Pablo Cuevas vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas – French Open, October 1, 2020

Stefanos Tsitsipas barely made it to the second round of the 2020 French Open and will now have to face another tricky opponent in Pablo Cuevas. The Spaniard loves clay courts and can be dangerous on that surface, but he has failed to find success in his previous matches against the Greek prodigy.

I share my expectations for Thursday’s clash in this Pablo Cuevas vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas betting preview. I also explore the latest odds and both players’ performance so far, before moving on to my prediction and free betting pick.

The Pablo Cuevas vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas odds offered by the top French Open betting sites suggest that the Greek youngster should be able to win this match without breaking a sweat. Let’s see if that’s truly the case in my analysis of both athletes.

There’s little doubt that clay is Pablo Cuevas’ favorite surface. The best moments in the Spaniard’s career have come on red courts and include strong runs in Monte Carlo and Madrid, as well as sixteen titles in smaller tournaments.

And yet, the veteran is yet to register a deep run in the French Open. Cuevas has reached the third round of the competition a couple of times and that’s it.

His serve is the major problem here and it gets exposed against the top players in the world. The veteran simply doesn’t earn enough easy points and that opens the door to plenty of opportunities for his opponents.

We’ve seen that in all three encounters against Tsitsipas so far. The Greek youngster was able to win them all without losing a set and his last victory over Cuevas came in Hamburg less than a week ago.

I don’t think that the Spaniard can change something and the only potential advantage he has is the longer rest after the German Open.

I expected some problems for Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round in Paris because of his late arrival in the French capital and I was right. Jaume Munar was 2-0 up before the Greek star finally showed up to turned it around.

Stefanos Survives!

?? @StefTsitsipas rallies for a 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win over Munar.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/8W1iH78R8w

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 29, 2020

It was a tough match, but Tsitsipas had a full day of rest and I believe we should see a much better performance in the second round.

There’s a lot of room for improvement when it comes to the Greek athlete’s serve and if he can find his rhythm, he should be able to beat Cuevas rather comfortably. That’s what happened in their three matches so far and I expect more of the same.

I believe that Tsitsipas struggled in his first 2020 French Open clash because of the lack of rest. That problem is now gone, so he should be better against Pablo Cuevas. I expect a clean sweep and at least one easy set, so the price of -101 for the favorite to cover the -6.5 handicap looks fine.