French Open in Paris, Round of 16, Monday, 02.06.2025, 1:20 p.m.
Novak Djokovic faces Cameron Norrie in the round of 16 at the French Open. So far, the Serb has a perfect record in head-to-head matches, and I am convinced that this will not change in this match and that we will see a difference in class.
That’s why I’m going to venture a Norrie Djokovic tip for victory without losing a set. Merkur Bets has the right odds.
A few weeks ago, I heard some experts saying that Djokovic was already focusing on Wimbledon due to his mixed preparation. He has definitely proved them wrong. He won the dress rehearsal tournament in Geneva.
On his way to his 100th career title, he took out Norrie, among others. The semifinal score was 6-4, 6-7, 6-1. He then prevailed against Polish serve ace Hubert Hurkacz. One set lost in a two-set victory, and I’m still going for a 3-0 win for Djokovic on Monday?
Absolutely. In Paris, the most successful player of all time is playing even stronger, has already made it through his first three rounds without losing a set, knocking out Mackenzie McDonald, Corentin Moutet, and Filip Misolic.
Admittedly, they are not the cream of the crop, with a world ranking average that is far from the top 100. But the way he won the matches was impressive. He didn’t even concede a break against the Austrian in the round of 32.
In my opinion, Merkur Bets’ clear favorite odds of 1.10 are justified, with Norrie at 6.23. In their most recent encounter, he took advantage of a weaker phase from the 38-year-old, who has hardly shown any of that at Roland Garros so far.
In the end, Djokovic won 98 points, a whopping 23 more than Norrie, which is a world away in tennis. He took four service games off the 81-year-old. A week later, I don’t see how he could upset Djokovic again unless he beats himself. His first matches were too consistent for that.
Norrie is not one of those players with a powerful forehand and backhand, which is what it takes to lure Djokovic out of his comfort zone. He is someone who distributes the balls well himself. His opponent, who is clearly superior in terms of defense, counterplay, and precision, can do this better.
Despite his good tournament in Geneva, Norrie’s victory against Daniil Medvedev at the start of the French Open still came as something of a surprise. The Russian still has his problems with clay, but he has also had stronger tournaments and even won a Masters on clay in 2023.
In the end, he lost to the Brit in the fifth set. Norrie then made quicker work of Federico Agustin Gomez and his compatriot Jacob Fearnley. However, the matches were not really that convincing. I watched the match against Fearnley in its entirety.
He only won a few service games against a visibly shaken Fearnley, conceding four breaks after six against Medvedev. Gomez only managed one, but also had an impressive ten chances. Djokovic clearly has the better statistics.
More precisely, he allowed as many break points in the entire tournament as Norrie did in the last round alone. The head-to-head score is 5-0 in favor of the high-flyer, who won the first clay court duel 6-3, 6-4 and won two more times without losing a set.
Overall, Norrie has managed just five breaks in five matches and 13 sets. Incidentally, only one set ended in a tiebreak. At Betano, we can bet against a tiebreak at odds of 1.72 and also get a $20 free bet.
My Norrie Djokovic tip
We are likely to see some longer rallies between the two players. In the end, however, I see advantages for Djokovic in all areas of tennis, having won all his matches against Norrie so far, including a week ago in Geneva.
He is playing even better in Paris, while Norrie has had problems winning his service games. At the same time, he lacks the pace in his shots to really put the record Grand Slam winner under pressure.
Therefore, I am going for the following Norrie Djokovic odds: 3:0 Djokovic!
