The most exciting men’s first-round matchups at the French Open

With the French Open set to begin on Sunday, the draws for the event were finally unveiled on Thursday. In one half of the draw lies Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, and Roger Federer, meaning that we could see a Roger vs Novak quarterfinal, and then get a Nadal vs Djokovic semi-final. Here is the men’s draw below.

For right now, let us not look that far ahead, as there are plenty of must watch first-round matchups at the French Open the first couple days. Here are just a few that you will not want to miss.

Sam Querrey vs John Isner

It will be a battle of the big servers as two of the tallest men in the sport are set to battle it out in the first round. John Isner is actually four inches taller than Querrey, which is crazy when you realize Querrey is 6’6”. Both players are obviously not the best on clay, as the slow-moving courts only highlight their biggest weakness, which is their movement.

Querrey is coming into the tournament with only one clay court match played in 2021, losing in the first round in Parma, while John Isner actually played really well in his only clay court tournament, making a run to the round of 16, defeating Roberto Bautista Agut and Andrey Rublev in the tournament. This will be the 9th time these two meet on the ATP tour, as Querrey will look to add to his lead, as he currently leads 5-3.

Alexander Bublik vs Daniil Medvedev

This is by far the must-see matchup in the first round of the tournament. These two young stars will be facing off for just the second time on the ATP tour, and for the first time in five years. This will also be the first meeting between the two on clay.

What makes this match so interesting is that Bublik is a very flashy player and is a tough first-round opponent for anyone. The other thing is that Medvedev, although he is the current number two in the world, is not good on clay, as he is 0-4 at the French Open in his career. As crazy as it sounds, I would actually put Bublik as a slight favorite in this match. How could you not when Bublik is the better clay court player, having already beat Denis Shapovalov and Aslan Karatsev on clay this year.

Gael Monfils vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas

These two are quite experienced on the ATP tour, as Ramos-Vinolas is 33 years old, while Monfils is 34. In an earlier article, I mentioned how Ramos-Vinolas is a dark-horse candidate at this event, which you can read about here, and that does not change even though he is playing the 15 seed in the tournament. It definitely makes the road tougher, as this will be a tough test for both of these players.

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This will be the 7th career meeting between the two, as Monfils currently leads the head-to-head 4-2. Ramos-Vinolas won their last meeting though, defeating Monfils in Zhuhai in 2019 in straight sets. Ramos-Vinolas also won the last clay court match between the two, which was also back in 2019. Every single match between the two has been won in straight sets, so expect whoever wins the first set to win the match.

Lorenzo Musetti vs David Goffin

This is an extremely exciting matchup between the 30-year-old David Goffin and the up-and-coming star 19-year-old Lorenzo Musetti. Last year at the French, Goffin had to play the 19-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner in the first round, which Goffin would end up losing. Now this year, he gets to play another 19-year-old Italian in Lorenzo Musetti. This is definitely not the first-round match Goffin was looking for.

This will be the first meeting between the two when they face off in the first round, as Musetti should be coming into the match with a little more confidence than Goffin. Musetti has already defeated two top 50 players on clay this year, beating Auger-Aliassime in Lyon and Daniel Evans in Cagliari. Goffin did have a huge win against Alexander Zverev earlier in the clay court season but has lost three of his last four matches as of late.

Jo Wilfried Tsonga vs Yoshihito Nishioka

Many might overlook this match because both players are ranked outside the top 50 in the world, but this has the makings to be an excellent match. The reason why I believe this is because Tsonga always battles in the Grand Slams, no matter if he is coming in losing his last three matches or is on a 10-match winning streak. His last four completed French Open matches have all ended in either four or five sets, so I expect a long match between these two.

Nishioka has had a little bit of success on the clay this year, defeating Ugo Humbert and Gael Monfils at the ATP 250 event in Lyon a week back, before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Tsonga cannot say the same, as he is just 1-5 so far in 2021, and is 0-2 on clay this year. I believe Nishioka is the better player and is the favorite to win, but we should expect a good match as Tsonga will always put up a good fight in his home country at the French.