. It may not be a straight-sets defeat he was handed here two years ago but Kecmanovic will have to produce something special to earn his first win in four attempts over Medvedev
Prediction: Medvedev in 4
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Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs Arthur Rinderknech
Damian: Etcheverry played Rinderknech this clay swing already and it was a very tight two-setter in Aix-en-Provence. The favorite is clear, but the Frenchman would love to post an upset at home and has been due a big result for a while now. It just won’t be easy with last year’s quarterfinalist being incredibly solid.
Prediction: Etcheverry in 4
Ateet: Etcheverry faces a Frenchman in a third consecutive match if we count his final in Lyon. He looks to have regained his form after a shaky couple of tournaments before Lyon. Arthur Rinderknech won convincingly in his opening round match but faces a much tougher task in the second round. These two played at the beginning of the month in a challenger event where Etcheverry won in two close sets. Rinderknech might fancy a set but Etcheverry should win.
Prediction: Etcheverry in 4
Tope: Home hope Arthur Rinderknech disposed of wild card, Adam Walton in a very composed straight-sets win and will be heading into this Etcheverry encounter with more confidence having lost a closely contested encounter to the Argentine earlier this month. With the home fans behind him, the French man is capable of edging this.
Prediction: Rinderknech in 5
Taylor Fritz vs Dusan Lajovic
Damian: For the second straight round, Fritz is facing a clay specialist that he really should be beating because of the quality gap between them rather than the fact he’s just as comfortable on the surface. And after all, outside of two first-round exits, he’s had an awesome clay swing too.
Prediction: Fritz in 4
Ateet: Fritz is playing the best clay-court tennis of his career and improving with every match. He will fancy his chances to go deep in this tournament. He faces Dusan Lajovic, who plays his best tennis on clay and has beaten Fritz before on this surface. However, that win came six years ago and Fritz is a much better player now. If this match was played on hard or grass courts, Fritz would be a huge favourite to win but clay elevates the odds for Lajovic to a small extent.
Prediction: Fritz in 5
Tope: Fritz was slow to get out of the block in his opener against Federico Coria, surrendering the first set cheaply. From then on though, it was all Fritz as the American dominated the rest of the encounter. He now faces a player who is capable of defeating anyone on clay on his day. If Dusan Lajovic brings his A–game, the upset bells are out. However, Fritz is the more reliable. Give me the American to stay on form and bag a hard-fought win against the very capable Serbian
Prediction: Fritz in 5
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Karen Khachanov vs Jozef Kovalik
Damian: Great effort from Kovalik to overcome a 0-9 Grand Slam main draw record on Monday as he avoided a seed in the opening round for the first time at Roland Garros (had previously faced Stan Wawrinka, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Wawrinka again in first-round matches in Paris). He’s had a phenomenal year, but hitting through Khachanov would be something next-level.
Prediction: Khachanov in 4
Ateet: Khachanov is one of the most consistent players in slams and hardly loses to players below his ranking. Kovalik did well to qualify and win his first-round match but I can’t see him causing any problems for Khachanov.
Prediction: Khachanov in 3
Tope: Last year’s quarterfinalist, Karen Khachanov hasn’t lost to a player ranked outside the top #100 in two years. When it comes to matches of this nature, the Russian is reliable.
Prediction: Khachanov in 3
Main photo credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports