Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas will kick off their Lyon campaigns when they help wrap up second-round action on Thursday afternoon. They may have their hands full with Cameron Norrie and Tommy Paul, respectively.
(1) Dominic Thiem vs. Cameron Norrie
Thiem and Norrie will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Lyon Open on Thursday. Their only previous meeting came three years ago on the hard courts of Acapulco, where Thiem prevailed 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. Clay obviously gives the Austrian a bigger advantage. Although his one Grand Slam triumph has come at the U.S. Open, he is a two-time French Open runner-up and has done most of his best work on the slow stuff. Thiem recently bounced back from an extended absence with a semifinal showing at the Madrid Masters.
Norrie, on the other hand, used to be a fish out of water on clay. However, the 49th-ranked Brit has reinvented himself on this surface with nine main-tour victories this spring plus successful qualification in Rome. He continued his fine form with a 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Corentin Moutet in the Lyon first round. Norrie will get a lot of balls back in play, but Thiem’s return has been mostly encouraging so far and he will be eager to get a few more matches under his belt in advance of Roland Garros.
Pick: Thiem in 2
Tommy Paul vs. (2) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas is quite simply looking like one of the top title contenders at the upcoming French Open. The world No. 5 leads the race to Turin thanks in part to a stellar run on clay that includes his first-ever Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo and a runner-up performance in Barcelona. Tsitsipas lost relatively early in Madrid to Casper Ruud and then got a rough draw in Rome, where he ran into top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals and lost a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 thriller.
Thursday also marks the second career contests between Tsitsipas and Paul. They previously faced each other at the 2019 Citi Open in Washington, D.C., where the Greek got the job done 6-3, 7-5. Paul is no slouch on clay. The 53rd-ranked American advanced one round in both Monte-Carlo and Madrid before successfully qualifying in Rome. He earned his eighth ATP-level match victory of the year by beating a rusty Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday in Lyon. This may not be a walk in the park for Tsitsipas, but it’s hard to see him losing to anyone outside the top 20 on clay these days.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 2
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