It promises to be another day of entertaining tennis on day three at the French Open. There are 20 first-round matches on the schedule and, as always, we here at LWOT are offering our predictions for every match, including Casper Ruud vs Elias Ymer, Gael Monfils vs Sebastian Baez, Daniil Medvedev vs Thiago Seyboth Wild and Taylor Fritz vs Michael Mmoh. But who will reach the second round?
French Open Day 3 Predictions
Richard Gasquet vs Arthur Rinderknech
Yesh: Is this a final hurrah for Richard Gasquet? He can still show flashes of brilliance at times, but the consistency and game aren’t there anymore enough. Against a fellow countryman he won’t even have overwhelming crowd support. At some point, the body just doesn’t hold up.
Prediction: Rinderknech in 5
Damian: Not an easy one to predict with Rinderknech coming back after an injury and Gasquet being very average lately. Who can produce more magic in front of the French crowd? Maybe if it goes five, the veteran could fall into a bit of trouble as the best-of-five format might be challenging for him at this stage of his career.
Prediction: Rinderknech in 5
Jack: Neither Frenchman would pick clay as their favourite surface but there should still be plenty of quality hitting in this encounter. Gasquet probably pulls ahead slightly in terms of an edge with his spinning one-hander. Time is also running out for the veteran who is still playing great tennis—can he make one more deep run at a Slam?
Prediction: Gasquet in 4Embed from Getty Images
Nicolas Jarry vs Hugo Dellien
Yesh: Nicolas Jarry should be a dark horse for the title here. He just came off a win last week, and looks to be in some of the best form of his career. Is he on the level of a Novak Djokovic or a Carlos Alcaraz right now? No, but he’s not that far off.
Prediction: Jarry in 3
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Damian: The conditions in Geneva are much faster than in Paris and Jarry’s title run doesn’t actually mean that much. But even with that and his inconsistent playstyle, he’s still a big favorite over Dellien here, mostly as the Bolivian has been struggling with injury issues again recently.
Prediction: Jarry in 3
Jack: Jarry is definitely seeing the ball well on clay but the altitude in Geneva would certainly have helped him in his title charge. Regardless, there’s no denying the level he’s bringing from the baseline which he’ll need in this match-up against Dellien. The Chilean won’t quite reach the heights of Santiago and Geneva but he’s in good enough form to make a decent run in Paris.
Prediction: Jarry in 4
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J.J. Wolf vs Yoshihito Nishioka
Yesh: Yoshihito Nishioka is a very solid player, hard to hit through on any surface. He’s in a bit of a slump, though, and J.J. Wolf has played well enough on clay this last month that we can expect him to capitalise.
Prediction: Wolf in 4
Damian: Wolf is just starting to play on red clay and he’s already had a few decent matches with that slider serve looking pretty deadly. He might actually have a shot here against Nishioka, who’s constantly doesn’t seem to be at all in the right headspace at the moment.
Prediction: Wolf in 5
Jack: This should be pretty close. Nishioka’s serve and backhand are relatively ineffective on this surface but that doesn’t mean he can’t cause opponents problems with his loopy lefty forehand. Wolf should control the lion’s share of the points but the repeated quality required to dispatch the Japanese will probably see this go the distance.
Prediction: Wolf in 5
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Holger Rune vs Christopher Eubanks
Yesh: Holger Rune is very quickly becoming a star. While Eubanks has been improving at a relatively impressive rate, he’s got nothing on one of the potential champions of this tournament.
Prediction: Rune in 3
Damian: Eubanks is not as terrible on clay as you might think, but he’s not tour-level quality on this surface either. Especially on the slower courts in Paris, his chances just don’t look great here at all. The serve will be neutralized by a great returner like Rune and the one-hander will get picked on.
Prediction: Rune in 3
Jack: Rune has been given a relatively comfortable first round. Eubanks at his best can do damage with his huge serve but on clay, this will make far less of an impact against one of the best returners in the world. Rune’s plan A should do the trick here.
Prediction: Rune in 3
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
