There’s no mistaking that the Williams sisters are the United States’ best bets to come out victorious from Roland Garros, but another American upstart in Madison Keys will surely turn heads just the same in lovely Paris.
Keys’ opening match in this year’s edition of the French Open begins this Tuesday against Croatia’s Donna Vekic. How will the Illinois native fair in the first round of the tournament? Let’s find out more about this intriguing duel on the clay courts below.
For a closer look at another women’s singles match slated on the same day, check out our preview for Kerber vs. Bertens right after this.
The rise of Madison Keys is in full-effect this season of the WTA, and she’ll get a great chance to solidify her status on the circuit further with a stellar showing at Roland Garros beginning this week.
The 21-year-old sensation is fresh off her best performance of the season entering the French Open. She finished as the runner-up to mighty Serena Williams at the Italian Open – a tournament that’s also played on clay.
Keys’ terrific outing in Rome shows that she has finally found good footing on the surface that has troubled many American players, who are more accustomed to hard courts. Even better, she managed to defeat top contenders like World No. 12 Petra Kvitova and World No. 4 Garbine Muguruza en route to her runner-up finish at the tournament.
It’s worth noting that the cunning righty hasn’t gone past the third round of Roland Garros in three career trips. And while Keys has never faced her opponent this Wednesday, her strong display from Rome is enough evidence to believe that she’ll make a deep run in France and dispatch her initial foe with relative ease.
Betting on Donna Vekic
World No. 96 Donna Vekic should not be taken lightly at the French Open. Back in 2012, she became the youngest player then to make it to WTA final at the tender age of 16. Now at 19 years of age, Vekic has one singles title to her credit (2014 Malaysian Open) and more experience under her belt.
However, having a 10-15 record this season is not a good sign that the Croatian will actually bode well at Roland Garros. Specifically, Vekic hasn’t found that second gear needed to overcome much tougher opponents yet. Seven of her 15 losses this season have been against seeded players in a particular tournament, with six of them having been first-round defeats at that.
Drawing 15th-seeded Keys in the opening round of the French Open is bad news for Vekic. Although she made it to the third round of the event last year, she dispatched two other wild-card entrants before getting dismantled by seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic, 6-0, 6-3.
Having said that, don’t count on Vekic to net you some sweet earnings until she starts upending the WTA’s bigger names, hopefully starting with Keys this Wednesday.
Writer’s Prediction
Keys (-1,400) opens the door into the second round of the tournament with a calm 6-3, 6-2 straight-sets victory.
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