Nadal, Novak, Thiem & Goffin – Men’s Day Four Recap & Round Three Predictions

Nadal marches on

Nadal made short of Robin Haase in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 and did not give much of a chance or break-point opportunity to the dangerous and powerful Haase.   He had  33 winners with only 13 unforced and was better in all aspects of the game except the ace count with Hasse firing 2 more aces than Nadal.   Nadal even made more trips to the net than Hasse!  With this showing Nadal improves his H2H against Hasse to 3-0 and recorded a win over Robin on all three surfaces.  Nadal is looking dangerous by the match and his form is primed to win him his 10^th French Open title in 2017.  He is 74-2 lifetime on Roland Garros and 19-1 on clay for this season.  Who can stop Nadal now from claiming his 10^th title here?

Nadal moves on to the 3^r round to meet Basilashvili who himself needed three tie breaks to overcome Victor Troicki.

Conclusion:  Nadal over Basilashvili in 3

Djokovic approaching form

In his second round Djokovic tamed Joao Sousa for the fourth time in as many meetings with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 score line.  Djokovic was quite assertive and made Joao run from corner to corner while he controlled the center of the court to make life very difficult for Sousa.  Novak hit 34 winners and converted 6 of 14 break points to emerge with an improved 4-0 H2H against Sousa.  Sousa has never taken a set of Novak and this match was more or less Novak’s match throughout .  Although Djokovic dominated the first two sets, it seemed somewhere in the second set he lost a little bit of control.  “Midway second set until maybe midway third set, that’s where I allowed him to believe more that he can get back into the match, and he started playing better. I felt like maybe I took the foot off the gas a little bit,” said Djokovic.

This is Novak’s 12^th straight year in the 3^rd round of the French and it seems he is coming into his own gradually but it is too soon to proclaim a return to form as he is yet to be tested against the caliber of a Nadal, or Wawrinka, or even Cuevas or Goffin for that matter.  Similarly, it is too premature to ascertain any affects of his partnership with Andre Agassi in so short a time frame.

His third round opponent will be Diego Schwartzman who Novak beat once at the 2014 US Open.   Diego has had a mediocre season on clay, and Novak is favorite to win their next encounter too.

Conclusion:  Novak over Schwartzman in 3

Dimitrov wins 2 matches in a row

In three closely fought sets Dimitrov beat Robredo 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 and won his 2^nd match at Roland Garros.  In his victory Grigor fired 4 aces, made 68% of his first serves and won 86% of his first serve points.  He also won 74% of his 27 forays to the net and had 43 winners to Tommy’s 20.  He dominated the match and won 21 more overall points than Robredo.

Dimitrov gets to play Carreno Busta in the 3^rd and leads their H2H 3-1.  Grigor lost the last match to Busta in Madrid Masters on clay in 2016 but has beaten him twice on dirt earlier.  Grgor will need to be at his top level to win this one.

Conclusion:  Dimitrov over Busta in 4

Lucas Pouille reaches the 3^rd

After eking out the first set in a tough fought tie break, Lucas did not waste much time to finish off Tomas Bellucci 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, 6-2 in the following two sets.  Bellucci was dominating for most part in the first set until tie break and was toe-to-toe with Lucas during the breaker too.  However, he suddenly went away in the 2^nd set and made it too easy for Lucas thereafter.   Pouille will face Ramos-Vinolas who has a 2-1 wining H2H against Pouille and recently beat Lucas at the semifinals round of the 2017 Monte Carlo Masters.

Conclusion:  Lucas Pouille over Ramos-Vinolas in 4  

Thiem squares off against Steve Johnson

Thiem breezed past Simon Bolelli 7-5, 6-1, 6-3  in a powerful display of tennis where he hit 42 winners, converted 6 of his 30 break-point chances and fired 8 aces to end Bolelli’s 2017 French Open campaign.   Thiem has been silently forging ahead and is a contender behind Rafa.    Thiem’s problem like Zverev is his tendency to get mired in prolonged exchanges 10 feet behind the baseline and that can cost him dearly in the second week of the tournament.  He will meet Steve Johnson who had a roller coaster of a match to ward off Borna Coric in closely contested four sets.  Steve fired off 12 aces, 54 winners and won 22 of 34 trips to the net as compared to Borna’s 10 aces, 55 winners and 34 of 52 forays to the net.   Johnson lost his father recently and is going through a personally emotional  period at the moment and it may not be easy to focus fully on the encounter with Thiem.

Conclusion:  Thiem over Johnson in 4

Goffin slides under the radar into round 3 

Goffin as the 10^th seed here was extended to 4 sets by Stakhovsky.   Goffin was pounded with 11 aces and 43 net forays by Stakhovsky but in the end Goffin being the steadier one emerged winning 31 more points and the match.  Goffin will now face Zeballos who withstood 29 aces to take out Dr. Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 7-6, 6-3.  David has a winning H2H of 4-1 against Horacio and like Horacio has won 7 of his last 10 matches on clay this year.

Conclusion:  Goffin over Zeballos in 4  

Bautista Agut moves on to third  

Bautista Agut overcame Kukushkin in a tough four sets encounter and gets to meet Jiri Vesely who beat Bedene also in four sets.   Bautista is a quality clay courter and has a 2-0 H2H advantage on Jiri.

Conclusion:  Bautista Agut in 5

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