French Open First Round Breakdown (Top Half)

The draw for the 2018 French Open came out and we have some intriguing first round matchups.  I will have a quick stat breakdown for each matchup as well as the odds for each pairing.  As there are a ton of matchups, they will be brief but I will provide a prediction as well as my favorite bets overall.  So without further ado, lets jump into our French Open breakdown!

Note: Rankings are from the 5/21 ATP update

Section 1

1 Rafael Nadal (-10000) vs. 54 Alexander Dolgopolov (+2500)

-Nadal leads H2H 7-2 (Nadal 3-0 on Clay, while Dolgopolov won on Grass in '15 and Hard in '14)

-Nadal has won the last three matchups

-Nadal is 17-1 on Clay this year and 21-2 Overall (He was 24-1 on Clay last year)

-Nadal won the Rome Masters last time out

-Dolgopolov is 0-2 on Clay this year and 5-5 Overall (He was 13-9 on Clay last year)

-Dolgopolov has lost in straight sets on Clay his last two tournaments, losing to Novak Djokovic at the Rome Masters and Andrea Arnaboldi at Casablanca

Prediction: Nadal 3-0

48 Joao Sousa (-120) vs. 81 Guido Pella (+100)

-First Meeting

-Sousa is 9-4 on Clay this year and 17-12 Overall (He was 12-13 on Clay last year)

-Sousa lost in the first round at Lyon to Filip Horansky last time out

-Sousa won at Estoril (Clay) this year

-Pella is 8-8 on Clay this year and 11-12 Overall (He was 26-12 on Clay last year)

-Pella lost in the QF at Geneva to Steve Johnson after beating Sam Querrey and Dominik Koepfer

Prediction: Sousa 3-1

63 Malek Jaziri (-335) vs. 99 Mikhail Youzhny (+265)

-Jaziri leads H2H 3-0, including a win at the Rome Masters (Clay) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

-Jaziri is 10-5 on Clay this year and 24-14 Overall

-Jaziri lost in the Round of 64 at the Rome Masters against Kyle Edmund in 3 sets

-Jaziri lost in the Final at Istanbul (Clay) to Taro Daniel in straight sets

-Youzhny is 3-4 on Clay this year and 9-13 Overall

-Youzhny lost his last two tournaments in Qualifying finals losing to Jaziri at the Rome Masters and Delbonis at the Madrid Masters

Prediction: Jaziri 3-1

32 Richard Gasquet (-290) vs. 51 Andreas Seppi (+225)

-Gasquet leads H2H 6-1, including a 3-1 record on Clay

-Gasquet is 7-5 on Clay this year and 14-11 Overall

-Gasquet lost in the Round of 64 to Benoit Paire at the Rome Masters and is 1-4 in his last 5 matches

-Seppi is 9-6 on Clay this year and 23-11 Overall

-Seppi lost in the QF at Geneva to Peter Gojowczyk

Prediction: Gasquet 3-1

26 Denis Shapovalov (-185) vs. 58 John Millman (+150)

-First Meeting

-Shapovalov is 6-4 on Clay this year and 16-11 Overall

-Shapovalov is coming off a Round of 16 at the Rome Masters (Nadal) and Semifinal at the Madrid Masters (A. Zverev)

-Millman is 9-2 on Clay this year and 22-8 Overall

-Millman is coming off a Round of 32 loss against Juan Ignacio Londero at the Heilbronn Challenger

-Millman won the Aix En Provence Challenger the week before and also made the Final in Budapest

Prediction: Shapovalov 3-2

56 Ryan Harrison (+105) vs. 69 Maximilian Marterer (-130)

-First Meeting

-Harrison is 3-4 on Clay this year and 12-11 Overall

-Harrison is coming off a Round of 32 loss to Frances Tiafoe at Geneva and lost in the Round of 32 at both the Rome and Madrid Masters

-Marterer is 5-5 on Clay this year and 17-13 Overall

-Marterer is coming off a Round of 16 loss to Cameron Norrie at Lyon after defeated Gael Monfils

-Marterer reached the semifinals in Munich before losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber

Prediction: Marterer 3-1

94 Yuki Bhambri (-360) vs. 113 Yen-Hsun Lu (+280)

-Lu leads H2H 2-0, winning both in straight sets on Hard courts

-Bhambri is 0-0 on Clay this year and 22-7 Overall (4-4 on ATP Tour Main Draw)

-Bhambri lost in the Round of 16 to Ze Chang at the Busan Challenger last time out

-Bhambri won the Taipei Challenger defeating Ramkumar Ramantahan in straight sets in the final on Carpet

-Lu is 0-0 on Clay this year and 1-2 Overall (Hasn't played an ATP Tour Main Draw match this season)

