French Open day 2/3: Five Monday tips from first round fixtures
Published:
Sam Barnard, Assistant Sports Editor | May 22, 2016
2016 French Open day two/three
- Monday, May 23rd
- First matches scheduled on court: 10:00 BST
- Roland Garros, Paris
- Live on ITV and Eurosport
Tennis’ top talent take to court on day two
After a rain-hit opening day to the 2016 French Open, the top stars from the ATP and WTA tour kick off their campaigns at Roland Garros, including Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.
Here are five top tips Coral tennis writers have come up with for the first round action on day two and three of the clay court event in Paris…
Wawrinka to beat Rosol 3-1
Defending champion and recent Geneva Open winner Stan Wawrinka has an immediate rematch against Lukas Rosol, the very person he defeated in the semis of the latter tournament.
The Czech took the Swiss number two to three sets on that occasion, as he did in Geneva the year before, so back him at 11/4 to claim another set in this clash too, albeit in a 3-1 loss.
Baghdatis to beat Muller in five sets
Being ranked just four places apart, you can expect a close encounter between Marcos Baghdatis and Gilles Muller on day.
The slightly higher Baghdatis holds a 2-0 record over the Luxembourg challenger, and with both going the distance, take fantastic 5/1 odds for the Cypriot to do so again – this time in five sets.
Almagro to defeat Kohlschreiber
Another tasty first round battle sees two in-form veterans, Nicolas Almagro and Philipp Kohlschreiber, lock horns, with both having won clay court titles this year.
With three quarter-final and two fourth round appearances respectively for the Spaniard and German at previous French Opens, this could be a hard-fought occasion too. But, with Almagro winning the last three meetings on this surface against Kohlschreiber, back him at 7/4 to win again, despite his lower ranking.
Konta to beat Goerges 2-0
Murray is not the only Brit star to feature on day two, as our top ranked woman Johanna Konta takes her place on the famous Roland Garros courts against Julia Gorges.
This duo have never faced each other before but, with Australian-born Konta in fine form and rapidly rising in the rankings (36 above Gorges), she is a brilliant 6/4 chance to knock out the German in straight sets.
Flipkens to beat Cornet
Home hope Alize Cornet may have won four of her seven duels with former doubles partner Kirsten Flipkens, but lost last in their previous meeting and has also been defeated by the Belgian before on clay.
Back the more experienced Flipkens, therefore, at 11/8 to come out on top once more.
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