French Open 2025 Day 2: Men's singles predictions ft. Casper Ruud vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Holger Rune vs Roberto Bautista Agut | Roland Garros
The men's singles first round will continue on Day 2 (Monday, May 26) of the French Open 2025. The first day of the tournament witnessed the elimination of a couple of seeded players on the men's side.
28th seed Brandon Nakashima lost to Mariano Navone in four sets, while 32nd seed Alex Michelsen was shown the door by Juan Manuel Cerundolo. Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul were among the other seeded players in action on Sunday, and both of them reached the second round.
More players will aim to join them on Monday. On that note, here are the predictions for some of the men's singles first-round matches set for Day 2 of the French Open 2025:
#1. Casper Ruud vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Ruud kicked off his time on clay at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he was the runner-up a year ago. He could only reach the third round this time. His title defense at the Barcelona Open concluded with a loss to Holger Rune in the quarterfinals.
Ruud then advanced to the final of the Madrid Open with wins over top 10 players Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev along the way. He beat another top 10 player, Jack Draper, in the final to capture the biggest title of his career. His winning ways continued at the Italian Open until he ran into World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals, who handed him a 6-0, 6-1 beatdown.
Ramos-Vinolas came through the qualifying rounds of the French Open without losing a set. He lost his only match on the ATP Tour this year in Barcelona, and has a 3-6 record at the Challenger circuit. This will be his final appearance in Paris since he's set to retire this year.
While Ramos-Vinolas is a solid player on clay, his current form doesn't indicate that he's going to put up a fight against Ruud. The latter also hasn't lost prior to the semis for the past three years and was the runner-up in 2022 and 2023. The Norwegian should be able to make a winning start to his French Open campaign based on his recent results.
Predicted winner: Casper Ruud
#2. Karen Khachanov vs Aleksandar Vukic
Khachanov has compiled a 7-5 record on clay this year. A fourth-round showing at the Italian Open along with a semifinal finish at the Barcelona Open are his best results on the red dirt. Vukic wrapped up his hardcourt swing on a five-match losing streak. Unfortunately for him, his poor run of form continued on clay as well.
Vukic failed to clear the first hurdle in Marrakech and Madrid, extending his losing streak to seven matches. He finally snapped his losing skid and reached the second round of the Italian Open, before losing to Sebastian Korda.
Vukic has lost in the first round of the French Open in his prior two main draw appearances. With a 1-3 record on clay at the ATP level this year, his losing streak in Paris is likely to continue.
Khachanov has never lost in the first round here and has made the quarterfinals on two occasions. He will be favored to maintain his perfect record in opening-round matches here given his opponent's poor form.
Predicted winner: Karen Khachanov
#3. Holger Rune vs Roberto Bautista Agut
Rune started the European clay swing with a first-round exit from the Monte-Carlo Masters. He bounced back with a title-winning run at the Barcelona Open. He beat Carlos Alcaraz in the final to capture his first title in two years. His good run of form came to an abrupt end when an injury forced him to retire in the second round of the Madrid Open.
Rune underperformed at the Italian Open as well, going out in the third round. Bautista Agut has had a busy clay swing so far, participating in six tournaments. However, he won back-to-back matches in his most recent outing, which was at the Hamburg Open. He beat Marcos Giron and Tiafoe before losing to Flavio Cobolli in the quarterfinals.
Both have comparable records on clay this year. Rune has gone 6-4 on the surface, while Bautista Agut has a 6-6 record. The Dane has never lost prior to the fourth round of the French Open and also has a 2-0 record against the Spaniard, making him the favorite to win this match.
Predicted winner: Holger Rune
#4. Alexei Popyrin vs Yoshihito Nishioka
Popyrin kicked off his run on clay with wins over Tiafoe and Ruud to make the last eight at the Monte-Carlo Masters, losing to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He left the Madrid Open without a win and bowed out from the Italian Open in the third round. He got back on track with a quarterfinal finish at last week's Geneva Open.
Nishioka could compete in only one tournament on clay due to an injury. Following a first-round exit from the Miami Open in March, he returned to action a couple of weeks ago at the Italian Open. He lost to Dusan Lajovic in the first round upon his comeback.
This could've been a winnable encounter for Nishioka. His 6-8 record at the French Open stands out in comparison to Popyrin's 1-6 record, and he also won their only prior encounter. However, since he's still finding his footing after an injury hiatus, the Aussie should be able to score his first win in Paris since 2019.
Predicted winner: Alexei Popyrin
#5. Sebastian Baez vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Baez's results on clay have been quite inconsistent. He won the Rio Open and was the runner-up at the ATP 250 events in Santiago and Bucharest. However, he has arrived at the French Open on a four-match losing streak, starting with his second-round exit from the Barcelona Open.
Kecmanovic has a 1-5 record on clay this year and has also lost his last four matches. He has a 5-6 record at the French Open and lost in the second round last year. Despite his success on clay, Baez has a 2-3 record at the clay court Major and was eliminated in the second round a year ago.
Kecmanovic leads Baez 2-0 in the head-to-head. However, they're never played on clay before. While both of them are in poor form at the moment, the Argentine did taste some success on clay before it all went downhill, unlike his opponent. As such, he will be the favorite to come through this clash.
Predicted winner: Sebastian Baez