Marseille R1 previews and picks: Kyrgios vs. Pospisil, Zverev vs. Benneteau

An intriguing first-rounder on Tuesday in Marseille pits Nick Kyrgios against Vasek Pospisil. Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev avoided having to face his brother and will instead meet qualifier Julien Benneteau.

Nick Kyrgios vs. Vasek Pospisil

Kyrgios and Pospisil will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they square off during first-round action at the Open 13 on Monday night. Pospisil lost right away last week to Alexander Zverev in Rotterdam, but the 42nd-ranked Canadian is still making a quick turnaround because he captured the doubles title with Nicolas Mahut on Sunday. As usual, Pospisil is looking far more impressive on the doubles court than he is in singles. His individual record stands at a mere 1-4 in 2016, with his only win coming at the expense of Ivo Karlovic in Auckland.

Having withdrawn from Rotterdam due to a wrist injury, Kyrgios heads into Marseille as a bit of a question mark. The 20-year-old’s only previous appearance this season has come at the Australian Open, where he advanced two rounds before turning in a lackluster performance in a four-set loss to Tomas Berdych. If he is 100 percent, though, this should be a favorable matchup for Kyrgios. Pospisil is lacking confidence in singles at the moment, will not be playing on much rest, and simply does not have the firepower to match his opponent on an indoor hard court.

Pick: Kyrgios in 2

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(Q) Julien Benneteau vs. (WC) Alexander Zverev

Having drawn a qualifier when the draw was revealed last weekend, Zverev had a 25 percent chance of going head-to-head with his brother after Mischa Zverev punched his ticket to the main draw on Monday. But such a meeting did not come to fruition–at least not yet–as the younger Zverev instead saw Benneteau’s name show up next to his in the bracket. The 18-year-old German will look to maintain his fine form at the expense of the French veteran on Tuesday. Zverev is up to a career-high ranking of No. 56 in the world thanks to back-to-back impressive tournaments. He reached the semifinals in Montpellier (upset Marin Cilic in the process) before advancing to the Rotterdam quarters (beat Pospisil and Gilles Simon before falling to Gael Monfils).

Benneteau, whom Zverev has never faced, is in the midst of a comeback from hernia surgery. The 34-year-old did not play at all in 2015 after the Indian Wells Masters in early March. So far this season he has lost first-round matches at the Australian Open, Montpellier, and Rotterdam. Benneteau finally has some semblance of momentum thanks to a pair of qualifying victories in Marseille over Thomas Fabbiano and Tristan Lamasine. But the competition level, of course, ratchets up exponentially in the form of Zverev. At this point in his comeback, this is too tough of a test for Benneteau.

Pick: Zverev in 2

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