The French Open women’s tournament progresses into the third day of first-round play at Stade Roland Garros and so do our tennis picks. A lot of matches have been delayed, but the tournament is not yet backlogged to the point that many players will be inconvenienced. A full day of play on Tuesday should get the event back on schedule.
On Monday, we saw a slew of matches that delivered different results. There was some of the expected – Agnieszka Radwanska beating Bojana Jovanovski in straight sets, Simona Halep ousting Nao Hibino in straight sets, Svetlanta Kuznetsova topping Yaroslava Shvedova – and then there was also the unexpected. Some of the surprises from Monday include Karolina Pliskova exiting at the hands of Shelby Rogers in three sets. We also saw Sabine Lisicki get bounced by Vernoica Cepede in straight sets. Lisicki only managed to win four games in total. We also saw Roberta Vinci go down to Kateryna Bondarenko in straight sets. Vinci made it to the finals of the 2015 U.S. Open but flopped in the first round here.
With that in mind, let’s have a look at what we’ve got in store for our tennis picks on Tuesday:
Serena Williams vs. Magdalena Rybarikova
This should simply not be a challenge for Serena. She won the title in Rome and looked like her old self, especially in close scoreboard situations when she needed to play her best. That week in Rome should have relaxed Serena in time for this tournament. The first few rounds should not be that threatening. Rybarikova does not have the power or the cleverness to severely push the 21-time Grand Slam champion. Serena would have to be horrible in this match – not average or somewhat rusty, but completely unglued without ceasing. That’s very unlikely to happen, so Serena should be the obvious choice in this match, almost certainly in straights. Take her with your tennis picks.
Pick: Serena in straight sets
Oceane Dodin vs. Ana Ivanovic
This is a matchup of realism versus pessimism. The realistic viewpoint says that even though Ivanovic has had a miserable season in 2016, she should still beat Dodin, who does not have a single main-tour singles win this year. Dodin qualified for the Australian Open and several other tour events, but when getting into the first round of each of those tournaments, she failed to win. She’s collected some qualifying wins at multiple tour stops, but she’s still searching for that breakthrough in a main draw. She’s probably not going to find that big win against Ivanovic, who made the French Open semifinals last year.
However, Ivanovic’s habit in 2016 is that she loses to a lot of obscure players. She can lose to anyone. She has played close to .500 tennis for the year. She’ll win one match at a tournament and then lose the next, and she’s gone, usually with a 1-1 record. She should beat Dodin, but she could very realistically lose. It would hardly be a new occurrence for a player whose shots are powerful and fluid, but who lacks confidence when matches get close late in the third set. She should beat Dodin, but you can never be too sure with Ivanovic.
Pick: Ivanovic in three sets
Karin Knapp vs. Victoria Azarenka
This is a match which might have some intrigue because Azarenka dealt with a back injury over the past few weeks. Azarenka had to withdraw from Madrid after winning two matches there and advancing to the round of 16. She then went to Rome to try playing through her injury, but she lost her first match. She’s in a very difficult spot, a place where the athlete is unsure of whether to push her body in an all-out effort to win, or hold back so that she can think about her health for the long term. Knapp might be able to take a set off Azarenka, but it’s hard to think that a player as good as Azarenka will lose in round one. Take her with your tennis picks.
Pick: Azarenka in three sets
