10SBALLS SHARES RICKY’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 8 AT THE 2017 FRENCH OPEN – NADAL VS. BAUTISTA AGUT AND DJOKOVIC VS. RAMOS-VINOLAS

Written by: Staff on 3rd June 2017

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

10SBALLS SHARES RICKY'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 8 AT THE 2017 FRENCH OPEN - NADAL VS. BAUTISTA AGUT AND DJOKOVIC VS. RAMOS-VINOLAS

epa06006071 A detail of court preparing stuff during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 02 June 2017. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG |

Ricky’s preview and picks for Day 8 at the French Open, including Nadal vs. Bautista Agut and Djokovic vs. Ramos-Vinolas

By Ricky Dimon

Fourth-round action at the French Open will begin on Sunday, when Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic resume their campaigns following much different matches on Friday. Nadal is going up against Roberto Bautista Agut, while Djokovic is facing Albert Ramos-Vinolas. A red-hot Dominic Thiem is also part of the schedule.

Ricky previews three of the best Day 8 matchups and makes his predictions.

(17) Roberto Bautista Agut vs. (4) Rafael Nadal

Nadal was unable to play his third-round match last year. Unfortunately for Nikoloz Basilashvili, the Spaniard was more than capable of doing so this time around. A healthy and confident Nadal played and played brutally well on Friday afternoon, rolling to a 6-0, 6-1, 6-0 demolition of the Georgian in one hour and 30 minutes. Thus continued a dominant run through the bracket up to this point, as the nine-time French Open champion has previously destroyed Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 and Robin Haase 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. Nadal is now 75-2 lifetime at Roland Garros and 20-1 on clay this season.

Next up for the Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Madrid winner on Sunday is a second career encounter with Bautista Agut. Their only previous contest came three years ago in Madrid, where Nadal coasted 6-4, 6-3. Bautista Agut did not exactly steamroll his way into the fourth round like Nadal, but he surrendered only two sets in defeats of John Millman, Mikhail Kukushkin (in a fourth-set tiebreaker), and Jiri Vesely. The No. 17 seed is an impressive 24-9 in 2017 with a title in Chennai. Even though Bautista Agut is an all-court player, he is one of the few Spaniards who prefer hard to clay and he would obviously choose to go up against Nadal on any other surface.

Pick: Nadal in 3

(19) Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs. (2) Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts as he plays Diego Schwartzman of Argentina during their men’s single 3rd round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 02 June 2017. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG

Djokovic and Ramos-Vinolas will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers on Sunday. The world No. 2 recently improved to 3-0 lifetime against Ramos-Vinolas by prevailing 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on the indoor hard court of a Davis Cup quarterfinal rubber in Serbia. Djokovic also secured a pair of victories in 2015; 7-5, 6-3 in Indian Wells and 6-1, 6-4 in Monte-Carlo.

The defending French Open champion eased through two rounds earlier this fortnight, but he ran into major trouble against Diego Schwartzman on Friday afternoon. Djokovic trailed two sets to one before raising his level en route to a 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 success. Ramos-Vinolas survived a five-setter of his own on Friday, when he trailed Lucas Pouille two sets to one and then had no problem taking the fourth and the fifth. The 20th-ranked Spaniard finished runner-up to Nadal in Monte-Carlo and pushed Andy Murray to a third-set tiebreaker in the Barcelona quarters, but his next three clay-court tournaments featured nothing but losses.

Pick: Djokovic in 3

(6) Dominic Thiem vs. Horacio Zeballos

Dominic Thiem of Austria in action against Steve Johnson of the USA during their men’s single 3rd round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 02 June 2017. EPA/YOAN VALAT

Thiem likely thought he would face good friend and familiar foe David Goffin in the fourth round. That all changed, however, when Goffin took a nasty tumble near the back of the court while he was playing against Zeballos, and an ankle injury forced him to retire late in the first set. As such, Zeballos’ flawless run through the Roland Garros bracket continued. The veteran Argentine previously did not donate a single set in wins over Adrian Mannarino and Ivo Karlovic. He is now 15-13 (ATP level) this year and 11-4 on red clay this spring.

Nobody other than Nadal, however, has been more consistent on the slow stuff than Thiem. The 23-year-old Austrian is 20-4 on the surface with a title in Rio de Janeiro, runner-up finishes in Barcelona and Madrid, and a semifinal performance in Rome. So far in Paris he has taken out Bernard Tomic, Simone Bolelli, and Steve Johnson in straight sets. The world No. 7’s dominance is likely to continue at least until a potential quarterfinal date with Djokovic.

Pick: Thiem in 3