Top seed Novak Djokovic will make his 2021 French Open debut against American Tennys Sandgren on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Jenson Brooksby–another American–takes on Australian Open semifinalist Aslan Karatsev.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Tennys Sandgren
If Rafael Nadal is the player most other players want to avoid early in the draw at the French Open, Novak Djokovic is a close second. Unfortunately for Tennys Sandgren, he drew the Roland Garros short straw. In fact, after the draw was revealed, the American took to Twitter to offer the following commentary on his…luck:
“F” indeed.
It’s not good news for Sandgren. In addition to the fact that he’s managed to win exactly one match on clay in five tries so far this season, he’s also 0-3 against the world No. 1. He did take a set off Djokovic at the 2018 U.S. Open, but he got shellacked in all of their other contested sets.
Djokovic comes into Roland Garros with a single clay-court title, which he won a couple of days ago at home in Belgrade. His form certainly isn’t the best it’s ever been on the dirt, but it’s plenty good enough to handle Sandgren.
Cheryl pick: Djokovic in 3
Ricky pick: Djokovic in 3
(24) Aslan Karatsev vs. (Q) Jenson Brooksby
This match is one of those appealing first-round encounters in which rankings don’t tell the whole story. Aslan Karatsev is probably the biggest surprise of the year so far on the ATP tour. The Russian came up through Australian Open qualifying and forged a path all the way to the semifinals, where he finally lost to Djokovic. He is currently ranked 26th in the world and he won the Dubai title.
Jenson Brooksby is ranked No. 163, and he has played zero main-draw matches this year so far. What he has done is win on the Challenger circuit. A lot. The young American, who turned 20 in October, has won three of his last five Challenger events…and he’s gotten to the final of a fourth. Like Karatsev in Australia, Brooksby earned his spot in this draw the hard way–through qualies.
While Karatsev is the easy pick, he may have to work hard to dispatch the American. Brooksby has shown some mettle already this tournament. He was down a set and a break in the third round of qualifying to Evan Furness before pulling off an unlikely comeback. Don’t be surprised if Brooksby snags a set or even two.
Cheryl pick: Karatsev in 4
Ricky pick: Karatsev in 4
WWW?
Sandgren looks more like a drunken uncle at a wedding than a tennis player! Good to see a Trumper moron get beat, I must say..
Nole looks very sharp and hungry with no sign of injury. He looks super motivated. He will be very tough to beat…