2008 French Open Picks: Bet on Rafael Nadal

Here are my 127 picks (with explanations) for the 2008 French Open. Anyone who reads the entire thing gets a cookie.

FIRST ROUND

Roger Federer (1) def. Sam Querrey

Federer has reached the final here the past two years and beat Querrey in straight sets in the only meeting between the two.

Albert Montanes def. Kristof Vliegen

Both reached the third round last year, but Montanes got that far in 2006 as well and the Spaniard is playing better this season.

Victor Crivoi def. David Marrero

Crivoi should win this battle of the qualifiers. He beat Marrero twice in straight sets on clay in 2006.

Mario Ancic def. Andreas Seppi (31)

Ancic beat Seppi in a hard court event this year in Croatia and the unseeded player reached the quarters in Paris two years ago, while the Italian has never made it out of the first round.

Ivo Karlovic (20) def. Alejandro Falla

The Croatian’s big serve is neutralized on the clay, but Karlovic has still managed to reach the second round the past two years here and I don’t think 106^thranked Falla is the man to end that streak.

Julien Benneteau def. Vincent Spadea

The Frenchman reached the quarterfinals in 2006, while the American has never gotten past the third round. Benneteau takes this one.

Paul Capdeville def. Mischa Zverev

Capdeville is a qualifier who’s been here before and therefore has more experience on the red clay of Paris than the German who has never played here before.

Juan Monaco (13) def. Robin Soderling

The two have split a pair of clay court meetings in their careers, but Monaco reached the fourth round at the French last year, while the Swede hasn’t won a match here since 2005.

Stanislas Wawrinka (9) def. Philipp Kohlschreiber

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