French Open Day 2 (Day 8, Monday)

 Day 2 of FO26 aka STAN DAY ,,,,,

Fusco v Berrettini is the battle of forgottons. Neither of these two will be around for long. They may not even get back to the FO. Fusco has maximized. Matteo is just hurt all the time. I sense that Fusco is the stronger mentally, while Matteo has all the talent in the world. Fusco gets him here because I do not believe Berrettini is healthy.

Pablo Carreno Busto v Jiri is similar to Fusco v Berrettini in that PCB has been around forever and is a fighter like Fusco. Whereas Jiri has all the talent in the world, just like Matteo, but puts it all together at the oddest times. This seems like it could be PCB's last FO, and I think he makes the most of it by at the very least, out-foxing Jiri in R1.

Rinderknech, the 22nd seed, v Jurij Rodionov will surprise a lot of people. This is an upset alert. I think Rodionov moves better. It's going to be quite hot, which will help Arthur's serve, but I think the heat also wears him down. I am a couple years past wishing for the Rodionov breakthrough. However, at every Grand Slam, Jurij is definitely good enough to make the group of 64 in R2. 

Samuel ended David Goffin's FO career in the qualies, and kept going to the main draw. DeMinaur is a little Caper Ruud, in that we all felt they would  have more success at this tournament. DeMinaur is able to absorb long point and just has a will to win. That's the stuff that starts to come and go once you're older, married, oft injured, etc. Alex isn't winning this tournament, he'll lose eventually, why not right here ? 

Sometime the draw creates a straight up perfectly democratic matchup between players of like age, ability and ranking. This creates popcorn moments for real fans. Although Michelson is ranked significantly higher than Chevy, I don't think it's the distance that you would assume between their abilities. Michelson has played better and better on the dirt. This kid deserves a lot of credit for saying no to Georgia and being no. 42 in the world. But Chevy is coming for every top player. He's no.88 right now, and that's a lot higher than he finished 2025. I think we see a healthy Chevy run the court and outsmart the American.

Luca Van v Pat Kypson has a similar profile. Both these guys are ready to explode. I don't think either one is destined for life on the Challenger Tour. Kypson is one of the best Americans in my opinion, but we are talking about a Frenchman at the FO. This is how much I like Kypson though, he can defy the French, for a day. Kypson wins in 5 !

It remains to be seen whether the FO did Stan any favors by handing him another Frenchman. But at least I think Stan can overpower Jesper, who will push Stan to play his very best. Stan still has the talent and I think a win here goes a long way to him getting into the last 2 grand slams of the year. Stan knows all this and I think he was coming to compete against Fils, so I think he wins here.

Naka v RBA is admittedly a battle between two players that I very much am a fan of. Can RBA move on the clay well enough to knock off Naka ? I don't think he can. RBA will stay in points, but Naka will overpower him. Naka will also out-serve RBA here.

The Spizz v Big Foe is way, way more interesting then most think. Of course The Spizz has a shot here. Foe is the 19th seed by the grace of God and he knows this. The Spizz needs to hang in and wait for the time to make a move. What Foe still retains are the smarts to win, but he's not going very far at the FO26. The Spizz will win more matches on tour over the next two years, and he will win here.

Munar v Hurkacz, wow, who's healthy here ? In the heart v talent category, I would already lean Munar. If he's the healthier of the two, I definitely go that way. Hubie is like Matteo, their time passed but they never seemed to care or notice since the money kept rolling in. 

Atmane v Kokkinakis, umm, Kokki is like #800 and I don't remember reading why he's in the tournament. Kokki hasn't had a racket sponsorship since the juniors. Atmane wins here. 

Copacetic Kovacevic v no.27 seed (wow) Jodar is more of a battle of comer-uppers than most think. Most probably think Jodar runs away here. Not so fast my friends, Kovacevic has shown flashes of brilliance. Jodar is talented, but I feel he shows his age here and believes the hype before the match starts. Kovacevic stuns here. 

Navone's World v Brooksby is a nice R1 match for the fans. Brooksby is a bit of an enigma, with a strange game, strange strokes and frankly a strange road. I think players play into his hands and give him balls to work with. Navone won't do that, and he's playing with as much confidence as he's ever had right now at this moment. Navone moves on.

Emilio v Camilo won't follow an age old script of the America meets the Argentine on the dirt and gets smothered like a bug. Nava survived qualies and is good for a win here. 

Rublev won't survive Buse. No one has so far this clay season. Upset alert flag flying.....

Tommy Paul v Rinky only became interesting after Paul could not seal the deal in the final the other day. Losing a final than playing Rinky is like having to play your coach. Rinky is going to be annoying. This is a very tough call for me, but I will say Paul survives in 4-5. 

Ruud v Saffulin seems to follow a theme for this year's FO. The talent v the heart, the expectation v the experience, it's all here. No one thinks Roman can win. But I do. Roman is on his way back up, and came through qualies. Ruud is just holding on right now. His Dad messed with his game so much, but he still uses what most consider a ladies frame. I like Roman here, and it might not even be close. 

Humbert v Mannarino is a Battle for France. Mannarino just isn't good on clay, but still retains a very high ranking for his age. I think Ugo takes this, but look for Adrian to make some sort of an earthquake at some point later this season !

Fran v Botic probably won't get interesting. Fran can win this tournament. 

Vuki v Raphael Collington will be tighter than Collinton wants. We have sort of a bigger, faster, stronger thing going on here. I do love Vuki, he's got plenty of heart. But Collinton moves on.

Merida Aguilar v Shelton is as close to a trap game as we get in tennis. Shelton's kinduv a brash, loud American in Paris, playing a Spanish player, and the old school is screaming upset. It's going to be very, very hot in Paris for this match. I just think the upset moons line up here. Nothing against Ben, but no one thinks he's winning the FO. 

Cobolli v Pelligrino is also a trap match, for Flavio. Flavio lives and does off a big hammer, which I think suits a U.S. Open championship more, but I do think he survices this trap. 

Marcos Giron v Wu has five sets written all over it. I think Marcos will want it more. He certainly needs it more. Marcos needs to win this match to ensure he's in the main draw at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Monfils v Gaston is not a nice gift for Monfils, as some might think. Monfils got a wildcard because he's La Monf. Gaston was deserving, sitting just outside the main draw in ranking. I like Gaston here. 

And that's it for Monday's matches.

Lex Luthor / Shorecrat