Karen Khachanov vs Jozef Kovalik Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP French Open

Prediction published on 28/05/2024, 13:56  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 28/05/2024 at 14:05 in ATP French Open Predictions

Jozef Kovalik is unexpectedly in round two at Roland Garros. He takes on the 18th seed Karen Khachanov for a place in the third round of this outdoor clay court Grand Slam. For the winner, there’s the possibility of a match against 13th seed Holger Rune if he qualifies. Kovalik lost in the final qualifying round to Roman Andres Burruchaga but was reinstated as a lucky loser. He made the most of that with a four-set win over Marcos Giron in round one, two sets going to a tie-break. That’s taken Kovalik up to 133rd in the live rankings, well below his career-high of 80th. That was achieved six years ago though. The Slovakian is just inside the top 100 in the ATP Race. Earlier this month he lost in the final of the Mauthausen Challenger Tour event but has won two clay tournaments at that level this year. The win over Giron was his first in the main draw of an ATP Tour event this year. In nine previous times in this Grand Slam, he’s never got past round one.

He faces a tough task against Karen Khachanov who beat Sumit Nagal in round one. The Russian won that match in straight sets, one of them to love. He’s 22nd in the live rankings (20th in the Race) but was 18th in Monday’s list. He’s slipped four places because he’s defending the points that were earned when reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year. That was his second quarter-final in this Grand Slam, the other being in 2019. This year on clay he’s reached two last 16s and a quarter-final in Monte Carlo. We tip him to win in straight sets.