Montreal R1 previews and predictions: Auger-Aliassime vs. Pospisil, Goffin vs. Pella

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Vasek Pospisil take the court in an all-Canadian affair in Montreal, while David Goffin takes on Guido Pella in first-round action on Tuesday. Auger-Aliassime and Pospisil also met in round one at Wimbledon.

Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Vasek Pospisil

It’s home-court advantage for Canadian wunderkind Felix Auger-Aliassime. Literally. The wildly popular 18-year-old hails from Montreal and sits at a career high No. 21 in the world. He has enjoyed success on hard courts, clay, and grass this season, with his best showing coming in Stuttgart–where he lost in the final to Matteo Berrettini. He doesn’t yet have a tour title, but given his current form it’s likely to come any moment.

His opponent, Vasek Pospisil, has had a rough year. He went out with a nasty back injury at the end of 2018; he has only played a single match on the main tour all year. As luck would have it, that match was against Auger-Aliassime in the first round of Wimbledon. Pospisil lost in four sets. Thanks to the lengthy injury layoff, his ranking has plummeted to No. 205 in the world.

Unless playing at home introduces extra stress on Auger-Aliassime, this match should be on the teen’s racket. He has already proven that he is up to the task of taking on and regularly defeating his contemporaries. Top 8 star Stefanos Tsitsipas has had two cracks at him and lost in straight sets both times. Auger-Aliassime gives every indication that he will be the future of Canadian tennis.

Cheryl pick: Auger-Aliassime in 2

Ricky pick: Auger-Aliassime in 2

[polldaddy poll=10379581]

(15) David Goffin vs. Guido Pella

The matchup with David Goffin hasn’t been kind to  Guido Pella. They have met three times before and the Belgian has come out on every occasion. Pella was close at the 2017 US Open. He took the match to five sets, but Goffin pulled it out 6-3 in the decider.

This may be a good opportunity for Pella to get a little revenge. The Argentine was a surprise quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last month and he comes into Montreal off a semifinal showing in Los Cabos. Goffin for his part crashed out of Washington, D.C. in his first match against Yoshihito Nishioka, but he had a great grass-court season–making the final in Halle and putting in his own appearance in the Wimbledon quarters.

The 3-0 head-to-head suggests that Goffin will find his way out of this match, but Pella is a tricky opening opponent. This could be a highly entertaining first-rounder.

Cheryl pick: Goffin in 3

Ricky pick: Pella in 3

[polldaddy poll=10379584]