Novak Djokovic (+250 to win the 2019 French Open) is currently atop the world rankings. Obviously, he’s the Goliath in his upcoming match with Hubert Hurkacz, who is looking like a deer in the headlights of the Serbian legend. But will Djokovic avoid a massive upset in the first round? Or will he take care of business like he always does against big underdogs?
Whichever way you want to take a look at it, you’ll be hard pressed to make a case why Hurkacz will upset Djokovic in the first round of the 2019 French Open. At 22 years old, Hurkacz can’t hold a candle to the Serbian in terms of experience. The last time Hurkacz saw action on the court, he was eliminated by Pablo Cuevas in the first round at Lyon. Hurkacz performed much better on clay at Madrid Open, though, as he beat Alex Minaur and Lucas Pouille until he was stopped by Alexander Zverev in the third round. Even in the loss to Zverev, Hurkacz looked competitive, winning the first set before getting mowed down in the next two. The Polish youngster has made the second round of a grand slam twice , including last year’s French Open. Hurkacz is 5-9 on ATP clay matches.
Betting on the Novak Djokovic (-2500)
Djokovic must be feeling good heading into the French Open. Despite losing in the finals of the Rome Masters, at least it was against Rafael Nadal. Plus, that setback shouldn’t diminish what Djokovic has done of late. Djokovic has won 11 of his last 13 matches. He topped the competition at the Madrid Open earlier this month, beating Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals, Dominic Thiem in the semis, and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the finals. Djokovic’s service game was on point against the Greek youngster, placing 28 percent of his first serves in for 31 points. Djokovic has done a ton of work this year, which could be a point of concern. Fatigue can shift the tide against Djokovic, though, that hasn’t seemingly set in to the 32 year old’s body, based on recent performance. Djokovic won the French Open ins 2016 and has made the quarterfinals in each of the next two editions of the tournament.
