We take a look at the selected round of 64 fixtures from the ATP Tour’s French Open taking place on the 29th and 30th of May 2019.
2019 ATP Tour | French Open
Roland Garros, Paris, France, (Outdoor Red Clay)
Selected Round of 64 Matches | 30 May 2019
Taylor Fritz (7/4)
vs Roberto Bautista Agut (4/10)
31-year-old Roberto Bautista Agut is the utter antithesis of the stereotypical Spanish clay-court player. He tends to flatten out both wings and is not from the Nadal finishing school of dramatic topspin. Of his 16 ATP finals appearances, only two of them have been played on a clay court. Yet he is still an experienced competitor fresh off a Grand Slam quarter-final in Melbourne. In fact, he started the year in superb fashion, with that heroic run in Melbourne hot off the heels of a title in Qatar. But consistency has evaded Agut for much of the season. His clay-court form has shown little signs of drastic improvement. But his demolition of crafty American clay-court aficionado Steve Johnson will give him great confidence as he gears up to take on another American: Taylor Fritz.
21-year-old Taylor Fritz – much like Francois Tiafoe – has struggled with that awkward transition from NextGen hopeful to a persistent competitor. The 2016 Memphis Open finalist has a devastating serve that can hit through the red clay. His utter dismantling of Bernard Tomic in the opening round hints at the massive potential he does wield. He has actually been unfortunate on the clay, twice drawing Novak Djokovic in the early stages of events. But a semi-final in Lyon last week will have given him a real boost ahead of this Slam. He will look to target the vulnerable Agut backhand in what will perhaps be a defining dual in the match.
Unsurprisingly, the much more vaunted Bautista Agut leads the head-to-head 2-1. But it’s Fritz’s victory that really stands out. The American managed to defeat the Spaniard in Lyon last week. It was their first ever meeting on clay. So Fritz will no doubt carry a mental edge going into this encounter. I think this one has surprise written all over it.
Fabio Fognini (7/20)
vs Federico Delbonis (39/20)
Fabio Fognini is what one would call a late bloomer. The 32-year-old Italian has long been considered a dogged clay-court specialist with the odd tournament victory in his bag: he now possesses nine ATP titles, eight of them on clay. But he has exploded of late, capturing four titles last year. But it was his Monte Carlo triumph this season that really got tongues wagging. That included demolitions of Alex Zverev and Rafael Nadal. His clay-court campaign has really stuttered in the wake of that epic achievement. He needed four sets to overcome Andreas Seppi in the opening match and he has had some injury concerns throughout the year. The 2011 French Open finalist still needs to go some way before convincing me that he is a legitimate favourite.
Federico Delbonis comes into this event in the same position that is usually assigned to Fognini: he’s the maverick clay-court specialist prone to surprise victories from time to time. The 28-year-old Argentine has reached four ATP finals, all of which have come on clay. The left-handed baseliner is coming off of a solid semi-final showing in the Geneva Open. He beat the likes of Dimitrov and Fucsovics in what was a very impressive showing. He also reached the semi-final in Cordoba, highlighting his proficiency on this surface. But this is a much bigger stage and he will meet a player with some A-list scalps to his name this year. Luckily for Delbonis, these two are hardly strangers.
This will be their seventh meeting, with the pair each winning three matches. In fact, it is Delbonis who leads the pair on clay 3-2. Fognini won their last encounter in Bastad last year. So there certainly is value in backing the much less fancied Argentine. He has a positive head-to-head record and decent form. That’s just the right cocktail for an early Roland Garros surprise.
Written by Damien Kayat for Hollywoodbets.
