TENNIS • RICKY’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 6 AT THE FRENCH OPEN, INCLUDING NADAL VS. BASILASHVILI AND THIEM VS. JOHNSON

Written by: Staff on 1st June 2017

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

TENNIS • RICKY'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 6 AT THE FRENCH OPEN, INCLUDING NADAL VS. BASILASHVILI AND THIEM VS. JOHNSON

epa06001824 General view of court 14 of Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland (C) in action against Madison Brengle of the USA during their women?s single 2nd round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 31 May 2017. EPA/YOAN VALAT |

By Ricky Dimon for 10sBalls

Third-round action at the French Open will begin on Friday, when Rafael Nadal continues his bid for a 10th triumph at Roland Garros and Novak Djokovic resumes his title defense. Nadal is going up against Nikoloz Basilashvili, while Djokovic has a date with Diego Schwartzman. Dominic Thiem and Steve Johnson are also on the schedule.

Ricky previews three of the best Day 6 matchups and makes his predictions.

Nikoloz Basilashvili vs. (4) Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts as he plays against Robin Haase of the Netherlands during their men?s single 2nd round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 31 May 2017. EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT

Nadal’s 2016 tournament ended abruptly before to the third round, but that exit was beyond his control. Rather than losing, the nine-time French Open champion was felled by a wrist problem that also forced him out of Wimbledon. Now, Nadal has once again engineered straight-set defeats in each of his first two matches and he will look to progress farther–much farther–than he did last year. The fourth seed improved to 74-2 lifetime on the red clay of Paris and 19-1 on the surface in 2017 with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 win over Benoit Paire and then a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 trouncing of Robin Haase.

This mark’s Nadal’s first-ever meeting with Basilashvili. The Georgian has already matched his previous entire career Grand Slam win total (two, both at Wimbledon in 2013) by getting the best Gilles Simon in four sets and Viktor Troicki in three consecutive tiebreakers. In his only other comparable major matchup, Basilashvili got bashed by Roger Federer 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 at the Australian Open last year.

Pick: Nadal in 3

(6) Dominic Thiem vs. (25) Steve Johnson

Johnson’s emotional week–and what he hopes turns into a full fortnight–at Roland Garros will add another chapter on Thursday. His father passed away less than three weeks ago and this is his second event since. The former University of Southern California standout did well to reach the Geneva quarters last week and he has already won twice at the French Open, as well, surviving Yuichi Sugita in five sets and Borna Coric in a four-setter that lasted almost four hours.

This is second contest between Johnson and Thiem, with the Austrian having previously scored a 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 victory on the clay courts of Nice in 2014. Both men are much-improved now, although Thiem to an even greater extent. The 23-year-old has soared to No. 7 in the world and is well on his way to a repeat appearance in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Clay, as usual, has been especially productive for Thiem. Recent results include runner-up showings in Barcelona and Madrid plus a semifinal performance in Rome. So far this fortnight he has disposed of Bernard Tomic and Simone Bolelli in straight sets. This may be the end of Johnson’s run, but he deserves high praise for what he has accomplished already.

Pick: Thiem in 3

Diego Schwartzman vs. (2) Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Marcel Granollers of Spain during their men’s 1st round single match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 29 May 2017. EPA/TATYANA ZENKOVICH

Djokovic and Schwartzman will be squaring off for the second time in their careers on Thursday. Their only previous showdown came during first-round action at the U.S. Open in 2014, with Djokovic dominating 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. The world No. 2 has already turned in two very similar performances so far during his title defense, defeating Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. Thus Djokovic’s partnership with new coach Andre Agassi is off to a strong start.

Schwartzman took a much more difficult path through his opener, outlasting lucky loser Andrey Rublev 0-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(3), 9-7. The Argentine got off the court much more quickly on Wednesday, when he easily dismissed Stefano Napolitano 6-3, 7-5, 6-2. And with those results this is another stellar 2017 event for Schwartzman, who is 17-14 with quarterfinal performances in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Monte-Carlo in addition to a semifinal run in Istanbul. Unfortunately for the underdog, he is 0-12 lifetime against top 10 foes and 3-27 in total sets in those matches.

Pick: Djokovic in 3