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The fourth quarter of the French Open is a place many players would want to be. The favorites to survive this region all fell off early, and the remaining will feel as though they all have a legitimate shot at reaching the semifinals in Paris.
Two players looking to find their previous world class form – Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov – with face off in hopes of a quarterfinal appearance. In the other match, Tomas Etcheverry takes on Yoshihito Nishioka in a tremendous opportunity for the both of them.
Read on for my Monday French Open previews.
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Tomas Martin Etcheverry (-320) vs Yoshihito Nishioka (+260)
10 a.m. ET
In this contest we have a fourth round match that just about no one would have predicted. Etcheverry is a clay court specialist who is on the rise this season. To put in perspective how much of a clay specialist he is, of his 82 matches in the past year, 66 of them have been on clay.
Nishioka performs poorly for his standards on clay. Prior to Roland Garros, he had a 12-22 career ATP main draw record on the surface. For someone ranked 33, it was a main reason his ranking had not broken the next barrier. On hard courts he boasts seemingly impenetrable defense with a looping lefty forehand that makes it difficult for opponents to initiate an aggressive play style against. He has finally begun to show those skills on clay.
Despite Nishioka's run, I think Etcheverry will have too much for him to handle on this surface. Nishioka's fitness and grit has done well to get him past a couple players who also don't specialize on clay and are not used to playing extended five set tennis. However, Etcheverry will be a lot more fresh than his opponent and I do not believe Nishioka's style of play will be able to trouble him like he has for his previous three opponents.
I see this match being very straightforward and for the Argentine to find his way into the quarterfinals in a breeze.
Pick: Etcheverry -5.5 games (-125 via DraftKings)
Alexander Zverev (-175) vs Grigor Dimitrov (+145)
2:15 p.m. ET
Two resurgent players are looking to reach the quarterfinals tomorrow afternoon. Zverev – whose last match of the 2022 season was at Roland Garros – is still reaching to find his once glorious form, but seems to be inching closer and closer with each match. After dropping the first set against Frances Tiafoe, Zverev did well to bounce back, winning two tiebreaks and finding his way through pressure situations. The German is defending a semifinal run last year and with the looks of his remaining quarter, he will surely be disappointed not to retain those points at a minimum.
Dimitrov has played a lot of matches and has been playing some terrific tennis recently. He reached the final in Geneva last week – his first final since 2018. His tennis is at an extremely high level right now and his athleticism is on full display. With Dimitrov however, his tennis seems to dip deep into tournaments. Yes, he made the final last week, but after dropping the first set in that match, he looked completely checked out in the following set. Before reaching that final, he had lost his previous 11 semifinals and had to pull off a marvelous comeback to win his most recent one.
The Bulgarian has not spent much time on court here at Roland Garros, but the matches he has played over the last two weeks will surely start to add up. Zverev will be as determined as ever to continue his run here at the French, and if this match becomes an extended battle, I give him the edge.
I am a full believer in Zverev's comeback and I expect any doubters to hop on the train after this match tomorrow. If he loses, he drops to world No. 43, and I simply do not think that happens. Trust him to continue to kick his game into the next gear and find his way through a potentially fading Dimitrov.
Pick: Zverev -2.5 games (-125 via DraftKings)
