Frenchmen Gael Monfils and Michael Llodra will kick off their Paris campaigns on Tuesday. They are going up against Vasek Pospisil and Grigor Dimitrov, respectively.
Gael Monfils vs. Vasek Pospisil
Monfils and Pospisil will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the second time this fall when they collide again in round one of the BNP Paribas Masters on Tuesday afternoon. They just faced each other at the Shanghai Masters, where Monfils prevailed 7-5, 7-6(4) to improve to 2-0 lifetime against Pospisil. The 31st-ranked Frenchman beat Roger Federer one round later and extended Novak Djokovic to three sets in the quarterfinals, but he has been a disaster ever since. Continuing to struggle physically, Monfils fell to a different and lesser-known Pospisil–Jaroslav–in the Vienna first round and he lost his Valencia opener in easy straight sets to David Ferrer.
Pospisil, on the other hand, is still flying high at the end of a breakout 2013 campaign. The 23-year-old Canadian is up to a career-high ranking of No. 32 in the world following a semifinal run in Basel, where he eventually succumbed to Federer in a three-set semifinal. Pospisil owns 17 of his 28 career ATP-level match victories this season, including six since the U.S. Open. Monfils does have home-court advantage, but he may not have enough given his current state to seriously challenge a red-hot opponent.
Pick: Pospisil in 2
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(WC) Michael Llodra vs. Grigor Dimitrov
Llodra and Dimitrov will be squaring off for the third time in their careers on Tuesday. Their only previous ATP-level encounter ended with a first-set retirement by Llodra at the 2011 Washington, D.C. event. They also met at the 2010 Orleans Challenger, with Dimitrov scoring a 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-5 victory.
The 22-year-old Bulgarian is in outstanding form at the moment after capturing his first career title in Stockholm and reaching the Basel quarterfinals. The good news for a tired world No. 22 is that he will not have to play many long points against this opponent, but the bad news is that Llodra is a force on this surface and at this event. Llodra reached the semis in both 2010 and 2012 and two of his five career ATP titles (and five of his 10 finals) have come on indoor hards. If the 33-year-old can consistently get into net behind a strong first-serve percentage, he should be able to pull off the upset.
Pick: Llodra in 3
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My vote goes to
Pospisil in 3
Llodra in 3
I agree.
Pospi in 3
Llodra in 3
Monfils out
For what reason?
the same one as always
HURT
Vamos BabyFed
does that mean you’re picking him?
#Mashable
Hypothetically yes, technically no.
#LlodraTheRacist
Andujar in despire retiring in qualifying
Strange Andujar the LL who retired from the qualifiers with an injury which then required an MTO midway through the 3rd set is the one going through to the next round.
Doesn’t make much difference though – a knackered Popsi or an injured Andujar – Berdych is waiting to pounce in the next round.
It all caught up with the Poppit. He was mentally and physically spent. He started off the year with mono and missed two months, then played non stop till now. We’ll see how he fares next season.