Our tennis writer previews two clashes from the Open 13 featuring Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Hurkacz.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2/9 | Andrey Rublev 28/10 – Ro32
There has something of a renaissance amongst the older set of men’s tennis in France. The likes of Jeremy Chardy and Gilles Simon have shown steady improvement while Gael Monfils claimed a magnificent victory in Rotterdam last week. When you add Tsonga’s Montpellier to the mix, it solidifies what has been a fertile Indian summer for this cycle of French stalwarts. Tsonga perhaps expectedly failed to match his Montpellier exploits in Rotterdam last week. He lost convincingly to the emerging talent that is Danil Medvedev. But Tsonga is returning to an event that he has really dominated in recent times. The charismatic Frenchman is a three-time champion in Marseille. He is a four-time finalist and tends to love the brisk indoor conditions. Tsonga seems to have gotten his body into working order. The knee issues that kept him sidelined last season look a thing of the past and Tsonga will take some beating.
Speaking of established French talent, an entire wave of young up-and-coming Russian players have exploded onto the tennis scene in the last few years. Defending champion Karen Khachanov and Danil Medvedev have certainly emerged as the leaders of this Russian revolution. Andrey Rublev is the one who has been slightly cut adrift. The error-prone Rublev really announced himself with a breakthrough 2017 campaign. He won the Croatia Open and went on to lose to Chung in the inaugural NextGen Finals. But 2018 represented a real step back for Rublev. He started the year well enough, reaching the Qatar Open Final before a solid showing in Melbourne. But erratic form and a back injury scuppered the remainder of his season. He reached the semi-finals in Washington before a streak of five consecutive defeats.
This will be their second ever meeting, with Tsonga holding the edge following a straight-sets victory in Montpellier last year. Tsonga should feel a tad more rested this week after that early Rotterdam exit. Though Rublev certainly possesses the ability to trouble Tsonga, I think the Frenchman should easily dispose of Rublev in front of what is sure to be a highly partisan crowd. Tsonga in straight sets at 7/10.
Stefanos Tsitsipas 1/4 | Hubert Hurkacz 26/10 – Ro16
22-year-old Hubert Hurkacz is in the process of attempting to bridge the Challenger- Main Tour divide. He won his first ATP Tour main draw event match at the French Open last season. He would then go on to lose to Marin Cilic in four sets. He did enough last season to ultimately qualify for the season-ending NextGen Finals. At six-and-a-half-foot, Hurkacz is extremely powerful and can dominate on serve. But he is also plagued by bouts of wild inconsistency. He will feel buoyed by an excellent opening round hammering of Filip Krajinovic. He also won the Challenger title in Canberra near the start of the year. Hurkacz is a habitual winner at the lower level, with titles in Brest and Poznan. But he will be hoping that 2019 is a breakthrough season that sees him take the next step forward.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is now learning to deal with the level of expectation that comes with success. Widely seen as a future World Number One, Greek youngster Tsitsipas was dumped out of the first round last week in Rotterdam by Dzumhur. A year ago he could just focus on the next match. Now the aftermath of such a result introduces questions as to his worthiness. It’s just a new reality for the Greek star. His meteoric rise to the upper echelons of the game has been brilliant. This culminated in a terrific semi-final run at the Australian Open. He has performed well on all surfaces- which is an excellent harbinger for that future number one status. He will clearly be the heavy favourite this week though dealing with the pressures of being top seed could prove hazardous.
This will be their second meeting, with Tsitsipas holding the edge. Tsitsipas absolutely thrashed Hurkacz in the NextGen Finals. And after events in Melbourne, it’s really hard to give Hurkacz any chance. Tsitsipas to win in straight sets at 4/5.
