Montpellier R1 previews and predictions: Chardy vs. Tsitsipas, Ferrer vs. Khachanov

Stefanos Tsitsipas and fellow up-and-coming player Karen Khachanov will kick off their Montpellier campaigns on Tuesday. Both men will be going up against veterans, with Tsitsipas to face Jeremy Chardy and Khachanov awaiting No. 7 seed David Ferrer.

Jeremy Chardy vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas

Chardy and Tsitsipas will be squaring off for the third time in their careers and for the third time on an indoor hard court in France when they meet again in round one of the Open Sud de France on Tuesday afternoon. This marks their first-ever encounter at the ATP level, but they previously collided at the Brest Challenger in 2016 and 2017. Chardy got the job done two years ago via a 6-2, 6-3 decision before Tsitsipas prevailed 7-6(5), 6-4 this past season.

As those results suggest, Tsitsipas is on the way up at just 19 years old–already registering at 78th in the world rankings. Greece’s top player began the 2018 campaign with a quarterfinal performance in Doha as a qualifier and he already has some indoor action under his belt with a semifinal performance at last week’s Quimper Challenger (lost to eventual champion Quentin Halys in a third-set tiebreaker). Chardy, on the other hand, is toiling down at 91st in the rankings. The 30-year-old Frenchman has plateaued in recent seasons and has not displayed any signs of anything different in 2018. He has played just one match, losing right away at the Australian Open to Tennys Sandgren in straight sets. This is a good opportunity for a more confident Tsitsipas to pick up his seventh career main-tour match victory.

Pick: Tsitsipas in 3

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Karen Khachanov vs. (7) David Ferrer

This will be Ferrer’s third consecutive event to begin the 2018 season at which he will run into a participant at last year’s NextGen ATP Finals in Milan. The Spaniard, who is 14 years too old for eligibility into that tournament, beat eventual Australian Open semifinalist Hyeon Chung in Auckland before losing a five-setter in the Australian Open first round to Doha runner-up Andrey Rublev. It has been a solid start to the year for Ferrer aside from that tough draw Down Under, as he advanced three rounds in Auckland before succumbing to Juan Martin Del Potro in the semis.

Up first for the No. 7 seed on Tuesday is a first-ever showdown against Khachanov, a 21-year-old who just barely missed out on Montpellier seeding as the 49th-ranked man in the world. Khachanov is also 3-2 this season with a quarterfinal showing in Auckland (also lost to Del Potro) and a second-round finish in Melbourne (lost to Del Potro again in a tight four-setter). On an indoor hard court, the 6’6” Russian should be able to utilize his power game to keep points short enough against a counter-punching opponent.

Pick: Khachanov in 3

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