LATEST TENNIS NEWS FOR THE FRENCH OPEN FRIDAY, ROGER FEDERER PLAYING AS IS MARIA SHARAPOVA

Ricky’s previews and pick for round three of men’s singles at the French Open

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

With the top nine seeds remaining in men’s singles at the French Open, a blockbuster second week of the tournament appears to be in store. But first the third round must be contested, and there should be no shortage of entertainment.

 

A look at the matchups:

 

(2) Roger Federer vs. Damir Dzumhur: “Zoom, zoom” will be the noise you hear Federer making on his way to the fourth round, because it is going to be quick against Dzumhur. Still, huge respect for the Bosnian got getting to the first round of a Grand Slam for just the second time in his career.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(13) Gael Monfils vs. (21) Pablo Cuevas: Monfils made things relatively dramatic in a five-set win over Diego Schwartzman and he will probably have some more drama against Federer in the fourth round. Perhaps the Frenchman will be able to make things straightforward for once against Cuevas.

 

(12) Gilles Simon vs. (WC) Nicolas Mahut: In the previous round Mahut played Ernests Gulbis, who is an expert of the department of doing extremely little with a whole lot of talent. Now Mahut is facing the anti-Gulbis, as Simon is a master of maximizing a relatively low talent pool. Chances are good that a Frenchman will advance.

 

(8) Stan Wawrinka vs. Steve Johnson: Jack Sock is still alive, but with John Isner out the pressure on Johnson increases to carry the American flag in Paris. That being said, the pressure will diminish because he is a massive underdog on paper against the eighth-seeded Wawrinka. But Johnson has a much better chance than the rankings suggest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4) Tomas Berdych vs. Benoit Paire: Not unlike Mahut, Paire is going from one extreme to the other in terms of opponents. On Wednesday he went up against the mercurial Fabio Fognini. Perhaps nobody is more up-and-down than the Fog. Berdych, on the other hand, is as rock-solid as they come. That’s bad news for Benoit.

 

(14) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Pablo Andujar: Andujar trailed Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-2 in the fifth set and had absolutely zero momentum when play was suspended due to darkness. The Spaniard came back out one day later and promptly won four straight games to prevail. “Thank you, tennis gods,” Andujar must be thinking. Having to go up Tsonga, though, is not as lucky.

 

Lukas Rosol vs. Teymuraz Gabashvili: Rosol vs. Gabashvili in the third round of a Grand Slam????????????? Well, you can’t say they didn’t earn it. Rosol made mincemeat out of Roberto Bautista Agut and Gabashvili thrashed Juan Monaco.

 

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis: Has any teenager in the last decade been so clutch in pressure-packed moments? At 19, Kokkinakis is already perfecting the art of winning long, five-set matches and saving match points in the process. Unfortunately for the Aussie, this won’t be a long, five-set match.

 

Jack Sock vs. Borna Coric: It does not get any better than this if you like watching stars of the future go mano a mano. The thing is, these guys are also stars of today. Get your popcorn ready.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(6) Rafael Nadal vs. Andrey Kuznetsov: Prediction–pain.

 

(3) Andy Murray vs. (29) Nick Kyrgios: On paper is this is the match to watch in the entire third round. Murray is undefeated on clay in 2015 and Kyrgios is a proven giant killer who loves the spotlight of Grand Slams. But let’s hope it’s more competitive than their previous head-to-head meetings.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, French Open Tennis, jack sock, Maria Sharapova, Paris, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Wta

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