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Bernard Tomic will be out to break the home nation’s hearts as he takes on 12th seed Richard Gasquet in the first round of the French Open. Join us for live scores and commentary from 7.00pm AEST.
Tomic, with his much-publicised hip injury, has been out of action for four months – not including the disastrous return in Miami.
Gasquet has been out with a back injury since Miami and will return to action in this event.
There are even rumours of the Frenchman being a late withdrawal, but nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing. This shouldn’t happen as Gasquet – in an interview with newspaper L’Equipe – said he was moving fine during practice for the event. The only concern for him was his serve, which hasn’t been fully tested yet.
If the Frenchman is not one hundred per cent fit, the Australian becomes a bigger chance to win.
The two have faced each other four times, with Gasquet leading the ledger 3-1. Importantly Tomic won their last meeting, in 2013 at Wimbledon. In a game of high intensity and brilliant serving, Tomic won 7-6 5-7 7-5 7-6 on his way to the fourth round.
Predicting what will happen in this match is almost impossible as both players are struggling with form, injury and fitness.
Since his return, Tomic has won just one of the four matches he has competed in.
If Gasquet is fit and raring to go, he should win in three sets. If Gasquet is fit, but can’t serve, then the match could go to five sets, with either in contention to win.
It could all be over in less than a set if Gasquet struggles with the injury and as such is a match that could be a classic, or be completed in half hour.
If I was to give a prediction it would be Tomic in four sets. I’m not confident Gasquet will be prepared or fit enough.
Tune in to the Roar from 7:00pm to see what happens and join in the conversation below.
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