Jozef Kovalik vs Holger Rune Preview & Prediction | 2024 French Open | Third Round
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Jozef Kovalik will never have a better chance at reaching the second week of a Grand Slam but Holger Rune appears to be rediscovering his fearsome fight.
START DATE/TIME: Saturday 1st June 2024, UK – not before 13:45 / US EST – not before 08:45 / US PST – not before 05:45
VENUE: Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France
SURFACE: Outdoor clay
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Eurosport / US – NBC, Peacock and Tennis Channel
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – discovery+ / US – NBC, Peacock and Tennis Channel
TICKETS: Visit this link for the latest Jozef Kovalik vs Holger Rune ticket information
JOZEF KOVALIK VS HOLGER RUNE PREDICTION
31-year-old Jozek Kovalik came back from two sets down to stun 18th seed Karen Khachanov in five sets on Thursday, claiming one of the biggest, but certainly the most important, victories of his career. The Slovak has lost each of his three previous first round matches at Roland-Garros but a first foray into the third round at a major is a huge opportunity, despite the quality of his next opponent, and this could be a thriller if he leaves everything he has out on the court.
World number 13 Holger Rune is unlikely to be that much fresher, despite being 10 years Kovalik’s junior, after overcoming Flavio Cobolli in five gruelling sets of his own on Thursday. The Dane has reached the quarter-finals here in each of his last two seasons, on both occasions losing to Casper Ruud, but he brought much poorer form into this edition to offer the faintest glimmer of a potential upset.
Ultimately, however, Kovalik has spent just over 11 hours on court from qualifying through to the third round, with Rune spending just under half of that so far. The suitably cautious pick is backing Rune to win outright but consider adding at least a tiebreak into the equation with Kovalik seeing three in his entire campaign so far and Rune edging Cobolli 10-7 in their decider on Thursday.
JOZEF KOVALIK VS HOLGER RUNE TIP: HOLGER RUNE TO WIN (AND OVER 0.5 TIEBREAKS)
