Lucas Pouille will kick off his Montpellier campaign as the defending champion and No. 1 seed when he goes up against Marcos Baghdatis on Thursday. Ernests Gulbis and Radu Albot are also aiming for a spot in the quarterfinals.
(1) Lucas Pouille vs. (WC) Marcos Baghdatis
Pouille and Baghdatis will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers at the ATP level when they square off in the Open Sud de France second round on Thursday. Their only previous encounter came at last summer’s U.S. Open, where Pouille got the job done 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. The 17th-ranked Frenchman has home-court advantage this time around at a tournament he won in 2018. Moreover, he is finally armed with some much-needed confidence after making an unexpected run to the Australian Open semifinals (lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic).
Baghdtis has been slowing down throughout his 30s (now 33 years old) and the struggle has him all the way down at No. 128 in the world at the moment. The Cypriot’s first month of the 2019 campaign was a disaster, but he showed signs of life in a 6-2, 6-4 rout of lucky loser Ruben Bemelmans on Wednesday in Montpellier. Although Baghdatis is no slouch on quick indoor hard court, a steep step up in competition should see the end of his week.
Pick: Pouille in 3
[polldaddy poll=10232759]
Ernests Gulbis vs. Radu Albot
Gulbis’ motivation level for tennis has come and gone throughout the course of his career, but he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere quite yet at 30 years old. The mercurial Latvia made a fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon in 2018 and that is a big reason why he is comfortably inside the top 100 at 83rd in the rankings. Despite getting hurt in Australia, Gulbis already owns three match victories this season with a quarterfinal performance in Pune and a 6-4, 7-6(5) defeat of Hubert Hurkacz on Tuesday.
Up next for the former world No. 10 is a second career contest against Albot. Their only previous showdown came last season on the clay courts of the Prostejov Challenger, where Albot cruised 6-3, 6-3. The 90th-ranked Moldovan is a late-bloomer at 29 years old, having really started to make a name for himself in 2017 and 2018. A second-round performer Down Under (beat Michael Mmoh, lost to Fernando Verdasco), Albot is coming off an impressive 6-4, 6-3 disposal of fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber. His consistency from the back of the court will likely be too tough for a much more erratic Gulbis.
Pick: Albot in 3
[polldaddy poll=10232760]
WYG?
Pouille line goes from -270 to -200 right before match begins. Then he has a chance to serve for first set and totally blows it. This match is 100% fixed. 100%!!!! What a joke
Pouille! Unbelievable!
I promised myself to pass Pouille after losing some monies on him last year. He is a monster bitch and a match fixer. He constantly loses in the indoor matches like this. I am not sure if he is purposely fix it or he has too much sex before the match. I do blacklist some of the fixers like Pouille, Kyrgious, Fognini, just to name a few. Note that the current ATP Cordoba tournament is played by mostly fixers.
Every top seed 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 has lost at Cordoba. Schwartzman is a -1000 fav struggling early. It’s unreal. How does the atp let this happen???
Now watch schwartzman (a -1000 fav lose a set) . Every top seed except him has lost there in Cordoba. All such a joke
Oh my Diego is about to lose first set and I saw him as a -950 favorite at William Hill. That whole tournament is corrupt
Schwartzman is another one. Unbelievable.
I know Fognini is still Fognini, but how the hell does the guy not even win a set against a guy he’s beaten 8/8 times coming into this match. ATP needs to have this tournament moved to a different city next year. They deserve a one and done on this one based on these incredibly suspicious lines. Fognini line moved from -225 to -180 right before the match started on Bovada. Same with the Pouille match as was previously mentioned. And the way that Mayer v Delbonis match ended yesterday looked a lot like someone desperately trying to take a dive, IMO.
Mayer match was 2 days ago*. Point still stands, though. This is my major issue with big names/highly ranked guys in 250 tournaments. Whether it is a lack of motivation or something more sinister, like taking a dive for some extra cash in a tournament that won’t make or break their 52 week ranking, these guys just show up and roll over time and time again.
And many are taking dives in their own country. Makes it seem less likely bc they have the home crowd behind him. I know the ATP had made minor queries before but it’s time for an all out investigation. But you’re right, you can get 500k-100m to dive. And rank hardly moves
I dont believe it Schwartzman against a guy that barely keeping things together in challengers.