Murray, Delpo, Nishikori, Wawrinka and Monfils – Who’ll win his round?
Murray v/s Del Potro
Murray leads Del Poto 6-3 in their H2H, however Delpo has won 2 of their last three meeting and the last clay encounter they had in Madrid in 2009. Murray previous round against Klizan was a tough 4 setter which indicated that Murray still needs to work on some of the kinks in his game which included an abysmally low first serve percentage hovering around 50%. Against Del Potro such low first serve percentage could cost Andy the match and Andy would also need to play more aggressive if he wishes to move into the next round here.
Delpo was given a walkover in his previous round by Almagro who retired due to injury when tied 1 set each. Delpo also had an easy first round match against Pella who Del Potro beat 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, which indicates that Delpo has yet to be tested at Roland Garros this year. However, Del Potro seems to be feeling good about himself and is quite capable of taking Andy out.
Conclusion: Murray in 5 sets
Verdasco v/s Cuevas
Interestingly enough all their meetings have happened on dirt and Pablo leads Nando 2-1 in their H2H. Cuevas has had an exceptional clay season this year and won 7 of last 10 on clay with two of his three losses coming at the hands of Thiem. Like Nando, Pablo too has beaten Alex Zverev, and looks very dangerous on clay so far.
Fernando has already taken out Alex Zverev here and looks primed for another win. With his solid serve and powerful groundies Fernando could do considerable damage in this meeting, but he had a tough five setter in his previous match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert which must have taken a toll on him. Pablo on the other hand has had two relatively easier matches so far and should be fresher for this encounter against Verdasco.
Conclusion: Cuevas in 5
Chung v/s Nishikori
Chung has been a discovery at this tournament! He has taken out two Novak slayers here so far and looks primed to take out yet another now. He overcame Dennis Istomin relatively easy with 6-1, 7-5, 6-1 score line and won an overall 35 more points than Istomin, and in the first round he withstood 19 aces to take out Sam Querrey in four sets. He looks very comfortable on the clay here and is playing like a seasoned clay courter.
Nishikori on the other hand had a four setter against Kokkinakis in the first round followed by a convincing three set victory over Jeremy Chardy in the 2nd in which he won 25 more points overall. These two have never faced off before but have had pretty good clay seasons in 2017 with Nishikori winning 7 of 10 and Chung 8 of 10 on clay so far.
This encounter has the making of an upset.
Conclusion: Chung in 5
Wawrinka v/s Fognini
Now this one could be a classic, especially if Fognini manages to hold it together for a couple of hours. Fabio would be the second tricky opponent that Wawrinka wil face after his last round against Dolgopolov which Stan won in tough 3 sets. Wawrinka is beginning to look dangerous now and has had ample practice against tricky opponents too.
Fognini had an eaiser second round against Seppi but was extended to five sets in the first by Tiafoe. Wawrinka has a 5-1 H2H lead but the last time they played was in 2014 so Stan’s lead doesn’t really count for much at the moment. Fabio is playing well but is he playing well enough to get past an ominous Wawrinka?
Conclusion: Wawrinka in 4
Gasquet v/s Monfils
Monfils is not only ranked higher but has a 7-6 H2H advantage over Gasquet at the moment. I have been seeing a different Monfils at the French Open, this Gael is hugging the baseline and moving in aggressively to finish short balls. This is in stark contrast to the Monfils who was generally found hanging 10 feet behind the baseline attempting to execute winners from there.
Monfils journey to the 3rd round has been pretty uneventful by his standards. Both his matches against Monteiro in the 2nd round, and Brown in the 1st have been won in straight sets. However, with Monfils this may or may not indicate consistency, as one never knows what to expect from Monfils.
Gasquet recently beat Monfils on clay at Marseille and has been playing quite well here. His first round against De Greef was extended to 4 sets but he had an easier three sets encounter against Victor Estrella Burgos in the second and should be well prepared to take on his fellow countryman now.
Conclusion: Monfils in 4