The finals of the Roland Garros tune-up events are set. Juan Monaco is facing Jarkko Nieminen on Saturday in Dusseldorf while Gael Monfils is hoping to treat the French fans in Nice to a win over Albert Montanes.
(3) Juan Monaco vs. (6) Jarkko Nieminen
Monaco and Nieminen will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers when they battle for the Power Horse Cup title on Saturday. Nieminen leads the head-to-head series 2-1, but they have not faced each other since Monaco won their only previous clay-court encounter 7-5, 7-5 at the 2010 Monte-Carlo Masters. Nieminen’s two victories came on hard courts in 2006 (Tokyo) and 2007 (Paris).
It has been a tale of two seasons for Monaco, whose first two months were wrecked by physical problems. In fact, the 19th-ranked Argentine did not win a single tournament match until Houston in April. That’s where it started to turn around for Monaco, who reached the semifinals then advanced two rounds in Monte-Carlo (lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets) and Barcelona. Nieminen, on the other hand, has been consistent the entire way. The 31-year-old Finn is 21-12 for his 2013 campaign, which includes a recent quarterfinal finish in Monte-Carlo.
Nieminen has been required to work harder in Dusseldorf, although he did get a walkover from Tommy Haas in the quarterfinals. The No. 6 seed opened with a straight-set drubbing of Lukas Lacko but he needed three to get past both Roberto Bautista Agut and Igor Sijsling. Monaco, who earned a first-round bye as the third seed, has not dropped a set in dismissals of Andre Ghem, Tobias Kamke, and Guido Pella. While Nieminen is extremely capable on clay, the slow stuff still gives a slight edge to Monaco. Based on form this week and the surface, Monaco has to be the choice in what should be an entertaining war of attrition from the baseline.
Pick: Monaco in 3
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Albert Montanes vs. (WC) Gael Monfils
Monfils and Montanes will be facing each other for the fifth time in their careers and for the second time this spring when they collide in the final of the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur on Saturday. Montanes extended his lead to 3-1 in the head-to-head series by beating Monfils 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 last month in Monte-Carlo. The Spaniard also took their two previous clay-court dates, one at the 2005 Bucharest event and again three years ago in Stuttgart.
The tide could turn because Monfils already looks like a much different player than the one who faced Montanes in Monte-Carlo. A wild card entry in Nice, Monfils is coming off a title at the Bordeaux Challenger and so far this week he has taken out Santiago Giraldo, Fabio Fognini, Robin Haase, and Pablo Andujar. The 109th-ranked Frenchman has won eight sets in a row since dropping his first one of the tournament to Giraldo. Montanes got into the main draw at the last minute when Tomas Berdych withdrew and he assumed Berdych’s first-round bye at the top of the bracket. The world No. 82 followed up the good fortune with wins over Victor Hanescu, Paul-Henri Mathieu, and Edouard Roger-Vasselin–losing only one set to Roger-Vasselin in the process. Montanes is now 10-9 at the ATP level this season.
Clay obviously gives Montanes a chance (he is generally hopeless on any other surface), just as it did last month. Still, this is a different Monfils and it is a Monfils who is playing at home in front of French fans. The crowd favorite’s body cannot be feeling too good after a pair of long weeks, but he should be inspired to play one more stellar match before a short rest leading up to a first-round French Open showdown against Tomas Berdych.
Pick: Monfils in 3
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