Lorenzo Musetti and Stefanos Tsitsipas meet in the first round of the 2022 tennis French Open.
Lorenzo Musetti enters this tournament after winning six of his last eight matches, and he hasn’t lost an opening match since Miami two months ago. Musetti is coming off a match in Madrid where he got 74 percent of his first serves in play, but lost to Alexander Zverev in straight sets. Musetti looks to make the second round of a grand slam for the third time in his career. Of course, Musetti made the fourth round of the French Open last year, his first ever appearance. Musetti has two career wins over top-10 players, both coming since 2021. Musetti has won six of his last eight matches on clay court.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has won seven of his last nine matches and is coming off a final appearance in the Italian Open. Tsitsipas is coming off a straight sets loss to Novak Djokovic, where he won 54 percent of his total service points and was broken four times. A top-five favorite to win the tournament, Tsitsipas has to be feeling good about his game and this tournament overall, since he’s made at least the semifinals here each of the last two years. Tsitsipas has lost in the first round of a grand slam once since 2020, and he hasn’t lost in the first round of the French Open since 2017, his first trip. Tsitsipas has won seven of his last nine matches on clay court.
Tsitsipas has won both matches against Musetti, which incudes a 2021 victory in Lyon and a 2021 victory in Acapulco. The matchup in Lyon was decided in three sets.
This should be a fun opening match given the success Musetti has had on clay and the fact he made a respectable run here last year. However, Tsitsipas is in wonderful form, and he’s managed the previous two matches against the Italian. Tsitsipas could drop a set if he isn’t careful, but he’s the more talented player overall with the experience edge and should prevail eventually.
Give me Tsitsipas in four sets.