French Open 3rd Round Predictions, Day 6: Raonic-Anderson, Errani-Lisicki

Thursday's order of play was interrupted with one of those frigging frustrating stop-start days.  The remainder of the second round matches will kick off Friday's proceedings, but the third round matches should also take place with a much better forecast...

1. Milos Raonic v Kevin Anderson

Milos Raonic

My match of the day is slightly left field as I have gone for the big serving, huge hitting third round clash between Milos Raonic and Kevin Anderson.  Both came through their second round matches in 4 sets; Raonic defeated Michael Llodra on Suzanne Lenglen court, 7-5 3-6 7-6(3) 6-2, meanwhile Anderson rebounded from losing the first set to power through the next three to beat Evgeny Donskoy, 6-7(8) 6-1 7-5 6-2.  Raonic and Anderson have met on one previous occasion in San Jose where Raonic prevailed in a very tight two setter, 7-5 7-6(3).  Raonic has parted company with his long term coach and I believe he is currently under some direction from Ivan Ljubicic, who was in his box yesterday.  I really like Anderson's form this year and he's actually not bad on the clay; he pushed Tomas Berdych to the brink last year and was on the losing end of Berdych in both Madrid and Rome.  A tight match for sure, but I am going for Kevin....

Prediction - Anderson to beat Raonic in 5 sets

2. Sabine Lisicki v Sara Errani

A contrast of styles will grace an intriguing third rounder between Sara Errani and Sabine Lisicki.  I must say I was impressed by Errani's performance on Wednesday as she routed Yulia Putintseva, 6-1 6-1 with a clay court masterclass using drop shots, angles and her opponent's over-eagerness to prevail in super quick time.  Lisicki has certainly steadied the ship in recent months and overcame a competent clay courter in Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, finishing with a real flurry, 6-4 6-0.  The German player will have her eyes firmly set on the grass court season where she is likely to do some damage, but her clay court season may not yet be over.  If she can somehow find the balance between power and patience, she could be a dangerous opponent for the Italian.  I always underestimate Errani and having watched her second round match, I think she might have too many tricks for Sabine...

Prediction - Errani to beat Lisicki in 3 sets

Angelique Kerber

3. Angelique Kerber v Varvara Lepchenko

Moan Barthel was a fearsome opponent for Angelique Kerber in round one, but once she got through that one, her draw has looked kinder and she had no problems in dispatching Jana Cepelova, 6-2 6-2.  In the third round, Kerber will play Varvara Lepchenko, who recorded her second straight sets win of the tournament as she defeated Elena Svitolina, 7-6(5) 6-1.  After a slow start to the year, Lepchenko has posted some solid results on the clay, the highlight being a three set win over Roberta Vinci in Madrid.  Kerber withdrew from Rome so there were a few question marks over how she would compete in Paris, but her first two results suggest she is fighting fit.  Lepchenko is a tough player, who doesn't give you a lot of rhythm; however I think the consistency of the German player will be what brings her through this match.

Prediction - Kerber to beat Lepchenko in 2 tight sets

4. Roger Federer v Julien Benneteau

Roger Federer has lost just 11 games so far in his dream draw with straight sets wins over Pablo Carreno-Busta and Somdev Devvarman.  His next opponent is one that has caused his some mighty problems in the past, Julien Benneteau.  The Frenchman had a dramatic five set win over Tobias Kamke in round two, 7-6(11) 7-5 5-7 0-6 6-4.  Whenever I see Benneteau, he always seems to be injured and he had the trainer out in this one.  Federer has always struggled against Benneteau having lost twice to him and being pushed all the way at Wimbledon in one of the best ATP matches of 2012.  The key to this clash is that it is on clay and that limits Benneteau because he likes a fast court; both his previous wins over Federer have come on fast indoor hard courts (Bercy and Rotterdam).  This should be tougher than his last match, but the Fed express is heading into the last 16...

Prediction - Federer to beat Benneteau in 3 sets

Best of the rest: womens 3rd round predictions

Serena Williams to beat Sorana Cirstea in 2 sets

Roberta Vinci to beat Petra Cetkovska in 3 sets

Svetlana Kuznetsova to beat Bojana Jovanovski in 2 tight sets

Agnieszka Radwanska to beat Dinah Pfizenmaier in 2 tight sets

Ana Ivanovic to beat Virginie Razzano in 2 sets

Carla Suarez Navarro to beat Monica Puig in 2 tight sets

Best of the rest: mens 3rd round predictions

Gael Monfils to beat Tommy Robredo in 4 sets

Nicolas Almagro to beat Andreas Seppi in 3 sets

David Ferrer to beat Feliciano Lopez in 3 sets

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to beat Jeremy Chardy in 3 tight sets

Marin Cilic to beat Viktor Troicki in 3 sets

Gilles Simon to beat Sam Querrey in 5 sets