-Lu has struggled on the ATP Main Tour, but has excelled in other events in prior years ('17 27-7, '16 35-7)

-Lu lost in straight sets last year to Sergiy Stakhovsky at the French Open

-Lu lost his first match last time out in the Round of 32 at the Busan Challenger (Yosuke Watanuki)

Prediction: Bhambri 3-0

15 Jack Sock (-550) vs. 138 Zopp Jurgen (+365)

-Sock leads H2H 1-0, winning in '12

-Sock is 2-4 on Clay this year and 6-12 Overall

-Sock lost in the First Round at Lyon to Taylor Fritz in straight sets

-Zopp is 5-6 on Clay this year and 18-14 Overall (45-11 on Clay last year)

-Zopp defeated 1164 Hugo Gaston 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the First Round of French Open Qualifying.  He then defeated 148 Thanasi Kokkinakis 6(4)-7, 6-1, 6-2 in the Second Round and then lost to 114 Denis Kudla in the French Open Qualifying Final 6-2, 6-1.

-Zopp was a Lucky Loser to get into the First Round Draw

Prediction: Sock 3-1

Section 2

12 Diego Schwartzman (-1000) vs. 127 Calvin Hemery (+575)

-First Meeting

-Schwartzman is 11-6 on Clay this year and 16-12 Overall

-Schwartzman won on Clay at Rio de Janeiro during Week 8

-Schwartzman has not been able to get past the Round of 16, his last 8 tournaments since his Win

-Schwartman lost in the Round of 32 to Benoit Paire at the Rome Masters last time out

-Hemery is 9-6 on Clay this year and 18-17 Overall 

-Hemery was 9-2 on Clay last year and 23-9 Overall

-Hemery lost his first qualifying match at the French Open last year in straight sets to Alessandro Giannessi

Prediction: Schwartzman 3-0

82 Mirza Basic (-110) vs. 185 Adam Pavlasek (-110)

-Basic leads H2H 1-0 (Mersin Challenger '15 in 3 sets)

-Basic is 5-7 on Clay this year and 21-16 Overall

-Basic is coming off a straight set loss to Tennys Sandgren at Geneva

-Pavlasek is 12-4 on Clay this year and 17-9 Overall (180-97 lifetime on Clay)

-Pavlasek beat 152 Blaz Kavcic in the First Round of French Open Qualifying.  He then beat 139 Hugo Dellien in the Qualifying Second Round and defeated 220 Dennis Novak in the Qualifying Final

Prediction: Pavlasek 3-2

73 Matthew Ebden (+210) vs. 115 Thomas Fabbiano (-260)

-Fabbiano leads H2H 1-0, won 6-4, 6-1 at Shenzhen ('16) (Hard Court)

-Ebden is 0-1 on Clay this year and 11-13 Overall

-Ebden has never been past the First Round at the French Open (5 appearances)

-Ebden lost his last match in the First Round at Lyon to Taylor Fritz and winning the Busan Challenger

-Fabbiano is 5-5 on Clay this year and 7-13 Overall

-Fabbiano has also never been past the First Round at the French Open (4 appearances)

-Fabbiano lost his last match to Viktor Troicki at the Rome Masters after making the Quarterfinals at Istanbul

Prediction: Fabbiano 3-2

24 Philipp Kohlschreiber (+110) vs. 41 Borna Coric (-140)

-Kohlschreiber leads H2H 2-1 (They split the two matchups on Clay - with Coric winning the last matchup)

-Kohlschreiber is 10-5 on Clay this year and 15-13 Overall

-Kohlschreiber has lost in the Round of 16 in back-to-back tournaments (Rome and Madrid Masters)

-Lost in the Munich final

-Coric is 3-3 on Clay this year and 17-9 Overall

-Retired his last match at the Rome Masters in the first set down 4-1 to Stefanos Tsitsipas

-Made Indian Wells Semis losing to Roger Federer 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

Prediction: Coric 3-2

33 Feliciano Lopez (-315) vs. 129 Sergiy Stakhovsky (+245)

-H2H is tied 2-2 with Stakhovsky winning the last meeting in '16 at Marseille

-Lopez is 3-4 on Clay this year and 11-11 Overall

-Lopez lost to Kei Nishikori at the Rome Masters in the First Round last time out

-Stakhovsky is 3-6 on Clay this year and 10-18 Overall

-Stakhovsky defeated 246 Egor Gerasimov in First Round Qualifying and then defeated 216 Constant Lestienne in the Second Round.  He lost in the Qualifying Final to 119 Ilya Ivashka, but made the Draw as a Lucky Loser.

