RICKY’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 9 AT THE FRENCH OPEN: WAWRINKA VS. MONFILS AND MURRAY VS. KHACHANOV

Written by: Staff on 4th June 2017

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

RICKY'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 9 AT THE FRENCH OPEN: WAWRINKA VS. MONFILS AND MURRAY VS. KHACHANOV

epa06008153 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in action against Fabio Fognini of Italy during their men?s singles 3rd round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 03 June 2017. EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON |

By Ricky Dimon also known as @Dimonator

Fourth-round action at the French Open will conclude on Monday, when Gael Monfils and Karen Khachanov get right back on the court following the conclusion of their respective third-round matches on Sunday. Both players await extremely tough tests, with Monfils facing Stan Wawrinka and Khachanov going up against Andy Murray.

Ricky previews two of the best Day 9 matchups and makes his predictions.

(3) Stan Wawrinka vs. (15) Gael Monfils

Wawrinka and Monfils will be squaring off for only the fifth time in their careers and for the first time since the 2011 Australian Open when they finally collide again on Monday. The head-to-head series is tied up at 2-2, with all four of their previous meetings having come on hard courts.

Both men, of course, are extremely capable on clay. Wawrinka triumphed at this event in 2015 and he owns seven clay-court titles in his career–also at the Monte-Carlo Masters three seasons ago. Currently on a seven-match winning streak thanks in part a 250-point title in Geneva, the Swiss has advanced this fortnight with straight-set defeats of Jozef Kovalik, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Fabio Fognini.

Monfils is a stellar 30-10 lifetime at Roland Garros, but this is not the year anyone would expect for him to accomplish his biggest goal of lifting the Coupe de Mousquetaires. The Frenchman played a mere two clay-court matches prior to this fortnight because of physical problems and he lost both of them. A routine trip through the first three rounds, however, was just what the doctor ordered. Monfils crushed Dustin Brown and Thiago Monteiro in straight sets before benefiting from a Richard Gasquet third-set retirement.

The jury is still out on Monfils’ form, whereas Wawrinka is clearly heating up and will likely have too much offensive firepower for the fan favorite.

Pick: Wawrinka in 4

(1) Andy Murray vs. Karen Khachanov

Andy Murray of Britain in action against Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina during their men?s singles 3rd round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 03 June 2017. EPA/TATYANA ZENKOVICH

Clay has never been Murray’s best surface and he looked especially vulnerable heading into this year’s Roland Garros festivities, but three opponents have tried and failed to take him out so far. Andrey Kuznetsov stole a set, Martin Klizan did the same and almost forced a fifth, and Juan Martin Del Potro went toe-to-toe with the top seed for most of two full sets before bowing out 7-6(8), 7-5, 6-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Now it is the surprising Khachanov who gets a shot at the world No. 1. Khachanov has advanced with victories over Nicolas Jarry, Tomas Berdych, and John Isner, surrendering one set to both Jarry and Isner along the way. The Russian is 53rd in the rankings at just 21 years old and he will soar into the top 40 for the first time in his career next week even if he loses to Murray. Khachanov served at a woeful 48 percent and double-faulted eight times but never got broken by Isner, but he now moves from one of the weakest returners in tennis to one of the best.

He will have to bring a much better serve to the table in order to have even a remote chance against Murray, who turned in one of his best performances of 2017 against Del Potro.

Pick: Murray in 4