On Sunday, in the first round of the 2021 French Open, we saw a significant upset as Pablo Andujar of Spain knocked out the fourth-ranked Austrian and two-time French Open finalist, Dominic Thiem, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. If the Andujar name sounds familiar, it should. Andujar made tennis headlines at the Geneva Open, where he beat Switzerland’s Roger Federer in the second round, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Here are three more potential upsets in the first round of the French Open.
Dusan Lajovic–SRB vs. (28) Nikoloz Basilashvili–GEO–Even though Lajovic of Serbia is unseeded at the 2021 French Open, he was seeded 22nd at the 2020 French Open, which took place just this past fall. There Lajovic beat Gianluca Mager of Italy in the first round, 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1, before losing in the second round in five sets to two-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson of South Africa. Basilashvili of Georgia meanwhile lost in the first round of the 2020 French Open, and was beaten in the first round in all three ATP Masters 1000 series events on clay. Lajovic has also beaten Basilashvili in the first round of the Croatia Open on clay in 2018, 7-5, 6-2.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas–ESP vs. (14) Gael Monfis–FRA–Gael Monfils made tennis headlines a month ago when he announced his engagement to WTA star Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. In the first round of the Italian Open, Monfils was upset, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 by Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, and also lost in the first round of the 2020 French Open to Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Ramos-Vinolas meanwhile hammered fellow Frenchman Adrian Mannarino of France, 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 in the first round of the 2020 French Open, and beat American Taylor Fritz in the first round of the 2021 Madrid Open, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. Ramos Vinolas also spanked Monfils in their last meeting on clay, in the first round of the 2019 Italian Open, 6-3, 6-1.
Alexander Bublik–KAZ vs. (2) Daniil Medvedev–RUS–You can throw the fact that Medvedev is second in the world out the window here because Medvedev has never been a really good clay court player. In fact, Medvedev has been knocked out of the first round of every French Open since 2017. He also lost in the first round of the Italian Open to rising Russian star Aslan Karatsev, and battled coronavirus and missed the Monte Carlo Masters as a result. As mentioned, Bublik meanwhile beat Monfils at the French Open last year, and reached the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, where he beat Denis Shaopovalov of Canada and Karatsev.
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