Nadal, Delpo, Zopp: What To Watch Saturday at Roland Garros

  • Posted: Jun 01, 2018

Nadal, Delpo, Zopp: What To Watch Saturday at Roland Garros

Jun012018

Del Potro looks to make the fourth round for the first time since 2012

A lucky loser and a certain player named Rafa go for Roland Garros history, and the ‘Tower of Tandil’ will try to go where he hasn’t been since 2012: ATPWorldTour.com previews Saturday’s third-round action at Roland Garros.

[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. [27] Richard Gasquet (FRA)
Nadal leads FedEx ATP Head2Head series 15-0

He was repeating a reporter, but, technically, Richard Gasquet said it as well, so the Frenchman can’t get mad at you for sharing how he rated his chances against Nadal: “I’ll try to do my best, because unless there is a disaster, as you said, he has a good chance of winning.”

Don’t expect Gasquet, however, to prostrate on the court during the walk-ons. The 31-year-old Frenchman will try to seize – and savour – the moment. He’s playing on Court Philippe-Chatrier against a longtime friend, and has an opportunity to earn one of the biggest wins of his career. Beat Nadal in the third round and Gasquet will have handed the Spaniard his earliest loss at Roland Garros. (Nadal withdrew before his third-round match in 2016.)

For Nadal, if he wins the opening two sets against Gasquet, the Spaniard will have won his past 33 sets in Paris and will have broken his previous longest streak of 32, set in 2007-09. Only Bjorn Borg owns a longer streak at Roland Garros: 41 consecutive sets from 1979-81.

Maximilian Marterer (GER) vs. Jurgen Zopp (EST)
First FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting

And then there was one. Eight lucky losers saw their names in the Roland Garros main draw at the start of the week, including Argentine Marco Trungelliti, who drove from Barcelona to Paris for the opportunity.

You May Also Like: Trungelliti: My Mad Dash With Grandma Back To Roland Garros

But only one has the chance to reach the fourth round. No. 136 Jurgen Zopp of Estonia faces Maximilian Marterer. The 22-year-old German is already in the Top 70 of the ATP Rankings and has a chance to post his best Grand Slam result during his Roland Garros debut by making the Round of 16. The left-hander also reached the third round at the Australian Open in January.

Zopp, however, can win one for all of the lucky losers out there. He can become only the 10th lucky loser to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam in the Open Era and the first since France’s Stephane Robert at the 2014 Australian Open. Since April 1968, when the Open Era began 50 years ago, only four lucky losers have gone where Zopp is trying to go, but he’ll be in good company if he can make it three in a row. The most recent lucky loser to make the Roland Garros Round of 16: David Goffin, 2012.

[5] Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) vs. [31] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
Del Potro leads FedEx ATP Head2Head series 1-0

Two Frenchmen down, one Spaniard to go? Juan Martin del Potro has played the villain well so far at Roland Garros, beating Nicolas Mahut and Julien Benneteau to make the third round. But the fan favourite Argentine should have the crowd on his side when he meets 31st seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain.

It’s been six years and three wrist surgeries since Del Potro played in the Round of 16 in June 2012. He also hasn’t won three consecutive clay-court matches since that fourth-round run.

Read More: Delpo 1, Reporter 0

To Ramos-Vinolas, the Round of 16 is old hat. The Spaniard has been there the past two years, and he hasn’t dropped a set so far this fortnight in beating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan and #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud. The left-hander is 6-32 against Top 10 players, including 1-6 of late, according to his FedEx ATP Win/Loss Record. But that one win came just two weeks ago in Rome against American John Isner.

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