As the dust settles after the Australian Open, the ATP Tour grind continues. Damien Kayat previews two matches from teh Open Sud de france with Arthur Cazaux facing Maxmilian Marterer and home favourite Gael Monfils taking on Flavia Cobolli in the round of 16.
2024 ATP Tour
ATP 250
Open Sud de France
Arena Montpelier (Indoor Hardcourt)
Selected Round of 32 Matches
Tuesday 30 January
Arthur Cazaux 37/100 | Maximilian Marterer 2/1
Arthur Cazaux tunred out to be one of the huge surprise packages of this year’s Aussie Open, upsetting Holger Rune en route to a fourth-round showing. The Frenchman was a celebrated junior player before a horrific sequence of injuries decimated his once-promising career.
But he has started to piece together the remnants of his career, winning his third Challenger title at the start of the year. To put his Aussie Open result into perspective: his first-round win over Dere was the first Grand Slam win of his career.
And he entered that Slam as a wildcard. Now, can the Frenchman keep injury-free for any protracted period of time? He serves remarkably well for a guy who is barely touching 6 foot and some of his shot-making against Rune was from another planet.
He will enjoy fanatical home support as he looks to show that Aussie Open run wasn’t a fluke.
This is going to be a tough ask for 28-year-old journeyman Maximilian Marterer. The lefty has really struggled to attain any consistency on tour. The German- who reached a career-high 45th in the world rankings in 2018- is still yet to reach a tour-level final.
He reached his maiden ATP semi-final at the 2018 BMW Open and reached just his second semi-final at last year’s European Open. He will look to draw on that performance in Antwerp: it features similar indoor conditions to this week.
The German is coming off a pretty tame first-round exit at the Aussie Open and it’s going to be tough for him to compete in this highly partisan arena.
The Verdict: Cazaux to win in straight sets at 1/1
This will be the first career meeting between these two. I think that Cazaux is one of the great untapped reservoirs of potential out there and he could be on the verge of a really solid season. His repeatable, powerful serve will be key to consistent success. But he should have too much for journeyman Marterer.
Wednesday 31st January
Gael Monfils 7/20 | Flavio Cobolli 21/10
This is an intriguing early Montpelier clash that pits two players from completely different generations against each other. 37-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils looks like he is really trying to enjoy the final few years of his professional career.
Monfils- who has been trying to balance fatherhood with his on-court activity over the past few years- has been one of the premier indoor hardcourt players throughout his career, having reached 17 indoor finals.
And he has been immense in this very event, winning the title three times and reaching a further two finals. He showcased just how dangerous he is on these types of surfaces towards the end of last season, winning his 12th career title at the Stockholm Open.
Monfils hasn’t had the best start to his season, going out early in Auckland before a second-round exit at the Aussie Open. But he always seems to find a way to find form in these fringe European indoor events, drifting in and out of matches and striking when necessary.
This is really a wonderful period for Italian tennis. Jannik Sinner’s remarkable comeback victory at the Aussie Open has really raised the profile of the sport in the football-mad country. And 21-year-old Flavio Cobolli is looking to ride that wave of positive momentum this week.
Cobolli enjoyed some solid success in 2023, winning a second Challenger title before qualifying for the season-ending NextGen Finals. And he comes to Montpelier fresh off a breakthrough Aussie Open performance.
He came through qualifying before disposing of 18th seed Nicolas Jarry in his first-round match. That was the first Grand Slam win of his young career and he followed it up with another victory over Kotov. He was eventually bundled out by Alex Di Minaur in the third round but he is certainly one to watch this week.
He bases his game on sound defence and counterattacking (like his idol Djokovic). He probably needs to improve his serve some more if he really wishes to rise to elite levels. Still, he will go into this event with plenty of confidence.
Verdict: Monfils to win in three at 26/10
This will be the first career meeting between these two. I think that Monfils should be able to pick up the victory given his court knowledge and pedigree. But Cobolli has been getting stronger of late and I think his recent Aussie Open showing will give him the confidence that he could go toe-to-toe with the beloved Frenchman.
