The French Open men’s tournament rolls on with the start of second-round action in Paris and so do our tennis picks. Rain stayed away on Tuesday, enabling the tournament to get back on schedule. On Tuesday, we had a perfect day with our tennis picks. We went 3-0 with our selections and each of them didn’t make us sweat very much. We had David Ferrer over Evgeny Donskoy and Ferrer won very easily in straight sets. Donskoy actually only won three games the entire match. We also had Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who took care of business quickly too. Lastly, we had David Goffin and he disposed of Gregoire Barrere in three sets, winning 6-3, 6-3 and 6-4. We didn’t have to worry too much, unlike Andy Murray. His performance was one of the highlights of the day as he barely edged out Radek Stepanek. He needed to win the fifth set 7-5 just to survive and advance. He was actually down two sets at one point.
Now on Wednesday, the schedule is fully in alignment with what it is supposed to be. Will players in the bottom half of the draw be able to meet expectations at this clay-court event?
Milos Raonic vs. Adrian Mannarino
There is something to be said for Mannarino: He is the man who took Andy Murray to a fifth set in the 2015 U.S. Open. He actually won the first two sets and put Murray in deep trouble, but he could not hang on. Murray rolled past him in the last three sets, and the Frenchman never came particularly close to winning the match. He is dangerous, but he very rarely finds a way to finish matches against top-10 players or others with considerably higher skill sets than what he owns. Mannarino might be able to sneak out one set at most, very possibly by winning a tiebreaker, but that’s his ceiling. It’s more probable that Raonic will find a way to break his serve in each set and take this match in very routine fashion. What has to encourage Raonic is that he was not troubled too much in his first-round match. His ability to move smoothly through a straight-set victory should increase the feeling that his recent injuries aren’t affecting him much. If Raonic is healthy, he’s a force to be reckoned with. He very nearly made the Australian Open final this year before a fourth-set injury cost him in a loss to Andy Murray. If he’s in good health, he’s closer to a top-five player than a top-15 player. He’s made that many improvements over the past several months. Take him with your tennis picks.
Pick: Raonic in straight sets
Gilles Simon vs. Guido Pella
This should be a straightforward match. Simon is a solid player who will win a few matches at a Grand Slam event. He won’t go really deep, but he’ll get through the initial rounds against comparatively mediocre players. Guido Pella is the definition of that comparatively mediocre player. He’s been unable to go deep at the majors. He usually does not reach Masters 1000 events during the ATP tennis season. He is scratching out a living in the lower levels of the ATP Tour. Simon should be able to devour him without too much trouble on Wednesday. Take Simon with your tennis picks.
Pick: Simon in straight sets
Bjorn Fratangelo vs. Richard Gasquet
This is a matchup in which Gasquet should have it easy. Fratangelo beat fellow American Sam Querrey in the first round. Querrey is a mediocre player who is especially bad on red clay. That win was a big one for Fratangelo, but it came against the kind of player who will not reveal much about an opponent’s clay-court form. Gasquet is a top-15 player with a full assortment of shots. He represents a totally different and far bigger challenge for Fratangelo. Gasquet should be able to beat an overwhelmed opponent in three sets, so take him with your tennis picks.
Pick: Gasquet in straight sets
