An all-French affair between Lucas Pouille and Pierre-Hugues Herbert will be part of the second-round schedule on Thursday in Metz. Gilles Simon and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs. (3) Lucas Pouille
Pouille was not necessarily a breakout star of the U.S. Open because he had already made a name for himself in 2016, but he was the talk of the tournament for a while–at least until Stan Wawrinka took over from the quarterfinals through the title match. The 22-year-old Frenchman went on an epic run to the quarters, winning consecutive five-setters over Marco Chiudinelli and Roberto Bautista Agut before taking his five-set heroics to much greater heights against Rafael Nadal. In a Sunday afternoon thriller that delayed the night session, Pouille stunned Nadal 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6) after four hours and seven minutes. He finally bowed out to compatriot Gael Monfils, but not before climbing to No. 18 in the world.
Up first for Pouille at the Moselle Open on Thursday is another fellow Frenchman in Herbert. Their only previous meeting came at the Futures level in 2012, when Herbert got the job done 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals of an indoor hard-court tournament in France. Somewhat of a doubles specialist at the moment, the 25-year-old is No. 2 in the world in that department but registers at 108th in singles after reaching a career-high of No. 76 in July. Herbert is a modest 7-10 at the ATP level this season, but he scored a solid 7-6(3), 6-2 victory over Inigo Cervantes on Wednesday. A red-hot Pouille will present much tougher competition.
Pick: Pouille in 2
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(4) Gilles Simon vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
Simon and Garcia-Lopez will be going head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers on Thursday. All five of their previous encounters have gone the way of Simon, who is 2-0 at Garcia-Lopez’s expense on hard courts (both outdoors). They have not faced each other since 2014, when the Frenchman prevailed 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 at the Shanghai Masters. Fast forward two seasons and Simon is clearly starting to slow down at 31 years old. He has fallen to 28th in the world and is in danger of an additional drop because he is just 39th in terms of 2016 points. Simon is a mere 3-6 in his last nine matches dating back to the Wimbledon second round.
Garcia-Lopez advanced to the last 16 in Metz by defeating Damir Dzumhur 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 on Tuesday. Also struggling in the presumably latter stages of his career at 33 years old, the 57th-ranked Spaniard is just 22-25 for the season. Prior to this week he had been 4-9 in his last 13 matches after losing a four-setter to countryman Roberto Bautista Agut in round one of the U.S. Open. But Garcia-Lopez has already played three sets to get accustomed to the conditions in Metz and this is a good opportunity for him against a slumping opponent.
Pick: Garcia-Lopez in 2
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Simon in three and Pouille in three. Herbert and GGL have solid shots though.
Looey Pooey in 2
GGL in 3