As the second round begins at the French Open on Wednesday, an elite contender faces a home hope, while another Frenchman faces one of the tournament’s key dark horses.

Novak Djokovic v. Jeremy Chardy

Roger Federer’s conqueror in Rome will be seeking yet another monumental upset as he takes on Novak Djokovic Wednesday. The history between these two isn’t too encouraging for the Frenchman. In their previous seven meetings, Chardy has failed to win a single set. 

Following his loss to Roger Federer in the semifinals of Monte Carlo, Djokovic went on to win the Rome Masters by defeating Rafael Nadal in three sets in the final. Chardy reached the quarterfinals in Rome before succumbing to Milos Raonic in three sets.

When the draw was released, Djokovic’s draw was widely considered the toughest among the top players. This is the first test of presumably many that the Serbian will end up facing in the quest for his maiden French Open title.

If both players perform at a high level, this match will present an entertaining contrast in styles. Chardy is unquestionably one of the most hyper-aggressive players on tour. His offensive arsenal is one of the most dangerous on tour, but it is also one of the riskiest. Despite playing with an extreme western forehand grip, Chardy sports one of the flattest forehands on tour. He’ll consistently move around his susceptibly flat backhand to take the initiative with his forehand. His mentality is essentially “hit or miss.”

Chardy also possesses a massive serve, which will have to be clicking against arguably the best returner ever. The Frenchman’s second serve is a liability at times and is frequently hindered by an erratic ball toss that sails over his head. Look for Djokovic to take advantage of this and punish Chardy off the second serve.

Djokovic will realize that Chardy is one of the few players on tour that can hit through his defensive barriers. In the same breath, Djokovic knows that if he can just get one extra ball back into play, it will often do the job.

Prediction: Djokovic in four sets

Benoit Paire v. Roberto Bautista-Agut

Bautista-Agut has beaten Paire in all four of their previous meetings and unsurprisingly enters this match as a sizeable favorite. Paire has lost four of his last six matches dating back to Casablanca. Bautista-Agut has performed drastically better than Paire over the last few months, highlighted by a run to the semifinals of the Madrid Masters. Bautista-Agut and Paire won their opening matches in straight sets over Paolo Lorenzi and Alejandro Falla, respectively.

The Bautista-Agut strategy will be simple: play to the Paire forehand. The Frenchman possesses one of the most lethal backhands on tour. If you haven’t seen it before, Paire can drill his backhand to any location on the court and will often run around his forehand to play his backhand—not something you see every day.

From a mental perspective, it’ll be interesting to see how Paire handles Bautista-Agut’s eccentric style of play. The Spaniard’s linear strokes and flat ball-striking deviate from what players are used to seeing in the modern game. The unconventionality of Bautista-Agut’s strokes is accentuated on clay, where high balls infused with spin are the norm.

Bautista-Agut has been in far superior form throughout the clay season. Don’t expect this trend to change tomorrow.

Prediction: Bautista-Agut in four sets

Mikhail Youzhny v. Radek Stepanek

This match should be an absolute cracker. The combined tennis IQ between these two highly talented and experienced veterans is off the charts. Both Stepanek and Youzhny know all the nuances of the game. They bring tactical intellect, physical resilience, and pure passion to each and every match they play. Neither player is the most talented in the world, but as far as maximization of talent goes, there aren’t many who can say they surpass these two.

Youzhny leads the head-to-head 4-3, but Stepanek won their most previous meeting last year in Munich. This will be their third match played on clay, after they split the first two.

The Russian enters this match as the favorite, having made at least the third round of the French Open in each of the last four years. Stepanek has not been so fortunate in Paris. This year marks the first since 2009 that the Czech has won a match at Roland Garros.

While physical stamina probably won’t become an issue with these two, it’s worth noting that Youzhny and Stepanek both recovered from two-set deficits in their first-round matches. It’ll be very interesting to see how both players approach this match. While Youzhny and Stepanek can accurately be described as all-court players, the former is undoubtedly more comfortable with duking things out from the back of the court.

Expect Stepanek to vary his play and move forward whenever the opportunity presents itself. If Youzhny becomes too passive, a mistake that he makes from time to time, Stepanek will be looking to use his offensive-minded groundstrokes to take control of points.

Youzhny should get through, but with two players so closely matched, anything could happen.

Prediction: Youzhny in four sets