Geneva champion and 2018 French Open quarterfinalist Alexander Zverev kicks off his French Open bid against John Millman on Tuesday. Roberto Bautista Agut, who did not fare quite as well in Lyon last week, takes on American Steve Johnson.
(5) Alexander Zverev vs. John Millman
Until last week, 2019 was mostly filled with disappointment for Alexander Zverev. The No. 5 seed remained titleless and his lackluster play in the clay Masters events resulted in a ranking slip out of the top four. Following his ouster in his opening match in Rome (where he was defending finalist points), he said, “The match I played was horrendous” and he went on to add, “I do not feel like playing tennis right now.”
Apparently he got over his Rome disappointment quickly, because he went on to win in Geneva last week–defeating an in-form Chilean Nicolas Jarry for the trophy. Of course, the rest of the top players took last week off, but Zverev clearly needed the confidence boost. Whether the German will be more fatigued from his efforts remains to be seen.
John Millman played last week, as well, but just two matches. The world No. 56 hasn’t been particularly impressive this season, either. His best tournament was a quarterfinal showing at the 500-level event in Acapulco; he hasn’t won more than a single match at a time during the European clay swing.
Under different circumstances, this might have been a match to watch as a possible first-round upset. However, with Millman limping through the clay season and Zverev capturing his first title of the season a couple of days ago, this one should be business as usual for the favorite.
Cheryl pick: Zverev in 4
Ricky pick: Zverev in 4
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(18) Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Steve Johnson
American Steve Johnson will face a number of hurdles in his first-round match against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut. First, he has never beaten Bautista Agut despite six career chances to do so since 2014. Next, he hasn’t had a particularly strong year; he’s 6-11 on the season with no titles. The one spot of good news for the American is that he actually won a couple of matches on the dirt last week in Lyon, so he does not come into Roland Garros completely cold.
Bautista Agut has not enjoyed strong results on clay in 2019, either. His best showing came in Munich, where he lost in the semifinals to Italian Matteo Berrettini. Otherwise, he’s had a series of early losses, including last week in Lyon where he won a single match before going out to American Taylor Fritz. He is ranked 21st in the world but seems susceptible to an early round exit in Paris. Their match record seems to imply that 18th seed will be the player advancing to the second round, but Johnson could make a match of it in the meantime.
Cheryl pick: Bautista Agut in 4
Ricky pick: Bautista Agut in 3
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Zv in 3…and RBA in 3😻🇫🇷🎾
Millman competitiveness should see him win a set against a tiring Zverev that cant seem to stay focused for a full grand slam match. Even though its Millman’s weakest surface, he’s game is reasonmably suited to the clay and he will ask enough questions to expose Zverev’s mental inconsistency at some stage during the match.
Zverev in 4
RBA has should have enough matches under his belt to be playing tight clay court tennis again and Johnson is just not strong enough on the clay to snatch a set against a player that’s renowned for not giving much away.
RBA in 3
Actually, taking a closer look at his results, RBA will be doing very well to win this in 3. Losses and dropping sets to lower ranked opponents has been norm for him this clay court season.
We underestimated AZ. Once again he’s kicked off his slam with a 5 setter. Otoh, RBA took care of business against a struggling opponent.
I was at this match, unbelievable that Zverev could not put this match away in 3!!!! He squandered so many opps and made countless unforced errors!! Sigh!!!