The action in Roland Garros continues to sizzle, as we’ve reached the fourth round of the 2015 French Open. Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak on Saturday with a straight sets victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis. The World No. 1 will square off against France’s very own Richard Gasquet on Monday. Gasquet came from a hard-fought win in four sets over Kevin Anderson, and will now look to continue his successful 2015 season.
Read on as we preview the 13th career matchup between this season’s best tennis player and the hometown hopeful. Afterwards, head on over here for our preview of the upcoming quarterfinals matchup between Kei Nishikori and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
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Novak Djokovic vs. Richard Gasquet Betting Preview
There’s no stopping Novak Djokovic on his quest for his first ever French Open title.
The sensational Serb nabbed his 25th straight victory of the season with an impressive 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 third round win over 19-year old Thanasi Kokkinakis on Saturday. Djokovic had excellent control in the match, as he only committed 12 unforced errors and hit 34 winners. The young Australian Kokkinakis also committed three double faults in the match, while Djokovic had none.
[sc:Other240banner ]Djokovic is certainly playing at an extremely high level right now. The world’s top-ranked tennis player has yet to lose on clay this year, and had not lost a match since falling in Dubai to Roger Federer back in February.
There’s a ton of anticipation for what should be a semifinals matchup against all-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal, but Djokovic must first prevail over Richard Gasquet in the fourth round. Gasquet and Djokovic have faced each other 12 times. The World No. 1 is 11-1 against the Frenchman, and had won their past eight meetings.
They last faced-off at the round robin of the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals, with Djokovic getting a hard-earned 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 win. The Belgrade native eked out the victory as he won 72 percent of his chances at points on first serve.
Only three French nationals remain at Roland Garros. One of those players is Richard Gasquet, who has the unenviable task of going up against Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.
Gasquet walked away with a tense 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5, 6-4 win over 15th seed Kevin Anderson on Saturday to set up his match against Djokovic. The 28-year old was hammered with 22 aces and 62 winners by Anderson, but Gasquet still won the match by way of saving 12 of Anderson’s 13 break points against him.
With the win over Anderson, Gasquet advanced to the fourth round of the French Open for the fourth time in his career. He has never advanced to the semifinals at Roland Garros, and his last three defeats in the fourth round were at the hands of three different top 10 players — one of them being Djokovic himself.
Gasquet proved to be a worthy foe to Djokovic at the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals round robin, as the Frenchman won the battle of the aces (10-6) in the match, but still fell to the world’s best tennis player. His last victory over Djokovic was at the round robin of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup. Gasquet had 65 winners in that match to Djokovic’s 45 en route to the 6-4, 6-2 upset.
The World No. 15 is 17-6 for the season with two titles coming from tournaments held in Estoril, Portugal and Montpellier, France. He has a record of 10-2 playing on clay this season, and one of his titles this year was won on the dirt courts at the Millennium Estoril Open.
Writer’s Prediction
Gasquet puts up a good fight, but Djokovic (-2,500) still prevails with a victory in four sets.
