French Open odds: Day 3 Preview and Picks
By RICKY DIMON
JEREMY CHARDY (-120) VS. (28) LLEYTON HEWITT (-120)
Aside from Andy Murray vs. Richard Gasquet, this is the best matchup of the entire first round on the men’s side. Chardy has been seeded at Grand Slams during his career, but he is just 10-14 this season and has fallen to No. 46 in the world.
The Frenchman reached the fourth round in 2008 and made it to the third round last year, but his game works best on hard courts and he would much prefer to play Hewitt on a faster surface.
After all, Hewitt is one of the best returners in the game and he should be able to handle Chardy’s serve on clay without too much trouble. The Aussie has been dealing with injuries and illness, but he looked good last week in Dusseldorf with a straight-set rout of an in-form John Isner.
Pick: Hewitt in five sets.
PERE RIBA (-250) VS. MARC GICQUEL (+175)
Riba spends virtually all of his time on clay; when there are no ATP events to be played on the slow stuff, the 22-year-old Spaniard heads to the Challenger circuit. He broke into the Top 100 of the rankings for the first time this month, but the reason why he is basically a lock to win this match has a lot more to do with his opponent.
Gicquel heads into the French Open as a major question mark, having not played a match since the Sony Ericsson Open in March. The 33-year-old Frenchman has been has been dealing with a thigh injury and he even admitted last week that he has no idea if he can play a five-setter. The good news for Gicquel is that he won’t have to play more than three sets on Tuesday.
Pick: Riba in straight sets.
HORACIO ZEBALLOS (-400) VS. MARTIN FISCHER (+250)
Even at -400, Zeballos’ value in this match is simply phenomenal. The Argentine is absolutely lethal on clay and he recently led his country to the World Team Cup championship. You can go ahead and pencil him into a second-round clash with Rafael Nadal.
And just who is Martin Fischer? He is a 23-year-old Austrian who has never won a match at the ATP level (0-5 lifetime) and has never played in the main draw of a Grand Slam. He did well to qualify this week, but this is where it ends for Fischer.
I recommend playing the under on total games to maximize your payout on this match, too.
Pick: Zeballos in 3 sets.
OLGA GOVORTSOVA (-130) VS. CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO (-110)
You can’t get any closer in the rankings than these two. Govortsova registers at No. 38 in the world and Suarez Navarro is one spot behind at No. 39. The difference in height is far greater (Govortsova is 6’0’’, CSN is 5’4’’), but the Spaniard should be able to give her opponent a clay-court lesson with speed and consistency.
Suarez Navarro is best known for stunning Venus Williams at the 2009 Australian Open, and she is even better on clay. These two faced each other last year on hard courts, with CSN cruising past Govortsova 6-3, 6-4. Expect the Belarussian to be in for another long day.
Pick: Suarez Navarro in two sets.