French Open 3rd Round Predictions, Day 7: Djokovic-Dimitrov, Jankovic-Stosur

1. Novak Djokovic v Grigor Dimitrov

Novak Djokovic

Perhaps the most anticpated match of the French Open so far will see Novak Djokovic take on Grigor Dimitrov in an intriguing third rounder.  The Bulgarian caused a huge upset when he defeated Djokovic in an epic second round match in Madrid earlier this month, 7-6(6) 6-7(8) 6-3.  Both enjoyed comfortable second round wins; Djokovic lost just four games against the Argentine Guido Pella, meanwhile Dimitrov reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career as he came through in straight sets against the French wildcard, Lucas Pouille, 6-1 7-6(4) 6-1.  The big difference between this match-up compared to Madrid is that it is a best of five sets, which is significant because Dimitrov was majorly cramping at the end of the second set of their Madrid clash.  Dimitrov has had an easy route through so should be relatively fresh, but I still cannot see him winning three sets against Djokovic.

Prediction - Djokovic to beat Dimitrov in 4 sets

2. Jelena Jankovic v Sam Stosur

The top womens match from all of the 3rd rounders will see Jelena Jankovic take on Sam Stosur.  Jankovic has continued to build on an impressive clay court season as she took out Garbine Muguruza, 6-3 6-0.  This backed up a solid win over Daniela Hantuchova in the first round where JJ recovered from a 5-0 second set deficit to progress in straight sets.  Stosur had a tough match yesterday, but came through very nicely with a 6-4 6-3 win against Kristina Mladenovic, 6-4 6-3.   Jankovic comfortably leads the head-to-head and won in Stuttgart this year when Stosur was not match fit.  The Aussie however did hand a 6-1 6-2 beatdown in the Roland Garros semi-finals on her way to the final in 2010.  This should be a really exciting match as both are playing well and obviously love this tournament.  Whoever wins, I expect to make the quarter-finals and I am going with my gut instinct... JJ.

Prediction - Jankovic to beat Stosur in 3 sets

3. Petra Kvitova v Jamie Hampton

Petra Kvitova

Yesterday saw a real shocker as Petra Kvitova WON A MATCH IN STRAIGHT SETS! Kvitova toiled in her opener against Aravane Rezai, but found a way to get through in straight sets, up against Peng Shuai, 6-4 6-3.  Her opponent in round three will be the flying American, Jamie Hampton, who is enjoying a red hot run of form having made the semi-finals of Brussels and coming out on the right end of a humdinger in round one edging out Lucie Safarova, 9-7 in the decider.  In round two, she beat Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova, 7-5 6-2.  Kvitova's form varies from match to match so its impossible to say how she is going to play in this one.  Hampton has an all-court game, one of the most watchable on the tour and she has built together a string of real confidence wins.  I didn't originally go for this in my predictions, but I am sensing an upset and another win to contribute to a landmark tournament for the American women...

Prediction - Hampton to beat Kvitova in 3 sets

4. Benoit Paire v Kei Nishikori

There are a selection of tasty third rounders on the mens side and I have gone for Benoit Paire up against Kei Nishikori purely because it finished on Thursday and gives me a chance to write the preview in advance ;-) Paire has always been a rather flashy character, but his results have been very consistent of late.  He made the semi-finals in Rome and here he has backed that up with a round three showing at RG, beating Lukas Kubot in straight sets.  I think Nishikori is rather underrated on the tour as he has once again made a third round at a Grand Slam.  He lost a strange second set to Grega Zemlja in which he blew a lead, but managed to come through the third and fourth sets unscathed to progress with a 6-1 5-7 6-1 6-4.   Paire is the kind of character than can feed off the energy of a home crowd, but Nishikori is a really solid customer and if he is free from injury (a big but), then I favour the Japanese to squeak through.

Prediction - Nishikori to beat Paire in 5 sets

Best of the rest: womens 3rd round predictions

Bethanie Mattek-Sands to beat Paula Ormaechea in 2 tight sets

Maria Kirilenko to beat Stefanie Voegele in 2 tight sets
Francesca Schiavone to beat Marion Bartoli in 3 sets

Victoria Azarenka to beat Alize Cornet in 2 tight sets

Sloane Stephens to beat Marina Erakovic in 3 sets

Maria Sharapova to beat Zheng Jie in 2 sets

Best of the rest: mens 3rd round predictions

Philipp Kohlschreiber to beat Victor Hanescu in 4 sets

Tommy Haas to beat John Isner in 4 sets

Mikhail Youzhny to beat Janko Tipsarevic in 5 sets

Rafael Nadal to beat Fabio Fognini in 3 sets

Stanislas Wawrinka to beat Jerzy Janowicz in 3 sets

Richard Gasquet to beat Nikolay Davydenko in 4 sets

My womens draw has been remarkably successful as I correctly predicted 13 out of 16 in the womens bottom half for R3 and 7 of the 8 winners in the top half for R4.  I have benefitted from not going for any major surprises, unlike the mens which has not been so great.  My best prediction of the week so far was going for Paula Ormaechea to make the third round.

Moo's original WTA Roland Garros Predictions
Moo's original ATP Roland Garros Predictions