Arthur Fils will kick off his Monte-Carlo campaign against Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, while fellow Frenchman Ugo Humbert takes on Aussie Alexei Popyrin. It’s the continuation of first-round competition on Tuesday.
(12) Arthur Fils vs. Tallon Griekspoor
France’s Arthur Fils is knocking at the door of the top 10, as the 20-year-old sits at a career-high of 15th in the world. He comes to European clay off a pair of quarterfinal results at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters events, having downed world No. 2 Alexander Zverev a couple of weeks ago. Fils has a good all-surface game, with two clay-court titles and one hard-court crown on his resume so far. He is also very popular in France and will have vocal support at the Monte-Carlo Country Club this week.
Tallon Griekspoor just made a clay final in Marrakech last week, but it was a bit of depleted draw. He beat nobody inside the top 70 en route to the title match against world No. 57 Luciano Darderi. In addition to possible fatigue for Griekspoor from playing a final just a few days ago, Fils is in excellent form right now and he will be playing with the crowd on his side.
Look for a tidy win from Fils to advance to the second round.
Cheryl pick: Fils in 2
Ricky pick: Fils in 2
Alexei Popyrin vs. Ugo Humbert
Like Fils, Ugo Humbert will be playing in front of a “home” crowd–but unlike the youngster, the world No. 20 often flies under the radar. Well, there’s also the fact that clay is Humbert’s worst surface by some margin. He has a miserable 14-30 ATP-level record on the dirt and has never won a clay-court title. He does usually play well in front of an appreciative crowd, but the courts in Monte-Carlo are as classically clay as they get.
Alexei Popyrin has endured a terrible start to the season. The Aussie has played seven tournaments with just two wins to show for his efforts. He is comfortable on the clay moreso than his opponent, but whether a change in surface can make up for his dismal form remains to be seen. He has played Humbert twice before; they split the wins at one each, but Popyrin won their only clay-court encounter.
The crowd should give Humbert the edge he needs to advance.
Cheryl pick: Humbert in 3
Ricky pick: Popyrin in 3
WWW?
Humbert edges it.
welp
congratulations to me
commiserations with Cheryl
I just saw Greek out in IW…..he’s a great player….in 3; and Pop in a tough 3.