David Goffin and Alexander Zverev will kick off their French Open campaigns on Day 1. Sunday’s schedule pits Goffin against Robin Haase, while Zverev begins a bid for his first truly successful slam against Ricardas Berankis.
(8) David Goffin vs. Robin Haase
Goffin and Haase will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers when they collide in round one of the French Open on Sunday. The head-to-head series stands at 4-1 in favor of Goffin, who most recently prevailed 7-5, 6-3 on the red clay of Madrid earlier this spring. Haase’s lone victory came last summer via a 7-5, 6-1 decision a couple of moths after his opponent had sustained a freak ankle injury at Roland Garros.
Another crazy injury (this time to his eye) plagued Goffin in February and March, but he has shaken off the rust to become a serious contender in the bottom half of this draw. The ninth-ranked Belgian’s clay-court swing features quarterfinal performances in Monte-Carlo and Rome plus a semifinal result in Barcelona. Haase, meanwhile, is just 11-14 for his 2018 campaign and a mere 2-5 on clay. The 44th-ranked Dutchman would probably rather run into Goffin on a different surface in order to shorten points and avoid grueling baseline rallies, but alas that will not be the case. Moreover, the eighth seed basically has home court advantage in Paris–where the Belgian fans always turn up in raucous style.
Pick: Goffin in 3
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Ricardas Berankis vs. (2) Alexander Zverev
Zverev has excelled at every level of the main tour–except for Grand Slams. The 21-year-old German hopes to begin turning things around in that department when he faces Berankis on Sunday. Zverev has captured four 250-point titles, one 500-point title, and–most impressively–three Masters 1000 winners’ trophies. He has also finished runner-up at two other Masters 1000s to go along with two additional final appearances at 500s. As for slams, the world No. 3 is just 14-11 lifetime and has never advanced to a quarterfinal. But this fortnight is when things could really change. Zverev is an awesome 17-3 on clay this season (17-1 against opponents not named Rafael Nadal) with titles in Munich and Madrid. He led Nadal 3-1 in the third set of the recent Rome final before a rain delay halted his momentum and contributed to a tough but still impressive loss.
Berankis, whom Zverev has never faced, heads into Roland Garros at No. 92 in the world. The Lithuanian has not played a match since early April and has not competed at the ATP level since the Miami Masters in late March, when he qualified and then fell to Radu Albot in a third-set tiebreaker. Berankis is 0-4 for his career in the main draw of the French Open and is also 0-for-2 in qualifying tries. A setback on Sunday would be by far the biggest choke of Zverev’s slam career; it is simply not going to happen.
Pick: Zverev in 3
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