Ernests Gulbis will be hoping to keep his Roland Garros run going on Saturday at the expense of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is coming off a five-setter. Tomas Berdych and Pablo Cuevas are also aiming for a spot in the fourth round.
Ernests Gulbis vs. (8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Tsonga and Gulbis will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers when they collide in round three of the French Open on Saturday. Tsonga is leading the head-to-head series 3-2, but Gulbis has gotten the job done in each of their two most recent encounters. Their only previous Grand Slam showdown came three years ago at Wimbledon, where Gulbis led 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 before getting a retirement. The Latvian prevailed again on the indoor hard courts of Marseille via a 7-6(5), 6-4 decision. This marks the first-ever clay-court contest between Gulbis and Tsonga.
For the world No. 80, this has already been a surprisingly productive tournament. He had been just 5-10 for the season and had not yet won back-to-back matches at any tournament prior to his arrival in Paris. From out of nowhere, however, Gulbis has coasted past both Andreas Seppi and Joao Sousa in straight sets. Tsonga had no such routine day at the office in the second round, but he managed to overcome Marcos Baghdatis 6-7(6), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. That was preceded by a more comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 opening defeat of Jan-Lennard Struff. Both of these guys have a history of success at Roland Garros. The best tournament of Gulbis’ career came in 2014, when he upset Roger Federer on his way to the semifinals; Tsonga is a two-time semifinalist, including last year. Three straight near-flawless matches may be too much to ask of the underdog, and Tsonga should once again feed off the crowd en route to another hard-fought victory.
Pick: Tsonga in 5
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(25) Pablo Cuevas vs. (7) Tomas Berdych
The 2016 campaign has been a roller-coaster ride for Berdych, and only the start of it trended up. He burst out of the gates with a semifinal showing in Doha, a quarterfinal performance at the Australian Open, and another semifinal appearance in Marseille. But it has been downhill for the eighth-ranked Czech ever since he got blown out in consecutive weeks by Nick Kyrgios (Marseille and Dubai). Berdych recently split from coach Dani Vallverdu after he got infamously double-bageled by David Goffin in Rome. The No. 7 seed, however, may be getting things together following routine victories this week over Vasek Pospisil and Malek Jaziri.
It is safe to say the competition level ratchets up exponentially in the form of Cuevas, who is 1-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series. Their only previous meeting came last fall on the hard courts of Beijing, where Cuevas cruised 6-4, 6-4. That was a considerable surprise on a hard court, but no one could be shocked to see the Uruguayan beat Berdych on clay. All five of his career titles have come on the slow stuff, including two this year in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The world No. 30 cooled off just a bit on the current European clay swing but still owns a solid 20-9 record for the season. He has won six consecutive sets this week at the expense of Tobias Kamke and Quentin Halys since dropping his opener against Kamke. Now that Berdych has to face a traditional clay-courter, his woes are likely to be extended.
Pick: Cuevas in 4
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