French Open 2022, 3rd Round, Saturday, 28.05.2022
Who will be the surprise of the French Open 2022? Slowly but surely it is crystallising which outsiders have what it takes to become high flyers. On Saturday, the 3rd round will take centre stage – with American hopes of reaching the last 16.
Two players who played a brutally close final in Washington a year ago will meet.
In my McDonald Sinner tip, I reveal why I can imagine a similarly close result this time around!
As world number 12, somehow you always have to keep a bit of an eye on Jannik Sinner when it comes to the extended selection of title favourites. The South Tyrolean may not appear at the very top, but if he remains consistent, things can still go very far.
Perhaps the two French Opens he has already played would have delivered an even better result had Rafael Nadal not got in his way both times. Two years ago, he beat Alexander Zverev, among others, then was eliminated in the quarter-finals against the record champion.
In 2021, it was the Spaniard again who put a spanner in his works, this time in the last 16. Tsitsipas, Hurkacz, Zverev, Auger-Aliassime and Tsitsipas again – Sinner has these top stars to thank for his elimination in 2022.
Defeats against absolute outsiders are rarely seen for the Italian, but there are still too few victories against direct competition. In Paris, he has not yet met any really strong rivals in his first two rounds.
He first prevailed against Björn Fratangelo 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, before he did not come out of the starting blocks well against Roberto Carballes. At 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, everything went well in the end.
Sinner allowed 13 break chances, here he was a bit sloppy. It was about a year ago that he met Mackenzie McDonald for the first time. In the final match in Washington, both played a hot fight.
In the end, the match went to the favourite 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, but everyone recognised the great potential of the US American. The 27-year-old was already on the verge of reaching the 3rd round in Paris in 2021, and now he has finally made it for the first time.
A year ago, he was already leading 2:0 against Cristian Garin, but lost the match at the end. He almost made a capital false start a few days ago when he lost the first set 1-6 to Franco Agamenone.
McDonald quickly improved, winning 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 in the end, taking seven of eight break chances, a crucial key to success. Against Nikolos Bassilashvili, he was not necessarily in the role of the favourite afterwards.
He swept past the Georgian 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 to put a real exclamation mark on the match. This time he was far less consistent with the breaks, using only seven of the 25 opportunities.
It is quite surprising that the American is doing so well in Paris. Since Miami in March, he has only managed to win a match in a main draw once – now he suddenly comes up trumps on the very big stage.
My McDonald Sinner Tip
Jannik Sinner is the clear favourite with the bookmakers, 1.05 at 10.00 is not uncommon. But is the Italian so strong that he can beat Mackenzie McDonald in three quick sets? I certainly have some doubts after my analysis.
The outsider was very strong against Bassilashvili, a year ago he almost won against Sinner. That’s why I’m betting on Saturday:
There are at least 28 games!
