Tennis
2024-05-27 - Cameron Norrie vs Pavel Kotov
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis: French Open First Round
Monday 27th May 2024 - Scheduled 12pm
11am (British Time)
Preview
There is not expected to be a lot of British interest at the French Open when we reach the business end of this tournament, but one of the better hopes may be Cameron Norrie.
It has been a tough year for the left-hander who has slipped out of the top 32 in the World Rankings, which means the likelihood of having tougher opening Round draws at the Grand Slam events. His clay court season has been mixed since April, but Norrie has seen the problems thaat come with a dropped World Ranking as he has suffered early losses to the likes of Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas, two very capable clay courters who are amongst the favourites at the second Grand Slam of the season.
On paper this looks a tough, but winnable First Round match for the British player as he prepares to face Pavel Kotov.
The Russian has reached a new career high World Ranking earlier this month, and he has had some decent results on the clay courts in the build to the French Open. The results have been more mixed when only accounting for matches against players Ranked in the top 100, while Kotov has lost four of the five matches played against top 50 Ranked opponents on the clay courts.
It feels like Cameron Norrie will have the edge when it comes down to the serve and that may ultimately give him the opportunity to win this one. He has played well when facing opponents outside of the top 20 of the World Rankings, and Cameron Norrie may just have the majority of the Break Point opportunities through the course of this match.
Cameron Norrie dominated the match when facing Pavel Kotov on the clay courts of Barcelona in April 2023, but the latter should show his improvements made over the last thirteen months. However, Norrie may still be the superior player and can show that by moving through to the Second Round behind a three or four set win.
Prediction
Look for the higher Ranked player to move through in three or four sets.
The Pick :
Cameron Norrie 3-1 Pavel Kotov
