PARIS TENNIS 2016 – RICKY’S PICKS FOR THURSDAY AT ROLAND GARROS, INCLUDING TSONGA VS. BAGHDATIS AND FERRER VS. MONACO

Written by: Staff on 25th May 2016

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

PARIS TENNIS 2016 - RICKY'S PICKS FOR THURSDAY AT ROLAND GARROS, INCLUDING TSONGA VS. BAGHDATIS AND FERRER VS. MONACO

epaselect epa05323137 People walking in the rain as the first round matches are interrupted at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 22 May 2016. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT |

By Ricky Dimon

Second-round action at the French Open will conclude on Thursday, when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Ferrer take the court. Tsonga is set for what should be an entertaining contest against Marcos Baghdatis, while Ferrer is facing Juan Monaco. Joao Sousa and Ernests Gulbis are also aiming for a place in the last 32.

Ricky previews the matches and makes his predictions.

Marcos Baghdatis vs. (8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in action against Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany during their men’s single first round match at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 24 May 2016. EPA/YOAN VALAT

One of the more lopsided head-to-head matchups on tour will add another chapter when Tsonga and Baghdatis collide for the seventh time in their careers on Thursday. All six of their previous meetings have gone the way of Tsonga, who most recently defeated Baghdatis in round one of this year’s Australian Open 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Their only prior clay-court encounter came the first time they met in 2011 on the clay courts of Rome, where Tsonga rolled 6-3, 6-2.

This surface is not likely to help Baghdatis turn the tide. For the season, the 39th-ranked Cypriot had been just 2-3 on clay heading into the French Open. He is also just 10-10 lifetime at this event with only two trips past the second round (best: fourth round, 2007). Baghdatis opened on Tuesday by coasting past an opponent who also prefers a faster court, Gilles Muller. Tsonga, too, cruised in straight sets at the expense of Jan-Lennard Struff. The Frenchman, a recent semifinalist in Monte-Carlo, has not lost prior to the third round at Roland Garros since his first appearance back in 2005. There is no reason to think he will come close to doing so against Baghdatis.

Pick: Tsonga in 3

(11) David Ferrer vs. Juan Monaco

David Ferrer of Spain in action against Evgeny Donskoy of Russia during their men’s single first round match at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 24 May 2016. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT

Ferrer and Monaco will be facing each other for the ninth time in their careers. The head-to-head series is all tied up at 4-4, including 2-2 on clay. They most recently squared off last February on the red dirt of Rio de Janeiro, where Ferrer prevailed 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. That marks their only meeting since 2011 and their lone clay-court affair since 2009. Somewhat surprisingly, the two veterans have never met at any Grand Slam.

To say this season has been a struggle for Ferrer would be an understatement. In fact, at all but one tournament (the Australian Open) the Spaniard has lost to either or a lower-ranked player or a player who had to be considered the odds-on underdog. Since a productive quarterfinal trip Down Under, Ferrer has reached only two semifinals and those resulted in losses to Nicolas Almagro (Buenos Aires) and Marin Cilic (Geneva). The 11th seed clobbered Evgeny Donskoy 6-2, 6-0, 2-1 in his opener, while Monaco got the best of Denis Istomin 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. Monaco is a decent 11-5 for the season and 10 of his wins have come on clay (his only hard-court win was by virtue of a retirement in Miami). This should be a traditional clay-court battle, with Ferrer having an edge given his past success at Roland Garros and Monaco’s lack of recent five-set battles.

Pick: Ferrer in 5

(26) Joao Sousa vs. Ernests Gulbis

Sousa and Gulbis will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers. Gulbis has dominated both of their previous encounter; 6-3, 6-3 at the 2014 Indian Wells Masters and 6-3, 6-4 a few months later on the hard courts of Toronto. Fast forward two years and the mercurial Latvian is mired in one of his coldest spells. Ranked 80th, Gulbis is just 5-10 this season and has not yet won back-to-back matches in the main draw of any tournament. He has already advanced further than expected at the French Open, where he beat Andreas Seppi 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the opening round.

Although Sousa is also saddled with a losing record for the season, he has at least managed to pick up 14 match victories. The 29th-ranked Portuguese recently advanced to the quarters in Madrid and the semis in Nice and he maintained momentum by surviving Damir Dzumhur 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday. Even at 100 percent, this would be a tough test for Gulbis–and 100 percent is not where his physical state rests at the moment. The former world No. 10 scraped past Seppi despite dealing with a knee injury, so this is likely where his fortnight comes to an end.

Pick: Sousa in 3