Second-round action in Montpellier is getting underway on Wednesday, with No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner going up against familiar foe Marton Fucsovics. In first-round competition, Emil Ruusuvuori faces Mikael Ymer.
Marton Fucsovics vs. (2) Jannik Sinner
Sinner and Fucsovics will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers and for the second time already this season when they meet again in round two of the Open Sud de France on Wednesday night. They just faced each other at the Australian Open, where Fucsovics surprisingly took the first two sets but it was one-way traffic the rest of the time en route to a 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 victory for Sinner. The overall head-to-head series is tied up 2-2. Fucsovics has won two of their three Grand Slam encounters, but Sinner dominated their only previous indoor hard-court contest 6-2, 6-4 at the 2020 Sofia event.
Fucsovics earned his spot in the Montpellier second round by beating Geoffrey Blancaneaux 7-5, 5-7, 6-0 on Tuesday. That may not be a spectacular result, but the 30-year-old Hungarian will take any win he can get these days as he struggles down at 69th in the rankings. Sinner, on other hand, was awesome from start to finish in 2022 and is off to a decent start to this season. The 17th-ranked Italian reached a quarterfinal in Adelaide before losing to eventual runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in round four of the Aussie Open. Sinner should win this one easily, and he’ll be careful to not come out of the gates slowly after what transpired in Melbourne.
Pick: Sinner in 2
Mikael Ymer vs. (7) Emil Ruusuvuori
Ruusuvuori and Ymer are no strangers, too. In fact, their head-to-head series is also tied 2-2 and they have also squared off once already in 2023. Ymer extended his winning streak against Ruusuvuori to two matches by prevailing 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in Adelaide. The Swede had previously won 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4 last summer in Washington, D.C. Both of Ruusuvuori’s victories have come in three sets, as well–in Miami and Bastad in 2021.
There are no secrets in this matchup; it’s all about Ruusuvuori’s offense against Ymer’s defense. In four previous meetings not once has the Finn completely blown his opponent off the court; twice he lost and twice he required a final set. Ruusuvuori is only in mediocre form at the moment, so it’s hard to see him being consistent enough to withstand Ymer’s counter-punching throughout the entire afternoon. Look for Ymer to battle his way to another win.
Pick: Ymer in 3
WWW?
Sinner in 3; Ymer in 3.