Put the blame on Gael Monfils’ knees for the fact that he has to go up against Philipp Kohlschreiber as early as round two in Doha. They are facing each other on Wednesday.
A matchup worthy of a semifinal or even a final will take place on Wednesday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open as Philipp Kohlschreiber and Gael Monfils will go head-to-head for the ninth time in their careers.
Monfils has dominated the series, which he leads 7-1 including 5-0 on hard courts. They squared off twice in 2012, when Monfils prevailed 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-3 on the blue clay of Madrid and 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 last fall in Metz.
The tide could be in a line for a turn in this one, mainly due to Monfils’ questionable status. The Frenchman is down at No. 77 in the world after missing four months in 2012 from the end of May until the end of September. He returned on Tuesday with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Mousa Shanan Zayed, but a matchup with an 18-year-old wild card reveals almost nothing.
Still, Monfils must have been happy. How happy was he? Well, he posted on Twitter for the first time since Nov. 24 after his victory:
Kohlschreiber presents a much different type of opposition. The 20th-ranked German is seeded third for his first appearance in 2013 after compiling a 42-24 record in 2013. He opened on Monday with a 7-6(5), 6-1 dismissal of Ivan Dodig.
Past history obviously favors Monfils, whose only setback against Kohlschreiber came on the grass courts of Halle in 2011. But the former world No. 7 comes with far more questions than answers and Tuesday’s result did nothing to change that. On the other hand, you know what you are going to get from Kohlschreiber just about every time on the court.
Odds: Kohlschreiber -125, Monfils EVEN
Pick: Kohlschreiber 7-5, 6-4
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