Prediction: Lopez 3-2

52 Mischa Zverev (-195) vs. 90 Florian Mayer (+155)

-Zverev leads H2H 1-0, winning at Adelaide in '08

-Zverev is 5-7 on Clay this year and 8-16 Overall

-Zverev has not advanced past the First Round of the French Open in 10 appearances

-Zverev lost in the First Round at Geneva to Mirza Basic 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 and his best finish has been in the Round of 16 this season

-Mayer is 2-7 on Clay this year and 5-13 Overall

-Mayer lost in the First Round at Geneva to Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3, 6-2

Prediction: Zverev 3-1

64 Aljaz Bedene (+105) vs. 76 Pablo Cuevas (-130)

-First Meeting

-Bedene is 12-6 on Clay this year and 17-10 Overall

-Bedene lost in the Round of 16 at the Rome Masters to Pablo Carreno-Busta

-Bedene lost in the Buenos Aires Final (on Clay) to Dominic Thiem in straight sets

-Cuevas is 7-7 on Clay this year and 15-10 Overall (19-11, 22-8, 27-10, 45-11 last 4 years on Clay)

-Cuevas has lost in the French Open Third Round in the last 3 tournaments

-Cuevas is coming off a First Round loss to Marco Cecchinato at the Rome Masters

Prediction: Cuevas 3-2

7 Kevin Anderson (-700) vs. 74 Pablo Lorenzi (+475)

-Anderson leads H2H 4-0 with the most recent being a 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4 victory at the '17 US Open

-Anderson is 3-3 on Clay this year and 23-9 Overall

-Anderson is coming off a Round of 16 appearance at last year's French Open (tied for best finish)

-Anderson lost in the First Round at the Australian Open to Kyle Edmund

-Anderson retired in his last match at the Rome Masters after losing the first set 6-4 to Aljaz Bedene

-Lorenzi is 2-7 on Clay this year and 4-10 Overall

-Lorenzi is coming off a First Round loss in the Madrid Masters to Fernando Verdasco

Prediction: Anderson 3-0

Section 3

4 Marin Cilic (-5000) vs. 1070 James Duckworth (+2200)

-First Meeting

-Cilic 5-4 on Clay this year and 18-9 Overall

-Made Quarterfinal last year (Best finish)

-Lost to Alexander Zverev in the Rome Masters Semis 

-Duckworth is 0-0 on Clay this year and 1-2 Overall

-Duckworth hasn't played much in the last two seasons due to an elbow injury in '16 and foot surgery after playing in the Australian Open

Prediction: Cilic 3-0

55 Tennys Sandgren (-245) vs. 189 Hubert Hurkacz (+195)

-First Meeting

-Sandgren is 7-9 on Clay this year and 13-15 Overall

-Sandgren is coming off a Quarterfinal loss to Fabio Fognini at Geneva in straight sets

-Sandgren stunned several opponents including Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open this year

-Hurkacz is 6-2 on Clay this year and 22-13 Overall

-Hurkacz defeated 380 Hugo Grenier, 123 Yannick Hanfmann, and 190 Marco Trungelliti to Qualify for the French Open

-This will be Hurkacz's first French Open

Prediction: Sandgren 3-1

67 Jan-Lennard Struff (-285) vs. 78 Evgeny Donskoy (+225)

-Donskoy leads H2H 3-1, although Struff won the last meeting 6-3, 6-4 at Hamburg in '17 (Clay)

-The pair met at the 2013 French Open with Donskoy winning 7-6(7), 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2

-Donskoy is 5-4 on Clay this year and 17-15 Overall (was 1-10 last season on Clay)

-Donskoy lost in the First Round of Qualifying at the Rome Masters against Malek Jaziri 6-3, 6-2

-Struff is 7-5 on Clay this year and 10-13 Overall (18-15 last season, 29-11 '16 on Clay)

-Struff lost in the Second Round at the Madrid Masters to Borna Coric 6-0, 6-2 last time out

-Stuff had made back to back QF's before the Madrid Masters

Prediction: Struff 3-1

27 Adrian Mannarino (+185) vs. 47 Steve Johnson (-235)

-Johnson leads H2H 3-1, winning the last three times the two have played including at Miami earlier this year (Johnson 6-3, 6-3)

-Mannarino is 1-5 on Clay this year and 10-13 Overall

-Mannarino has lost in the First Round in his last three tournaments

-Mannarino has a career Clay record of 69-89

-Johnson is 9-2 on Clay this year and 18-11 Overall

-Johnson lost in the SF's to Marton Fucsovics at Geneva last time out

-Johnson won the Houston Open earlier this year

Prediction: Johnson 3-1

19 Fabio Fognini (-325) vs. 136 Pablo Andujar (+260)

-Fognini leads H2H 5-1 (all on Clay), however Andujar won the last matchup in '15

