Frank Lorenzo
Andreas Seppi (+200) vs John Isner (-275, 4 o/u)
Neither John Isner nor Andreas Seppi are among the favorites to win the 2015 French Open, but they look to advance to advance to Roland Garros’ second round when they meet today in their tournament debut (12:00 PM Eastern).
Isner is the 16th-ranked player in this tournament, but clearly playing on clay doesn’t fit his power serving game. His best performance at the French Open was in 2014 when he reached the fourth round, but was defeated by Argentine Federico Delbonis. Isner’s best showing in a Grand Slam was at the 2011 US Open when he reached the quarterfinals. He is +25,000 to win the 2015 French Open.
The last time Isner was on clay was at the semifinals of the Nice Open last week, losing to Domenic Thiem.
On the other side is Andreas Seppi, an Italian player who also hasn’t ventured past the fourth round in Roland Garros; 2012 was his best showing. Seppi has never reached the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam and it’s highly unlikely this will be the year he does.
The Italian has zero ATP titles on his career and is a long shot to win the French Open at +50,000.
Isner and Seppi have met twice in their careers ,with each coming out on top once. In 2010, they met for the first time on hard court at the Australian Open with a victory for the American. In 2012 Seppi struck back with a win at the Masters 1000 in Rome, on a clay surface.
Isner bases his game in the first serve, and that has proven ineffective on clay. Seppi is more consistent as an in-game-player, with his two-handed backhand. I’m taking the upset due to the surface they’ll be playing on.
Pick: Seppi +200.
(Photo Credit: Emmett Hume (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
