Don’t be surprised at all that 30-year-old Rafael Nadal is heavily-favored to win his first-round matchup against Benoit Paire this Sunday at the Roland Garros with those stunning odds.
The nine-time French Open champion has had his troubles battling injuries over the past couple of years, but he certainly appears to be back in shape and ready to dominate the ATP Tour all over again. Nadal boasts an impressive 36-6 record for the season thus far, which includes a streak of 17 matches won on clay leading up to the French Open.
Although the King of Clay saw that streak come to an end by falling to Dominic Thiem in the quarter-final round of the Italian Open, he had already bested Thiem twice in the finals at Madrid and Barcelona for his second and third title of the season prior to his defeat in Rome.
Nadal also made it to the final round of three other tournaments this year (Miami, Acapulco and the Australian Open), only to come up short twice to Roger Federer. But with Federer opting to sit out the French Open, the Parisian Grand Slam is virtually Nadal’s for the taking.
The fourth-best tennis player in the world shouldn’t be fazed at all by his first-round opponent. He’s won both of his two lifetime meetings against Paire, with both contests having been held on his favorite surface all the more.
With a mere 17-15 record this 2017, there’s not much to like about Benoit Paire’s chances at pulling off an upset this Sunday.
The Frenchman’s best performance this season was him making the final round of the Verrazzano Open in his home country. However, he ultimately fell to relative-unknown Brit, Aljaz Bedene. That tournament, by the way, was on a mere ATP Challenger Tour level all the less.
Granted that Paire hasn’t faced off against Nadal since 2013, he still hasn’t had much success against the Tour’s heavyweights this year. The 28-year-old lost all six of his matches against top 10 opponents, most recently to World No. 3 and former French Open winner Stan Wawrinka in the second round of the Italian Open.
Writer’s Prediction
Nadal (-5,000) cruises to a convincing straight-sets victory.