-Fognini is 13-7 on Clay this year and 22-12 Overall

-Fognini lost in the SF's at Geneva to Peter Gojowczyk in straight sets

-Fognini won at Sao Paulo (Clay) earlier this year

-Andujar is 14-8 on Clay this season and 14-10 Overall

-Andujar won at Marrakech a week after winning the Alicante Challenger

Prediction: Fognini 3-1

105 Dudi Sela (+355) vs. 122 Elias Ymer (-450)

-Sela leads H2H 1-0, with Sela winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the Ilkley Challenger ('15)

-Sela is 6-10 on Clay this year and 11-13 Overall

-Sela lost to Filip Peliwo in the First Round of the Busan Challenger 6-1, 6-4 last time out

-Ymer is 9-4 on Clay this year and 20-13 Overall

-Ymer defeated 240 Aleksandr Nedovesov in the First Round of Qualifying.  He then defeated 205 Facundo Bagnis in the Second Round and defeated 183 Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the Qualifying Final

Prediction: Ymer 3-1

60 Marton Fucsovics (-575) vs. 88 Vasek Pospisil (+365)

-First Meeting

-Fucsovics is 6-5 on Clay this year and 21-14 Overall

-Fucsovics is the Final at Geneva after defeating Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Frances Tiafoe, Stan Wawrinka, and Steve Johnson

-Pospisil is 1-1 on Clay this year and 33-13 Overall

-Pospisil is coming off back-to-back challenger final losses winning four matches before losing in the final in both (Busan & Gimcheon Challengers)

Prediction: Fucsovics 3-1

17 Kyle Edmund (-600) vs. 106 Alex de Minaur (+425)

-Edmund leads H2H 1-0, winning at Estoril this year 6-2, 7-5

-Edmund is 10-5 on Clay this year and 17-9 Overall

-Edmund is coming off a Round of 16 loss to Alexander Zverev at the Rome Masters

-de Minaur is 9-6 on Clay and 21-13 Overall

-de Minaur is coming off a First Round loss at the Lisbon Challenger

Prediction: Edmund 3-1

Section 4

10 John Isner (-575) vs. 204 Noah Rubin (+400)
-First Meeting

-Isner is 4-4 on Clay this year and 13-10 Overall
-Isner won at Miami and is coming off a QF loss to Cameron Norrie at Lyon

-Rubin is 13-6 on Clay this year and 22-12 Overall
-Rubin is coming off of a Round of 16 loss to Fabio Fognini at Geneva

Prediction: Isner 3-2

46 Yuichi Sugita (+165) vs. 101 Horacio Zeballos (-200)
-Zeballos leads H2H 1-0, winning 6(5)-7, 6-4, 7-6(4) at Indian Wells this year

-Sugita is 0-5 on Clay this year and 5-16 Overall
-Sugita has lost in the First Round of his last 8 tournaments

-Zeballos is 5-7 on Clay this year and 7-11 Overall
-Zeballos lost in the First Round at Lyon to Dusan Lajovic in straight sets last time out

Prediction: Zeballos 3-2

87 Pierre-Hugues Herbert (-290) vs. 125 Peter Polansky (+240)
-First Meeting

-Herbert is 4-3 on Clay this year and 16-11 Overall
-Herbert is coming off a First Round loss at the Bordeaux Challenger to Stefan Kozlov

-Polansky is 5-7 on Clay this year and 17-18 Overall
-Polansky defeated 169 Norbert Gombos in the First Round and then defeated 247 Pedja Krstin in the Second Round of French Open Qualifying.  He then lost to 147 Jozef Kovalik in the Qualifying Final, but made the draw as a Lucky Loser.

Prediction: Herbert 3-0

18 Tomas Berdych (-195) vs. 86 Jeremy Chardy (+160)
-Berdych leads H2H 5-0

-Berdych is 0-3 on Clay this year and 10-8 Overall
-Berdych has lost in the First Round in his last 3 tournaments (Nishikori, Gasquet, Shapovalov)

-Chardy is 6-4 on Clay this year and 15-11 Overall
-Made a SF at Istanbul, coming off a Round of 16 loss at the Bordeaux Challenger (Andreozzi)

Prediction: Berdych 3-2

36 Albert Ramos-Vinolas (-170) vs. 91 Mikhail Kukushkin (+130)
-H2H is tied 1-1, Kukushkin won last meeting on Clay in '15

-Ramos-Vinolas is 11-11 on Clay this year and 15-15 Overall
-Ramos-Vinolas is coming off a First Round loss to Marton Fucsovics at Geneva
-Ramos-Vinolas lost in the Quito Final earlier this year on Clay

-Kukushkin is 5-6 on Clay this year and 14-14 Overall
-Kukushkin is coming off a QF lost against Gilles Simon at Lyon

Prediction: Ramos-Vinolas 3-2

Bets

Joao Souza (-120) vs. Pella

May add some more action for Monday's Matchups

As always thanks for the read and stay tuned for more breakdowns!