RICKY’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 10 AT THE FRENCH OPEN: DJOKOVIC VS. THIEM AND NADAL VS. CARRENO BUSTA

Written by: Staff on 5th June 2017

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

RICKY'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 10 AT THE FRENCH OPEN: DJOKOVIC VS. THIEM AND NADAL VS. CARRENO BUSTA

epa06009669 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in action against Milos Raonic of Canada during their men?s singles 4th round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 04 June 2017. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG |

Ricky’s preview and picks for Day 10 at the French Open: Djokovic vs. Thiem and Nadal vs. Carreno Busta

By Ricky Dimon

The French Open has moved right along and we are already approaching the quarterfinal schedule as a big Tuesday looms at Roland Garros. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have made their way to the last eight and they now await respective showdowns against Dominic Thiem and Pablo Carreno Busta.

Ricky previews the first two men’s quarterfinal matches and makes his predictions.

(20) Pablo Carreno Busta vs. (4) Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain during their men’s singles 4th round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 04 June 2017. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG

It will be an another all-Spanish affair for Nadal when he faces his good friend and occasional doubles partner on Tuesday. Nadal crushed compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut on Sunday to reach the French quarterfinals for 11th time in his career. Carreno Busta took a much different path to what is his first-ever appearance in the quarters of a major. The Spaniard battled past Milos Raonic 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-4, 8-6 in the “Bull Ring” that is legendary Court 1.

This is the fourth career encounter between the two countrymen, with Nadal leading the head-to-head series 3-0. He is 6-1 in total sets following a pair of straight-set, clay-court wins in Rio de Janeiro (2015 and 2016) and a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 success on the hard courts of Doha early in 2016.

Fast forward more than a year since their last showdown and Carreno Busta is a much different player now. The world No. 21 will likely surpass his career-high ranking of 18th next week and he could be in the top eight in the race to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after this tournament even if he falls to Nadal. Carreno Busta, who is 27-13 in 2017 with a title in Estoril and a semifinal run at the Indian Wells Masters, preceded his defeat of Raonic by beating Florian Mayer, Taro Daniel, and Grigor Dimitrov.

Nadal has been his typically dominant King of Clay self so far. Perfect on clay in 2017 other than a Rome quarterfinal loss to Thiem, the nine-time Roland Garros winner thrashed Benoit Paire, Robin Haase, and Nikoloz Basilashvili before cruising past Bautista Agut. Nadal has lost a mere 20 total games through four rounds. He has not dropped more than four games in any set in six consecutive matches French Open matches dating back 2016.

Pick: Nadal in 3

(6) Dominic Thiem vs. (2) Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain during their men’s singles 4th round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 04 June 2017. EPA/TATYANA ZENKOVICH

Djokovic and Thiem will be colliding for the sixth time in their careers on Tuesday. The head-to-head series stands at 5-0 in favor of Djokovic, including 11-1 in total sets. He most recently hammered Thiem 6-1, 6-0 in the Rome semis. Dating back to their matchup at the 02 Arena last fall, Djokovic has taken their last four sets 6-0, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0. This stretch follows Thiem’s lone victorious set, which he won 7-6(10) at the year-end championship before getting steamrolled in the next two. This is a rematch of last season’s French Open semis, as well, in which Djokovic coasted 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 on the way to his way to his first title at Roland Garros.

The world No. 2’s 2016 success on the red clay of Paris came as no real surprise, because he dominated the entire first half of the year before a stunning Wimbledon loss to Sam Querrey touched off an extensive slump that still may not have concluded. This season has simply been a struggle for Djokovic. He is a decent 24-6 with no titles since January (a 250-pointer in Doha), and he followed up his Rome defeat of Thiem with an unceremonious 6-4, 6-3 loss at the hands of Alexander Zverev. So far this fortnight he has taken out Marcel Granollers, Joao Sousa, Diego Schwartzman, and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, requiring five sets against Schwartzman plus a trio of straight-set wins.

Thiem is a stellar 21-4 on clay in 2017, which is the main reason why he is on course for a repeat appearance at the World Tour Finals (currently No. 3 in the race). The 23-year-old won the Rio de Janeiro title and reached finals in Barcelona and Madrid in addition to his Rome performance. He has been the most dominant player aside from Nadal through four rounds of this French Open, having rolled over Bernard Tomic, Simone Bolelli, Steve Johnson, and Horacio Zeballos all in straight sets.

Thiem’s talent and current form are such that he is capable of winning this one, but his past failures against Djokovic and relative inexperience–at least compared to his opponent–in the latter stages of Grand Slams could be his undoing.

Pick: Djokovic in 5