French Open third-round preview and predictions, featuring Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev
An intriguing schedule of third-round competition at Roland Garros is set for Friday. The lineup is headlined by a mouth-watering clash of generations that features Novak Djokovic and Joao Fonseca. Also taking the court are Alexander Zverev and Iga Swiatek, who have had no trouble cementing their statuses as two of the favourites to make a deep run at the French Open.
As of Thursday afternoon, it had been a rough tournament for the Canadian contingent. Leylah Fernandez, Denis Shapovalov and Gabriel Diallo were among those who crashed out in round one. Victoria Mboko and Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced and played their second matches on Thursday. For now, let’s take a look at some of the third-round matchups at Roland Garros and discuss the best bets to make.
You can see odds for the full slate of men’s and women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles French Open matches here.
French Open third round – Novak Djokovic vs. Joao Fonseca best bet: Over 38.5 games (-110)
Djokovic is obviously the favourite in this highly anticipated showdown, but there are reasons to think that Fonseca can keep it close. One of the brightest rising stars in tennis, Fonseca toppled Dino Prizmic in five sets on Wednesday. Keep in mind that Djokovic’s only clay-court match this spring before his French Open appearance came against Prizmic, who defeated the Serb in Rome. It’s also worth noting that Djokovic’s second-round match against Valentin Royer went to a fourth set (39 total games), and Fonseca is a far more dangerous opponent compared to Royer.
The 19-year-old Brazilian pushed Jannik Sinner to a pair of tiebreakers in Indian Wells, just one example of plenty to confirm that Fonseca is not afraid of the big stage. Finally, how’s this for a statistic? Fonseca has not lost a straight-set match in 2026 to anyone other than Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Anything less than a long, back-and-forth contest would be a disappointment.
French Open third round – Andrey Rublev vs. Nuno Borges best bet: Over 36.5 games (-115)
Rublev vs. Borges won’t generate anything close to the buzz of the Djokovic vs. Fonseca showdown, but this is a sneaky good matchup. Borges is coming off two dominant performances against tough opponents in Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Miomir Kecmanovic, so he cannot be discounted despite being a sizable underdog.
Rublev has already battled through two four-set matches at Roland Garros, including an opening test against Ignacio Buse that lasted 43 games. Although the Russian is sweeping Borges 4-0 in the head-to-head series, their only previous clay-court meeting came last month in Monte-Carlo and resulted in a three-setter.
French Open third round – Sorana Cirstea vs. Solana Sierra best bet: Cirstea -1.5 sets (-110)
Cirstea announced a while ago that she will retire at the end of this season, but she might want to change her mind given her current form. Who knows, though? Maybe the 36-year-old is playing so well in part due to the freedom of simply knowing that the end is just about here.
Whatever the case, Cirstea is 29-8 for her 2026 campaign, and her only clay-court losses have come to Coco Gauff (twice) and Mirra Andreeva. The Romanian clobbered Eva Lys 6-0, 6-3 on Wednesday and has dropped a total of seven games through two rounds, so she storms into this matchup with a ton of confidence. Sierra is playing well, but it may be difficult for the underdog to get right back in gear following a huge three-set win over Jasmine Paolini on Wednesday. Similar to Cirstea’s first two Paris opponents, Sierra would be hard-pressed simply to take a set.