Heading into second round play at the French Open on Thursday, there is one possible upset that could materialize. Laslo Djere, the 56th ranked player in the world, has the clay court game to knock out the second ranked player in the world in Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
Djere has the game to pull of the upset. He is a clay court specialist, and you can basically throw the world rankings out the window. Djere has already won two ATP titles on clay, the 2019 Rio Open, where he beat current world number nine and 2021 United States Open semifinalist Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, 6-3, 7-5, in the final, and the 2020 Forte Village Sardegna Open in Italy, where he beat Marco Cecchinato of Italy, the 2018 French Open semifinalist, 7-6, 7-5. Djere also reached the 2021 Sardegna Open final before losing to Italian Lorenzo Sonego in the final, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4.
Remember, Medvedev is not coming into this game at 100%. He missed the majority of the clay court season with hernia surgery, and when he returned to the Geneva Open, he lost to three-time grand slam semifinalist Richard Gasquet of France, 6-2, 7-6. Clearly, Medvedev was not entering the second major of the season in top form.
Clay is not Medvedev’s best surface. It is definitely hard court. For four straight years from 2017 to 2020, he was knocked out of the first round of the French Open, and none of Medvedev’s 13 ATP titles have come on the dirt. There have been a lot of upsets that have happened so far on the ladies’s side, and we could see one on the men’s side on Thursday.
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