Jozef Kovalik vs Holger Rune Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP French Open

Prediction published on 31/05/2024, 08:14  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 31/05/2024 at 08:37 in ATP French Open Predictions

Jozef Kovalik hadn't won a match in the main draw of an ATP Tour event this year before arriving at Roland Garros. The lucky loser has changed all that and now takes on 13th seed Holger Rune for a place in round four. The winner of this match will face either fourth seed Alexander Zverev or 26th seeded Tallon Griekspoor. Kovalik is up to 117th in the live rankings, a rise of 28 places. It's still below the 80th place he was at in 2022. Kovalik had to win three qualifying matches to get into the main draw but didn't manage to do that, losing to Roman Andres Burruchaga. He was reinstated as a lucky loser and has beaten Marcos Giron in four sets and then the 18th seed Karen Khachanov despite losing the first two sets to the Russian. This is his first time past the first round of a Grand Slam.

Holger Rune is playing in this outdoor clay court tournament for only the third time. Both his previous visits have seen him reach the quarter-final. Rune is 15th in the live rankings and a couple of places lower in the ATP Race. He made a good start to his clay court season with a quarter-final reached in Monte Carlo and then getting to the last four in Munich. His last two tournaments before Roland Garros saw him lose in the last 32. Round one at Roland Garros saw him beat Daniel Evans in straight sets. It was tougher in round two as he had to go to five sets to get past unseeded Flavio Cobolli. A two-set lead was given away and he needed a tie-break to win the decider. We go for over 3.5 sets to be played in this match.