Stefanos Tsitsipas vs John Isner: The American will put up some fight against the Greek

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the world No. 5, will face John Isner, the world No. 34, in the Round of 32 at Roland Garros. The men have played each other five times, though they have never met on clay, 3-2 in favour of the Greek. It is worth noting that Tsitsipas has won his last three head-to-head meetings 6-0. Not surprisingly, the Greek is quoted as the big favourite, while the odds on Tsitsipas go down.

Stefanos Tsitsipas has been the big man on the clay court this season, and it’s no wonder the Greek is widely regarded as one of the main favourites to win the Majors. He won the Monte Carlo Masters and the Lyon tournament and played in the Barcelona final, where he fell short against Nadal. In Roland Garros 2021, Stefanos played two matches and won both, on nil, first against Chardy and then against Martinez Portero. The match against the Spaniard lasted two hours and 30 minutes. The Greek was excellent in that match with 8/3 serve/double faults, 45/30 winners/unforced errors. Also worth highlighting is Tsitsipas’ reception stats, Stefanos won 44% of points on Pedroэs first serve and 47% on his second serve.

John Isner is not a clay court player. Moreover, we don’t often see this performer at tournaments held in Europe. After the Miami Masters, Isner played only the Madrid Masters, where he reached the quarterfinals, defeating Kecmanovic, Bautista Agut and Rublev in the course of the competition, losing in three sets to Tim. A very decent statistic that Tsitsipas’ coaches need to pay attention to. In Rogal Garros 2021, Isner played two matches and won both of them 3-0. First, the American proved stronger than his compatriot, Sam Querrey. Then, in two hours and 15 minutes he beat Serb Krajinovic. Against the Balkan, Isner won both tie-breaks. And in general, the American’s main weapon is a powerful serve.

Surprisingly, in the rivalry between Tsitsipas and Isner, the winner has whitewashed the defeated. This time, it’s going to be a tight match. Tsitsipas is the clear favourite, but we saw in the preview that Isner is doing very well on the clay this season, making the most of his serve. Tsitsipas is unlikely to have an easy walk, so here are our tips for this match: Total Over 37.5 for 1.88, Handicap 2 (+5.5) for 1.89.