French Open 2023 tips: Men's singles day four guide and suggested bets

Barend Prins
30 May 2023

The top seeds will be in action in Wednesday's second round of the French Open, so plenty of excitement is expected, with the selected games including Lucas Pouille vs Cameron Norrie.

The French Open continues on Tuesday, 30 May with play starting at 11:00 local time (10:00 BST) across all of the courts, weather permitting.

Action will be split across the Stade Roland Garros' three show courts and its expanded sprawl of outside courts.

Day four guide - Selected men's matches

(All times subject to change)

Lucas Pouille vs Cameron Norrie (14)

Wednesday 31 May, Time: 14:30

British fans will hope Norrie can at least make the Round of 16, but he has been handed another potential banana skin in the second round. Pouille is a former top-10 player who made the semi-finals at the Australian Open in 2019, although he's never got past the third round at Roland Garros.

Currently ranked just inside the top 700 after spending several years away from the court, Pouille is clearly nowhere near his peak of world number 10, but remains a potential dangerous customer.

After needing five sets to overcome another local player Benoit Paire in the first round, Norrie will be wary against Pouille but ultimately should be too much for the 29-year-old.

Suggested bets

Pouille to win the first set

Pouille to win opener 7-5

Pouille to win first set tie-break

Set score prediction: Norrie to win in four sets

Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs Taro Daniel

Wednesday 31 May, Time: 14:30

Not many expect Daniel to pose much of a threat to the world number one, and we agree with that sentiment.

World number one Alcaraz is coming into the tournament in some fantastic form and is 21-2 on clay in 2023. It's not an anomaly either - he has an overall record of 120-30 on clay in the last six years, so the surface clearly suits him.

Daniel is currently ranked 112th, although he was as high as 64th back in 2018 - it's fair to say the 30-year-old is not at the peak of his powers.

Alcaraz won their only other meeting - the Oeiras 3 Challenger event - in three sets two years ago, and the gap in their respective world rankings has only grown since then. Wednesday's match is almost certain to showcase just that.

Set score prediction: Alcaraz to win in straight sets

Novak Djokovic (3) vs Marton Fucsovics

Wednesday 31 May, Time: 19:30

Djokovic's quest to win a 23rd Grand Slam title continues against a player he's beaten in each of their previous matches.

Currently ranked 83rd, Fucsovics is currently Hungary's number one and is no stranger to the French Open, where he has made at least the second round on each of his three tournaments.

In fact, Fucsovics made the Round of 16 in 2020, although his ranking at the time was just outside the top 30, and even then he was no match for the Serbian superstar.

His record on clay this year is 11-11, while he is 41-37 on red dirt after his first-round win over Hugo Grenier.

Those numbers are dwarfed by Djokovic's 263-16 record on clay, and Wednesday's match is likely to illustrate their difference in class again.

Set score prediction: Djokovic to win in straight sets