French Open - Struff v Johnson

Jan-Lennard Struff looks well poised to take advantage of Steve Johnson's aversion to playing on clay when the pair meet for the first time to contest a place in the 3rd Round.

Struff sailed through the first round, winning 6-1 6-3 6-0 against Evgeny Donskoy, and while he isn't the most accomplished of players, we will be delighted with the way the draw has worked out for him, giving him an opportunity to get into the second week here,

Clay is probably Struff's best surface - he has won 47% of matches against top 100 players on it over the past three seasons (14-16) and has played 39% of his career matches against top 100 players on the surface overall, winning 39% of those. His last three years have seen him win 60.8% of service points, and 39.4% of receiving points - a decent combined rate of 100.2%.

Compare that to Johnson, who has won a much better 67% of matches against top 100 players, but does seem to have ridden his luck somewhat. His underlaying numbers don't support such a goo record (16-8), with him winning 64.7% of service points and 35.5% of receiving points. A combined total of exactly 100.2%!

Johnson made similarly light work of Adrian Mannarino, winning 7-6 6-2 6-2 in round one, but with the market making him the clear favourite, we have to back Struff in this one. It's no coincidence that Johnson has only played 18.6% of career matches against top 100 players on the surface.

1pt Jan-Lennard Struff to beat Steve Johnson at 13/10 (Bet365)

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