Montreal R1 previews and predictions: Tabilo vs. Tiafoe, Jarry vs. Etcheverry

Main-draw action at the Toronto Masters will get underway on Tuesday, when Frances Tiafoe continues his hard-court summer against an in-form Alejandro Tabilo. Nicolas Jarry and Tomas Martin Etcheverry are also on the schedule.

Frances Tiafoe vs. (15) Alejandro Tabilo

Tiafoe is hoping that a commendable five-set struggle against eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon third round helps get his 2024 campaign back on track. Unfortunately for the 27th-ranked American, that has not yet been the case. He lost in the Atlanta quarterfinals to Yoshihito Nishioka and in the Washington, D.C. semis at the hands of Sebastian Korda. On the bright side for Tiafoe, he picked multiple victories to begin the U.S. swing and both of the opponents who ousted him went on to win those respective tournaments.

Up first for the 26-year-old in round one of the National Bank Open on Tuesday is a first-ever meeting with Tabilo. The 27-year-old has been outstanding this season; he has earned more than half of his lifetime ATP match wins (26 of 51) and has climbed to 21st in the rankings. Don’t be fooled by the fact that Tabilo plays under Chile’s flag; he is at his best on hard courts and spent much of his life in none other than Canada. This is basically a home event for him–even though he has lived in Toronto rather than Montreal. With Tiafoe still struggling a bit, this is great opportunity for the Auckland winner to lay the foundation for yet another impressive tournament in 2024.

Pick: Tabilo in 3

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Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Nicolas Jarry

Jarry and Etcheverry will be squaring off for the seventh time in their careers on Tuesday. This a matchup we are accustomed to seeing on clay–and specifically on the Golden Swing. They have faced each other three times during the annual South American festivities in February, with Jarry prevailing twice–once via third-set retirement (earlier this year in Buenos Aires). However, Etcheverry leads the overall head-to-head series 4-2 (it’s 2-2 on the main tour) after getting the job done 6-4, 7-5 this spring in Monte-Carlo.

Although Jarry’s clay-court efforts in 2024 were mostly productive, he has been hopeless since finishing runner-up at the Rome masters. The 24th-ranked Chilean has not won a match since, so he heads into Montreal on a four-match losing streak. Etcheverry has also cooled off a bit since a hot start to the year, but he has at least managed to win his opening match at three consecutive events. The 38th-ranked Argentine is arguably a slightly more comfortable hard-court player, as well, so he should take care of business.

Pick: Etcheverry in 2

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