2017 Roland Garros Men’s Quarterfinals Predictions

With the quarterfinal round of the 2017 French Open set to get underway in just over 24 hours, the big questions on the ATP portion of the second grand slam event of the year remain largely unchanged since Day 1. Find the latest tennis betting picks here.

In Depth Analysis On The 2017 Roland Garros Men’s Quarterfinals Predictions

    Can anyone stop World No. 4 Rafael Nadal from winning his record, 10th title at Roland Garros? Can World No. 1 Andy Murray, both, stop Rafa, while winning the first French Open title of his fairly illustrious career? Can World No. 2 and 2016 French Open winner Novak Djokovic get back to looking like the game’s most dominant player after largely struggling ever since he won here last year? Will World No. 3 and 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka go all ‘Stanimal’ on everyone to upset the entire field? Last but not least, can one of the remaining surprise players pull off the huge tourney upset to the chagrin of millions? As usual, if you’ve got questions, I’ve got answers, at least when it comes to Rafa and Nole and their respective quarterfinal matchups.

Quarterfinals

Pablo Carreno-Busta +1678 Rafael Nadal -2828

The incomparable Rafael Nadal laid an impressive 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 smackdown on Roberto Bautista Agut to advance to the quarterfinals and take another step toward winning an unprecedented 10th title at Roland Garros. The 31-year-old Spaniard has rolled to the final eight while not dropping a set. His run marked the 11th time he has reached the quarterfinals at the French Open – a record he shares with Roger Federer. Nadal has lost just 20 games in four matches en route to the quarters. “I played against a very good player, and I was able to win in straight sets with very positive result,” Nadal shrugged. “So happy for that. Probably I didn’t play as well as I did the other day, but I still played well, no? I played some very good shots.” Nadal will face countryman and World No. 21, Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarters on Tuesday. The 25-year-old reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by stopping fifth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 8-6 on Sunday. The 20th seeded Spaniard failed to convert six match points in the deciding set before eventually regaining his composure to go on and get the win. The win also marked Carreno Busta’s first career victory over a top-10 player. “Rafa is maybe the best player on this surface in history, and he’s playing really good, but I will try. I’m playing good. I’m playing with a lot of confidence. Maybe I’m a little tired, but I have one day off. So on Tuesday, we’ll see what happens,” Carreno Busta said. “These quarter-finals are a great opportunity to continue and create my own history. Nadal owns a 3-0 record against Carreno Busta with two of those wins coming on clay including last year’s 6-1, 6-4 win in Rio de Janeiro. While I am going to encourage you to back Rafael Nadal to get the win,  I’m also thinking it will take at least four sets for Rafa to finish off his countryman, which makes the Over 27.5 games an attractive pick to me. I’m also going to advise you to back Carreno Busta at +9.5 games as I expect this match to be surprisingly closer than expected. Nadal gets the win in four sets to improve on his insane 76-2 career mark at Roland Garros. Pick: Rafael Nadal in 4 Sets

Dominic Thiem +160 Novak Djokovic -190

Analysis: World No. 2 Novak Djokovic reached the quarters by dispatching 19th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the quarters. The twelve-time Grand Slam champion converted a stellar 70 percent (7-of-10) of his break chances to make his eighth straight appearance in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and record-tying 11th overall to join Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer with the most career French Open quarterfinal appearances. Djokovic won the first four games and took the first set in a swift 28 minutes. “The second and third went really well,” Djokovic said. “I thought especially in the second I did things very well from the back of the court. I mixed it up and didn’t give him any comfort zone on the court. I always made him guess, which was one of the keys.” 23-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem completely embarrassed Horacio Zeballos 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarters and like both, Nadal and 2015 winner Stan Wawrinka – has not dropped a set on his way to the last eight, needing just over a mind-boggling 90 minutes to dispatch Zeballos. “I think it was a very good match today. It was great fun to play out there. I was enjoying basically every second of the match,” said Thiem. “It’s always something special to be in the second week. It’s only my second [Grand Slam] quarter-final, so it feels very good to me.” Thiem has been on fire in winning in Rio de Janeiro (d. Carreno Busta) and reaching the finals at the Mutua Madrid Open and Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Thiem is also the only player to defeat Rafael Nadal on clay this year. Still, not only is Novak Djokovic a perfect 5-0  in his career against Thiem, but the reigning champ has completely owned his younger counterpart as illustrated by his 6-1, 6-0 annihilation over Thiem at the ATP 1000 Masters in Rome. “If I play him, I have to change something compared to the past matches,” said Thiem. “I also have some experience playing against him now. I’ll talk to my coach and my team, maybe change something up and hope that I play a good match on Tuesday.” While Novak Djokovic hasn’t been himself for the better part of the last year and Dominic Thiem hasn’t dropped a set in four matches, I like the Djoker to win and advance in a minimum of four sets. Play Djokovic -3.5 Games and the Under 39.5 Total Games as well as Djokovic to win outright. Pick: Novak Djokovic in 4 Sets