Ricky’s Tennis Picks For Day 4 Of The French Open, Including Federer vs. Otte And Nishikori vs. Tsonga

Kei Nishikori of Japan plays Quentin Halys of France during their men’s first round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 26 May 2019. EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT

 

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

Second-round action at the French Open begins on Wednesday, when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal take the court once again. Both all-time greats are expected to cruise, but what should be a more competitive contest will feature Kei Nishikori and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

 

Ricky previews three of Wednesday’s matches and makes his predictions.

 

(LL) Oscar Otte vs. (3) Roger Federer

Federer was well away of his first-round opponent in Paris, as Lorenzo Sonego made a real name for himself in 2018 and is especially capable on clay. No matter. Federer trounced the Italian 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Now the 37-year-old may have no clue of his second-round opponent’s existence–at least not without the benefit of YouTube. Otte is a lucky loser who fell to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the final round of qualifying but ended up finding himself in the main draw and capitalizing to the tune of a four-set victory over Malek Jaziri. A 25-year-old from Germany, Otte registers at No. 144 in the world.

He probably wouldn’t be any match for Federer even if this was the Swiss maestro’s first match on clay since 2016. But it isn’t. Federer returned from his two-year dirt hiatus earlier this spring, reaching quarterfinals in Madrid (lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas) and Rome (withdrew mainly to preserve himself for Paris). All signs–including the world No. 3’s performance against Sonego–point to a straight-set beatdown.

Pick: Federer in 3

 

(7) Kei Nishikori vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Nishikori and Tsonga will be facing each other for the ninth time in their careers on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 5-3 in Nishikori’s favor, but Tsonga survived their only previous clay-court encounter 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 at Roland Garros in 2015. Due partly to physical issues plaguing both men (mostly Tsonga), they have met only twice since that Paris thriller. Nishikori coasted 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at the 2016 Australian Open before the Frenchman prevailed via a 0-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) decision at the Paris Masters. However, that is not to say that Nishikori is hopeless when Tsonga has home-court advantage. The current world No. 7 previously gotten the job done at the Paris Masters in 2013 and 2014.

An obvious favorite this time, Nishikori comes in at No. 7 in the world even though his 20-9 record in 2019 is modest by his lofty standards. He is a respectable 7-3 in his last 10 clay-court matches this spring following Monday’s 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 disposal of French wild card Quentin Halys. Tsonga, meanwhile, treated the crowd to a 7-6(4), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Peter Gojowyczk. The world No. 82 is finally armed with a clean bill of health at the moment and he has parlayed the good fortune into a 17-8 record this season, which includes a title on the indoor hard courts of Montpellier and two semifinal showings. Tsonga is playing well enough to make this intriguing, but he would rather contest it on a faster, slicker surface.

Pick: Nishikori in 4

 

(21) Alex De Minaur vs. Pablo Carreno Busta

Due mainly to injuries, Carreno Busta has been unable to recapture the magic since enjoying incredible slam success in 2017. The Spaniard made a run to the French Open quarterfinals and fared even better at the U.S. Open, where a semifinal result propelled him to an alternate appearance in the Nitto ATP Finals. Carreno Busta is an abbreviated 4-7 in 2019, but he seemed to emerge from a considerable slump by destroying Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 on Monday.

Up next for the world No. 57 is a first-ever encounter with De Minaur, who has been dealing with physical problems of his own. The 20-year-old Aussie still finds himself at an impressive 25th in the rankings, but he has won only five matches since the end of the Australian summer. De Minaur had been 0-3 on clay this season before cruising past Bradley Klahn 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in his RG first-rounder. This is a much tougher test, of course, and Carreno Busta’s most recent performance suggests that he can give the youngster a free clay-court lesson.

Pick: Carreno Busta in 3

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.