French Open R1 previews and picks: Federer vs. Falla, Karlovic vs. Baghdatis

The French Open gets underway on Sunday and will feature Roger Federer on the first day of action. Federer is facing Alejandro Falla, while Ivo Karlovic is going up against Marcos Baghdatis.

(LL) Alejandro Falla vs. (2) Roger Federer

Federer and Falla will be squaring off for the eighth time in their careers when they collide in round one of the French Open on Sunday. The head-to-head series stands at a perfect 7-0 in Federer’s favor, including 2-0 on clay. Both of their previous encounters on the slow stuff have come at Roland Garros; the Swiss prevailed 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in 2006 and 2010. Since losing his first 11 sets against Federer, Falla has pushed his heavily-favored opponent the distance in two of their last three matches and the other was 7-6(2), 7-6(3) in last year’s Halle final. Their most memorable meeting came five years ago at Wimbledon, where Federer survived 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-0 during first-round action.

Although Falla is two years younger at 31, he is the one who seems to be slowing down. The  Colombian registers at No. 111 in the world with a modest record of 5-6 at the ATP level this season. Falla successfully qualified for recent Masters 1000 events in Miami and Madrid but failed in his bid to get into the Rome main draw. Federer is in fine form with a 25-5 record for his 2015 campaign that has him at second in the rankings. The 17-time Grand Slam champion triumphed earlier this month in Istanbul and he is coming off a runner-up showing in Rome. This will be far more routine than their three most recent tilts and Falla, who got in as a lucky loser, can expect to be put away in swift fashion.

Pick: Federer in 3 losing 8-10 games

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(25) Ivo Karlovic vs. Marcos Baghdatis

Karlovic and Baghdatis will be facing each other for the fourth time in their careers on Sunday. Baghdatis leads the head-to-head series 2-1 and he has won both of their previous meetings that have been played to completion. The Cypriot got the job done 6-4, 6-4 seven years ago in Marseille and 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(7) earlier this season in Zagreb (both indoors). They also clashed at the 2008 Metz event, where Baghdatis retired while leading by a set.

Neither man has played much on clay this year; in fact, the two veterans own identical 1-2 records on the surface. Karlovic last played in Madrid, where he went down easily to Richard Gasquet in the first round. Baghdatis fell in the Bucharest second round and lost his Nice opener this week to eventual finalist Thomaz Bellucci in three sets. Both players have struggled mightily at French Open, so this is a tough one to call. A slight edge may go to Karlovic thanks to his ability to win an extraordinary number of free points on serve.

Pick: Karlovic in 4

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