Paris Olympics 2024: Gael Monfils vs Lorenzo Musetti preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: Gael Monfils vs (11) Lorenzo Musetti
Date: July 28, 2024
Tournament: Paris Olympics 2024
Round: First Round (Round of 64)
Venue: Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France
Category: Olympics
Surface: Clay
Live Telecast: USA - NBC, Peacock | UK - Eurosport, Discovery+, BBC iPlayer | Canada - CBC Gem, Radio Canada, Tou.tv | India - JioCinema, Sports18
Gael Monfils vs Lorenzo Musetti preview
11th-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti will take on home favorite Gael Monfils in the opening round of the Paris Olympics. The Frenchman has an 18-15 record for the season and is coming on the back of a decent grass-court season. Monfils reached the semi-final of the Mallorca Championships and then reached the third round of Wimbledon. losing against Grigor Dimitrov.
However, the Frenchman has not fared well on clay. Monfils has mostly been knocked out of the first rounds of the clay-court tournaments he has played so far this season. The former World No. 6 has a poor 3-5 record on the red dirt in 2024, which is not ideal before playing the Olympics on the red clay of Roland Garros.
Lorenzo Musetti has also had a tremendous season on the grass in 2024. The Italian reached the semi-final of the Stuttgart Open (Losing against Matteo Berrettini), the final of the Queen's Club Championships (Losing against Tommy Paul), and reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon, losing against Novak Djokovic.
On clay, the Italian's performances have been found wanting. In the European clay-court season leading up to the French Open, the Italian did not have great success. He reached the third round of the French Open, where he lost a marathon five-setter against Djokovic. However, Musetti is coming on the back of a final appearance at the Croatia Open in Umag, losing against Francisco Cerundolo.
Gael Monfils vs Lorenzo Musetti head-to-head
The head-to-head is tied at 1-1 between the duo. The pair last played at the second round of this year's French Open, with Musetti winning the match 7-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Gael Monfils vs Lorenzo Musetti odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Gael Monfils vs Lorenzo Musetti prediction
Musetti has been in tremendous form in the last few months. Even though the Italina's best performances came on the grass, his final at Umag shows that the Italian is ready to tackle the red dirt as well. In recent form, Musetti has been severe on the opponent's second serve winning 50.96 percent of the points on the opponent' second serve. The Italian classic one-handed backhand has been key to his return games.
On the other hand, Monfils has been playing decent tennis in recent times, although not making any deep runs at any of the events. The Frenchman has been in good returning form as well, as he has managed to convert 40.1 percent of the break-point opportunities he has got in the last year.
The crowd support will be with Frenchman, but Musetti is the more in-form player. Therefore he should be able to win the match and advance to the next round.
Pick- Lorenzo Musetti to win in three sets