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Zverev: Stefanos Tsitsipas is Favorite in Bottom Half of Roland Garros Draw

Stefanos Tsitsipas made history with his run to the Roland Garros final last June.

Alexander Zverev tabs Tsitsipas as the bottom-half favorite to return to the French Open final.

While world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, 13-time champion Rafael Nadal, 19-year-old Madrid champion Carlos Alcaraz and the third-seeded Zverv, who fell to Alcaraz in the Madrid final, will all fight it out in the top half of the draw, opportunity arises from the bottom half.

A year ago, Tsitsipas knocked off Daniil Medvedev and Zverev in succession making history as the first Greek to reach a Grand Slam singles final.

The fourth-seeded Tsitsipas has a tough opener against talented Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who pushed Djokovic to five sets in the 2021 Roland Garros fourth round.

Still, Zverev cites two-time Monte-Carlo champion Tsitsipas as the top favorite from the bottom half.

“I think the way Stefanos has been playing this clay court season he has a very good chance of making it to the finals,” Zverev told the media in Paris today. “I think there is no question about it. He’s probably been the best player on clay from that bottom half that we have.”

Andrey Rublev of Russia in action at Roland Garros in Paris, France. EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT

World No. 2 Medvedev, who fell to Richard Gasquet this week in his first match since recovering from hernia surgery, faces 98th-ranked Facundo Bagnis in his opener.

Miami finalist Casper Ruud, who plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Frenchman’s farewell match, No. 7-seeded Andrey Rublev, 11th-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner and 16th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta are all threats in the bottom half, but Zverev asserts Tsitsipas remains the favorite to make a final return.

“I think Andrey has a very good chance going deep this tournament, as well,” Zverev said. “Daniil is No. 2 in the world. I think he needs some time to go back from his injury and to adjust to the clay courts, as well. Ruud has been playing very well on clay.

“For me, yeah, from the bottom half, Stefanos is the favorite, and I think any other player would say the same thing, just simply by the results as well.”