Attention again turns to the star-studded top half of the men’s singles draw on day six with Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas all in third round action.

Bookmakers don’t expect any of that heavyweight trio to falter at this early stage in Paris, but Djokovic will have to be on the ball from the off against talented Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Alcaraz and Tsitsipas are expected to find things easier in their respective third-round matches with Denis Shapovalov and Diego Schwartzman, but British number one Cameron Norrie could be in trouble against Lorenzo Musetti.

In the women’s draw, second seed Aryna Sabalenka should have few troubles overcoming Kamilla Rakhimova, but third seed Jessica Pegula may have to work harder in her encounter with Belgium’s Elise Mertens.

French Open day six betting tips

  • Alejandro Davidovich Fokina +7.5 games on handicap @ 4/5
  • Stefanos Tsitsipas to win 3-0 v Diego Schwartzman @ 5/6
  • Sloane Stephens to win 2-1 v Yulia Putintseva @ 3/1

Date: Friday 2nd June
Time: 10:00
Location: Roland Garros, Paris, France

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina +7.5 games on handicap @ 4/5

Two-time French Open champion Djokovic is seen as the man most likely to capitalise if young gun Alcaraz fails to deliver in Paris, but the 22-Grand Slam champion shouldn’t be expecting an easy ride from Davidovich Fokina.

With no Rafael Nadal in the field, Djokovic may have his eyes set on a third French Open crown and he has made a strong start to proceedings, recording straight-set victories over Aleksandar Kovacevic and Marton Fucsovics.

But Davidovich Fokina is in a different calibre to those opponents and was a 6-3 6-7 6-1 winner against Djokovic in their most recent encounter on the clay of Monte Carlo last year.

The Spaniard, who made the quarter-final at Roland Garros in 2021, overcame world number six Holger Rune in Madrid at the end of April and had pushed compatriot Alcaraz close 7-6 6-4 in the quarter-final in Barcelona prior to that.

That highlights what Davidovich Fokina is capable of and a handicap start of +7.5 games may seriously underestimate his prospects.

Stefanos Tsitsipas to win 3-0 v Diego Schwartzman @ 5/6 

While Djokovic may have to work hard for his rewards, Tsitsipas is fancied to run out an authoritative winner against Diego Schwartzman.

This would have been a much tougher third-round match for Tsitsipas had it been played last season, but Schwartzman’s level appears to have declined drastically.

Although a three-time French Open quarter-finalist, the Argentinian has slid from a career-high eighth in the world rankings down to world number 91.

The 30-year-old has done well to make it this far but he had trailed Bernabe Zapata Miralles by two sets in his opener before pulling off the unlikeliest of comebacks.

Losing the opening set to Tsitsipas, however, would be fatal and the Greek star has won his last two meetings with Schwartzman in straight sets.

The world number five and 2021 French Open runner-up has won 13 of his last 16 clay-court matches and he made light work of Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round, suggesting he can also win this 3-0.

Sloane Stephens to win 2-1 v Yulia Putintseva @ 3/1

All five previous meetings between these two players have gone to a deciding set and there’s every hope of a repeat scenario in their third-round encounter at Roland Garros.

So although a third set may be required, Stephens is expected to continue her resurgence with victory.

Stephens has endured a stop-start career ever since finishing runner-up at Roland Garros in 2018, but she was a quarter-finalist in Paris last year and has been holding her form well during this clay-court campaign.

The American has lost only two of her last 13 matches on the slower surface and the manner of her wins over Karolina Pliskova and Varvara Gracheva in the French capital suggest she may be in slightly better touch than Yulia Putintseva.

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