Novak Djokovic will kick off his French Open campaign on Tuesday against David Goffin. Mikhail Youzhny and Pablo Andujar are also looking for a place in the second round.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. David Goffin
Djokovic and Goffin will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they meet in round one of the French Open on Tuesday afternoon. Nothing–including his draw, of course–suggests Goffin will be able to duplicate his performance last season, when he got a lucky-loser spot in the bracket then went all the way to the fourth round before extending Roger Federer to four sets. The 22-year-old Belgian is a horrendous 7-14 at the ATP level this season, which includes a double-bagel loss to Jarkko Nieminen in Rotterdam and a 2-5 mark on clay (not counting Challengers).
Djokovic is attempting to complete a career Grand Slam with his first title on the red dirt of Roland Garros. The top-ranked Serb has been to the quarterfinals or beyond six times and made a roller-coaster run to last year’s final before falling to Rafael Nadal. Results for Djokovic this season make it difficult to gauge his prospects for the upcoming fortnight. After losing prior to the title match in both Indian Wells and Miami, he ended Nadal’s Monte-Carlo reign with a 6-2, 7-6(1) victory in the final. However, Djokovic lost his Madrid opener to Grigor Dimitrov and he fell to Tomas Berdych in the Rome quarters after leading 6-2, 5-2.
This is a nightmare matchup for Goffin, whose serve is the weakest part of his game. Djokovic, meanwhile, is arguable the best returner in tennis. It would be a surprise if the favorite needs much more than an hour and a half to advance.
Pick: Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-0
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(29) Mikhail Youzhny vs. Pablo Andujar
Youzhny and Andujar will also be squaring off for the first time in their careers on Tuesday. Youzhny is the favorite on paper as the No. 29 seed, but Andujar clearly has a surface advantage on clay. The 45th-ranked Spaniard has advanced one round in each of the last five French Opens and he had eight set points in a 2011 third set against Nadal before losing in straights. Andujar made a run to the Madrid semifinals earlier this month (lost to Nadal) and he is coming off a semifinal showing in Nice.
On the other hand, Youzhny has struggled this season on the slow stuff–in fact, he has had problems on every surface. The 30-year-old Russian owns a 10-12 record, including 4-5 on clay. He reached the Madrid third round (lost to Nadal), but that was only after a miracle first-round escape against Fabio Fognini. Youzhny scored a nice win over Tommy Haas in his last event at the Rome Masters, but he followed that up with a straight-set loss to Gilles Simon. This should be an extended baseline war, but the edge goes to Andujar based on current form and surface.
Pick: Andujar in 5
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