Roland Garros 2021: John Isner vs Filip Krajinovic preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (31) John Isner vs Filip Krajinovic

Date: 2 June 2021

Tournament: Roland Garros 2021

Round: Second round (Round of 64)

Venue: Paris, France

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Red Clay

Prize money: €17,171,108

Match timing: Approx. 4 pm local time, 2 pm GMT, 10 am EST, 7.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - NBC Sports / Tennis Channel | UK - ITV | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP

John Isner vs Filip Krajinovic preview

31st seed John Isner will take on Serbia's Filip Krajinovic in the second round at Roland Garros.

Isner played a grand total of three tournaments in 2021 prior to the clay season, but he seems to have struck a rich vein of form on the dirt.

The American defeated both Roberto Bautista Agut and Andrey Rublev in hard-fought three-set matches en route to the quarterfinals in Madrid, eventually losing to Dominic Thiem in three sets.

The 36-year-old carried that form into Paris, where he dismantled compatriot Sam Querrey in the first round.

Filip Krajinovic

Krajinovic, on the other hand, had a particularly disappointing clay season. After third-round and quarterfinal finishes in Monte Carlo and Belgrade respectively, the Serb lost three consecutive matches leading up to the claycourt Slam.

However, he looked in fine touch in his opening contest against Germany's Maximilian Marterer, advancing in straight sets without dropping serve even once.

John Isner vs Filip Krajinovic head-to-head

The second-round encounter at Roland Garros will be the second match between John Isner and Filip Krajinovic. The Serb leads the head-to-head 1-0, having defeated Isner in a hard-fought semifinal encounter at the Paris Masters in 2017.

John Isner vs Filip Krajinovic prediction

John Isner

This is a hard match to call. Clay is not John Isner's preferred surface, but his monstrous serve and forehand are still capable of doing plenty of damage. The American fired 22 aces in his first-round match against Querrey and won 83% of the points on his first serve.

Krajinovic, on the other hand, is not the biggest of hitters. Instead, he likes to use sharp angles and vary the depth on his groundstrokes to keep his opponents guessing.

The match could all boil down to Krajinovic's ability to return Isner's serve. If he can get some returns in play, he will be able to pile pressure on the American, but that looks unlikely given the way Isner has been serving.

Prediction: John Isner to win in four sets.

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