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Match details
Fixture: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Pablo Cuevas
Date: 1 October 2020
Tournament: Roland Garros 2020
Round: Second round (Round of 64)
Venue: Paris, France
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Red clay
Prize money: Approx. €38,000,000
Match timing: Approx. 6 pm CEST, 9.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel / NBC Sport | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Pablo Cuevas preview
Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas in the second round of the French Open on Thursday.
Tsitsipas comes into the match after dramatically overturning a two-set deficit against Jaume Munar in the first round. Despite looking like the worse player for a majority of the encounter, Tsitsipas rallied to eventually win 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
The performance came as a surprise as the Greek star had a solid tournament in Hamburg last week, losing only in the final against Andrey Rublev.
The 22-year-old now faces World No. 60 Pablo Cuevas, a veteran on the ATP tour who has been in decent form this year.
Cuevas comes into the match following a comfortable first-round win against Henri Laaksonen. Before that he had a solid run in Hamburg, where he reached the Round of 16 and lost to Tsitsipas himself.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Pablo Cuevas head-to-head
The meeting in Paris is the fourth between the two players, with Stefanos Tsitsipas currently leading the head-to-head 3-0. The Greek won their most recent meeting in Hamburg 7-5 6-4.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Pablo Cuevas prediction
Although Tsitsipas comes into the match as the favorite due to his superior ranking and form in 2020, the mistakes he made against Munar will be a cause for concern.
The 22-year-old was not at his best on serve, and made one too many unforced errors in the first two sets.
However, his all-court game seems like it can handle the tricky cold-weather conditions in Paris this year. And his heavy forehand will likely be the key to unlocking this matchup.
Cuevas is unlikely to alter his game plan much from their Round of 16 match in Hamburg. The Uruguayan will look to use his topspin-laden forehand and push Tsitsipas deep behind the baseline, before finishing the point with a putaway.
The conditions are, however, going to be considerably different than in Hamburg. And Tsitsipas showed in the second half of his match against Munar that he is more than capable of holding his own at Roland Garros.
Unless Cuevas puts a lot of pressure from the back of the court to extract unforced errors by the dozen, Tsitsipas should come away with the W in this match.
Prediction: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in four sets.
