Half of Jannik Sinner’s six ATP titles have come at indoor 250-tournaments and he has a chance to do it again on Sunday in Montpellier. Sinner is facing Maxime Cressy, while in Cordoba it’s Sebastian Baez and Federico Coria battling for the trophy.
Open Sud de France: Maxime Cressy vs. (2) Jannik Sinner
It looked like a blockbuster matchup between the top two seeds would be on the Montpellier menu for Sunday, but Cressy had other ideas. The French-born American treated what is basically a home crowd to a 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-6(4) upset of Holger Rune during semifinal action on Sunday. Cressy preceded that result with straight-set victories over Antoine Bellier, Emil Ruusuvuori, and Borna Coric.
Up next for the world No. 51 is a second career meeting with Sinner. They previously faced each other at the Challenger level in 2019, when the Italian prevailed 6-4, 6-7(10), 6-1 on the hard courts of Lexington. Both guys have since taken off–especially Sinner. The 21-year-old is up to 17th in the rankings and will be at least No. 15 on Monday following Montpellier wins at the expense of Lorenzo Sonego and Arthur Fils (he also got a first-round bye and a walkover from Marton Fucsovics). Sinner is in great form and well rested, plus he has handled Cressy’s serve in the past. The underdog’s serve-and-volley tactics almost always make things tricky, but Sinner should be on course for his seventh ATP title.
Pick: Sinner in 2
Cordoba Open: (4) Sebastian Baez vs. (6) Federico Coria
February is tennis’ version of the Super Bowl for non-elite clay-court specialists, and both Baez and Coria qualify as such. Baez will probably have Masters 1000s and the French Open at the forefront of his mind in the not-too-distant future, but right now the Golden Swing is where he has his best chance to rack up a ton of points. The 22-year-old Argentine reached the Cordoba quarters and the Santiago final last season, and now he finds himself on the brink of the Cordoba title following wins over Luciano Darderi, Tomas Barrios Vera, and Hugo Dellien.
Interestingly, neither one of these guys had won a single match in 2023 prior to this week. Unsurprisingly, though, the beginning of the Golden Swing was just what the doctor ordered. Coria has advanced by beating Thiago Monteiro, Marco Cecchinato, Francisco Cerundolo, and Albert Ramos-Vinolas. At 30 years old, the 67th-ranked Argentine is bidding for his first ATP title and playing in his second final. That is a lot of pressure, whereas Baez should be helped by the fact that he has a trophy under his belt from last spring in Estoril.
Pick: Baez in 2
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