French Open 2022, 1st round, Tuesday, 24.05.2022
He comes to Paris with the recommendation of the tournament victory in Geneva, counts among the co-favourites for the title. Casper Ruud wants to show it to everyone at the French Open 2022 and deliver the best Grand Slam of his career.
But the crowd’s sympathies are likely to lie with his opponent in the 1st round on Tuesday, a 37-year-old who is competing with a wild card. Read in my Ruud Tsonga tip why I always trust the underdog not to go down completely!
As world number 8, Casper Ruud is already one of the favourites for the French Open title, and his strength on clay adds to that. The Norwegian and the big stage should finally become a love story.
At Grand Slams, Ruud regularly forgets what he is actually capable of. He has reached the round of 16 only once, at the French Open the 3rd round was the highest of feelings so far. What speaks in favour of it finally being more successful in 2022?
A few days ago, he cleared the title in Geneva, but that was no easy feat. Thanasi Kokkinakis and Reilly Opelka already made life difficult for him, but it became even more challenging in the final.
In the end, Ruud won 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 against Joao Sousa. With such a performance, there will be no chance for the best places at the French Open. The 23-year-old is undoubtedly playing a good year, and was able to win against top players as well.
Ruud is struggling to even get to a 1.02! His competitor, on the other hand, fluctuates between a 14.00 and a 20.00. Presumably, the bookies have consulted the world ranking list above all here.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is currently ranked 297th, which of course does not scare the world number 8. The brawny Frenchman is now 37 years old and has received a wild card for the French Open.
In 2005, he was in Paris for the first time, when Casper Ruud was just six years old. In 2013 and 2015, Tsonga made it to the semi-finals, but these successes are unlikely to be repeated now, many years later.
Last year he was defeated 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-7 by Yoshihito Nishioka, but this time his opponent is much stronger. It has been more than three months since the veteran last won a match.
In places he still has what it takes to give top stars like Hubert Hurkacz or Felix Auger-Aliassime a really tough fight, but unfortunately he can no longer win against the best.
The crowd will try everything to whip Tsonga forward, but will that really be enough against someone like Casper Ruud? It will be the first time the two players face each other on court.
My Ruud Tsonga tip
For Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, this could be the last time he competes at his home Grand Slam. The Frenchman’s performances this year have been extremely manageable, but every now and then he can still force really strong opponents into tiebreaks.
He is my favourite against Tsonga, but I trust the underdog not to go down completely.
My tip is: We’ll see more than 26.5 games!
