Tirante favoured as Llamas Ruiz brings clay form

Pablo Llamas Ruiz faces Thiago Agustin Tirante in the French Open ATP 1/64-finals on 24 May, on clay, over best of five sets.

Tirante is the market favourite and has the stronger ranking position, but Llamas Ruiz arrives with the sharper recent run. That makes this a close opening-round match, with clay results and return pressure central to the case.

Tirante holds the clay meeting

Tirante won their only previous meeting, beating Llamas Ruiz 2-0 in the Szczecin Challenger final on clay on 14 September 2025. That match was short at 17 total games, and Tirante controlled the bigger pressure points by holding all his service games while creating seven break chances.

Llamas Ruiz brings stronger clay volume

Llamas Ruiz has the better clay record this season at 20 wins and five losses, compared with Tirante's 11 wins and six losses. His return numbers also stand out: he has won 32% of return games on clay, while Tirante is at 23%, which gives Llamas Ruiz a clear route into rallies and service games.

Recent rhythm favours Llamas Ruiz

Llamas Ruiz has won eight of his last 10 matches and comes in after a French Open qualifying final win over Vilius Gaubas. Tirante has won six of his last 10, but two defeats in his last two matches slow the momentum a little. The contrast is clear.

Bookmakers still lean Tirante

Bookmakers price Tirante at 1.73 against Llamas Ruiz at 2.1, with first-set prices of 1.8 and 2.0. That keeps Tirante in front, but not by enough to ignore the form gap.

TENNISDATA.app

The Best Tennis Stats.

The Best Tennis Stats.

Our new tennis stats site is live!

Return pressure can narrow the gap

Tirante has the stronger serving profile in recent matches, winning 86% of service games, and his ranking edge supports the favourite tag. Llamas Ruiz, though, has been more productive on return and has won the first set in 70% of his last 10 matches. If he starts well, this can become far tighter than the odds suggest.

Prediction

Odds