Metz R1 previews and predictions: Paire vs. Tsitsipas, Gasquet vs. Istomin

There is a French flavor to the Tuesday schedule in Metz, where both Benoit Paire and Richard Gasquet are in action. Paire is going up against qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas, while Gasquet’s opening-round contest comes in the form of Denis Istomin.

(7) Benoit Paire vs. (Q) Stefanos Tsitsipas

Paire and Tsitsipas will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Moselle Open on Tuesday. It has already been a productive week for Tsitsipas, who qualified for the main draw with victories over Roberto Ortega-Olmedo and Yannick Maden. The 19-year-old Greek, however, has not yet been able to make the transition to the bigger stages. He is 0-5 lifetime at the ATP level (all this season). Tsitsipas appeared in the main draws of both the French Open and Wimbledon, but he suffered respective losses to Ivo Karlovic and Dusan Lajovic. Interspersed some success on the Challenger circuit, the world No. 120 came within one round of qualifying for the U.S. Open before falling to Nicolas Mahut.

In between Wimbledon–where he reached the fourth round–and this fall swing, Paire compiled a disappointing 3-5 record (2-3 on hard courts). The 41st-ranked Frenchman is coming off a second-round performance at the U.S. Open, where he lost to Mischa Zverev 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-7(3), 7-5. Paire has never done much in Metz, but at the other indoor hard-court event in France (Montpellier) he is a former finalist (2013) and semifinalist (2017). With home-court advantage, the seventh seed should be able to extend Tsitsipas’ ATP losing streak.

Pick: Paire in 2

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(6) Richard Gasquet vs. Denis Istomin

Dating back to Eastbourne semifinal setback at the hands of Gael Monfils, Gasquet has been a disaster at the ATP level. The 30th-ranked Frenchman lost to David Ferrer in the Wimbledon first round, blew three match points against Alexander Zverev in the Montreal second round, fell to Rafael Nadal in the Cincinnati second round, and was upset by Leonardo Mayer right away in New York. As such, Gasquet bit the bullet and decided to be a vulture on the Challenger Tour last week while some of his other compatriots were busy sending France to the Davis Cup final. The 31-year-old successfully captured a title on clay in Szczecin, where he dropped only one set along the way.

Up first for Gasquet on Tuesday in Metz is an eighth career meeting with Istomin, who trails the head-to-head series 6-1. They have not faced each other since a 2015 showdown in Montpellier, where Gasquet got the job done 6-3, 6-4. There is no real reason to think anything will be different this time around, because it has all been downhill for Istomin since his amazing Australian Open showing. That is when the 82nd-ranked Uzbek stunned Novak Djokovic and also beat current top 10 player Pablo Carreno Busta en route to the last 16. Istomin is 7-15 in his last 22 matches at the ATP level, including 2-8 in his last 10 dating back to the French Open. All signs point to Gasquet treating the home crowd to a convincing victory.

Pick: Gasquet in 2

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