Roger Federer is still very much alive in his chase of his second French Open title in this year’s 2019 French Open. Up ahead for the legend is a challenge from Leonardo Mayer, who has lost to Federer before, though, this will be the first time the two will meet on a clay court. Going into the match, the sportsbook favors Federer with -1400 odds to make it through the round, while Mayer is listed with +750 odds to make it through.
There’s no such thing as giving up for Mayer. The 32-year-old Argentinian barged into the fourth round of the 2019 French Open with a marathon of a 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) win over Nicolas Mahut. Mayer is being carried by his big serves. He is currently tied with Ivo Karlovic for the most aces in the tournament among the men’s singles participants. With 58. Mayer is third in first serve wins and second in second serve wins. However, he is also third in double faults with 17, so he needs to be a little more accurate with his serves in order to prevent turning the ball over to Federer. Mayer had 29 aces against Mahut but converted just two of 14 break points chances. Mayer put just 59 percent of his first serves in and won 78 percent of his first serve points. If anything, Mayer has faced Federer three times before, though, all resulted in losses in hard court matches.
Federer gained entry into the fourth round of the tournament by downing Casper Ruud on Friday, 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8). Still without a dropped set in three matches so far at Roland Garros, it’s becoming abundantly clear that there’s plenty of juice left in Federer’s 37-year-old legs. He placed 60 percent of his first serves in against Mayer and won 80 percent of his first serve points. His return game was on point, too, as he had 44 percent receiving points won. That said, he had 36 unforced errors, and while that hasn’t been a big issue for the legend in Paris just yet, he’ll have to cut down on them in preparation for the harder matches going forward – of course assuming he’ll survive his clash with Mayer, as he’s expected by many to do. Look for Federer to attack the net against Mayer, who had trouble dealing with that kind of style in the third round. Federer went 21-for-27 (77 percent) on net points won against Ruud.
