Daniil Medvedev will look to doubles his lifetime win total at Roland Garros when he takes the court against Tommy Paul on Wednesday. Second-round action also features a showdown between Fabio Fognini and Marton Fucsovics.
Tommy Paul vs. (2) Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev had never won a French Open match in his entire career prior to Monday, but he got on the scoreboard with a 6-3, 6-3 7-5 victory over Alexander Bublik. Clay is obviously the second-ranked Russian’s worst surface, but it’s not like he is entire hopeless on it (for example, he reached the Barcelona final in 2019) and he has insisted that the specific conditions at Roland-Garros are good for his game. Medvedev has never been one to fabricate stories to the media, and based on his performance against Bublik there is no reason to believe him.
Paul probably liked his chances when he saw the draw, but he was not particularly impressive in round one despite winning and Medvedev’s form was encouraging. Paul outlasted Christopher O’Connell 10-8 in the fifth set on Monday. A time of three hours and 33 minutes was not a marathon for the 52nd-ranked American, but he is also coming off a long week in Parma (lost to Sebastian Korda in the semi-finals). Medvedev is a tenacious counter-puncher no matter the surface and he should be able to wear down his opponent in the end.
Pick: Medvedev in 4
(27) Fabio Fognini vs. Marton Fucsovics
Fognini and Fucsovics will be facing each other for the fourth time in their careers on Wednesday. They most recently squared off two years ago at Wimbledon, where Fognini took a 2-1 lead in the head-to-head series by prevailing 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3.
Another good one should be in the cards, although you never know what you are going to get from Fognini on any given day. The 29th-ranked Italian easily dismissed Gregoire Barrere in round one, but he has been past round two of a tournament only once since the Australian Open (Monte-Carlo quarterfinals). Fucsovics, who beat Medvedev in his opener last year, eased past Gilles Simon in straight sets. The 44th-ranked Hungarian made a run to the fourth round last fall (lost to Andrey Rublev in a fourth-set tiebreaker) and confidence from that performance may see him through to a minor upset.
Pick: Fucsovics in 5
WWW?
I think Fognini was good for a round but will not have the stamina at his age to go on with it.
Fucsovics in 4.
Medvedev is a different beast over 5 sets as he slowly dissects his opponents games. He should keep winning until he meets a top 10 clay court player.
Med in 3; Fvitz in 4.