A couple of all-seeded affairs will headline Friday’s second-round schedule at Roland Garros, where David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov are in action. Goffin is going up against Gael Monfils, while Dimitrov is facing Fernando Verdasco.
(8) David Goffin vs. Gael Monfils
The previous Goffin vs. Monfils showdown at a slam–also in the third round–failed to live up to its potential at last summer’s U.S. Open. Monfils retired due to a knee injury while trailing 7-5, 5-1 as Goffin took a 2-1 lead in their head-to-head series at the main-tour level. The Belgian lost their maiden meeting 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4 at the 2016 Toronto Masters before he got the job done 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 a few months later in Shanghai.
Monfils is a one-time French Open semifinalist (2008) and three-time quarterfinalist, but simply reaching the third round this time around has to be considered a success. The injury-plagued Frenchman, struggling down at No. 37 in the world, had been just 2-5 in his last seven matches prior to arriving at Roland Garros. He dropped his opening set to little-known wild card Elliot Benchetrit but has since been on a roll, winning six straight sets by scorelines of nothing closer than 6-4 while crushing Benchetrit and Martin Klizan. But this is a whole different beast in Goffin, who is 8-1 in his last nine non-retirement matches at the French Open. The ninth-ranked Belgian has surrendered a grand total of 11 games in his last six sets since being pushed to the brink in the form of a two-set deficit against Robin Haase in round one. Monfils will likely be brilliant at times, but Goffin’s consistency should be way too much in the end.
Pick: Goffin in 4
[polldaddy poll=10018968]
(30) Fernando Verdasco vs. (4) Grigor Dimitrov
Dimitrov and Verdasco will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers on Friday. All four of their previous meetings have required third and deciding sets, and it would not be a surprise to see this one go the five-set distance. The head-to-head series stands at 2-2, including 1-1 on clay following encounters in 2013 and 2015, with Verdasco most recently prevailing 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 earlier this season in Indian Wells. Dimitrov, in fact, needed five sets to survive his second-round date with Jared Donaldson–which the Bulgarian did in 6-7(2), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 fashion after four hours and 19 minutes. He entered the French Open with an 0-3 record in his last three matches but ended that losing streak with a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(1) defeat of lucky loser Mohamed Safwat.
Verdasco’s scare came in the first round, when he outlasted Yoshihito Nishikori 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5 thanks in part to Nishioka cramping late in the fifth set–just as Donaldson had done against Dimitrov. The 30th-seeded Spaniard made much quicker work of Guido Andreozzi on Wednesday, cruising 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Verdasco, who upset Alexander Zverev last year at Roland Garros, has advanced out of the first round 13 straight years, has reached the fourth round seven times and the third round on three other occasions, but has never advanced to the quarterfinals. Solid but unspectacular is how the 34-year-old can be defined in Paris, and that may be enough to oust Dimitrov.
Pick: Verdasco in 5
[polldaddy poll=10018971]
Leave a Reply