The super Serb, a 5/6 chance to go all the way to the title this week, was no match for Rafael Nadal on clay in the French Open final, but Djokovic otherwise performed excellently in Paris.
He should be much more at home on the indoor Rebound hard courts and fellow seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas, yesterday’s Cologne finalist Diego Schwartzman and Denis Shapovalov have it all to do to progress past the semi-finals in the top half of the draw.
In the bottom half, Russians Daniil Medvedev plus busy Hamburg and St Petersburg champion Andrey Rublev (12/1) should be to the fore, while Felix Auger-Aliassime (22/1) and Jannik Sinner (22/1) can continue their learning process in a top-class tournament.
The likeliest finalist, though, still looks like second seed Dominic Thiem. Punters should be careful backing the Austrian 9/2 shot in his homeland, however, because while he is the reigning US Open champion, he performs quite a bit better outdoors than in indoor arenas.
Each-way punters may find mileage in backing Auger-Aliassime, although upending Medvedev in the last 16 could be tough – that is, if the fourth seed accounts for yesterday’s Antwerp finalist Alex de Minaur in his opener.
Monfils Could Find Spaniard a Tough Opponent
French ace Gael Monfils returns from a break to a tournament he enjoys, but this year’s gathering is so elite that La Monf could struggle to win his opener.
He faces Pablo Carreno Busta, who has been shining on clay and hard courts, and the Spaniard could show the benefit of his recent sterling efforts.
Khachanov May Need to Find More to Deny Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov has been posting some encouraging performances on clay and faster courts and the Bulgarian could be rewarded with the scalp of Karen Khachanov.
The Russian, who was again thrashed by Djokovic in the French Open, and his game seem to be in limbo and it’s difficult to know what he needs to work on in order to progress.
Dimitrov has ups and down but right now he looks in a pretty good place formwise.
Medvedev Could Find Antwerp Finalist a Handful
Daniil Medvedev is proving much more of a force on faster rather than slow courts but the Russian fourth seed is no certainty to dismiss Alex de Minaur lightly.
Aussie ace De Minaur made the final in Antwerp on Sunday and he could be boosted by that run and make Medvedev toil more than some oddsmakers believe.
*All odds correct at time of writing
