Familiar foes Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils will meet again when they clash in round three of the Paris Masters on Thursday. Daniil Medvedev, seeded second behind Djokovic, is going up against Sebastian Korda.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (15) Gael Monfils
Djokovic and Monfils will be squaring off for the 18th time in their careers on the main tour when they battle for a quarterfinal spot at the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at a ridiculous 17-0 in favor of Djokovic, including 15-0 on hard courts and 2-0 at this Paris tournament. They have not met since their infamous 2020 Dubai battle in which Monfils squandered a whole host of match points and promptly went into a downward spiral from which he has never really recovered.
The 22nd-ranked Frenchman is at least starting to win some matches again in 2021, and he has won two this week over Miomir Kecmanovic and Adrian Mannarino–both in three sets. Djokovic also needed three in his opener, as he scraped past Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on Tuesday. With a match under his belt following an extended layoff, the world No. 1 should raise his level and maintain his mastery of Monfils.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
Sebastian Korda vs. (2) Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev and Korda, on the other hand, have never faced each other heading into Thursday’s third-round showdown. That is no surprise given that this is Korda’s first full season on tour. The 21-year-old American has earned 27 of his 30 career ATP-level match victories in 2021, including two this week at the expense of Aslan Karatsev and Marin Cilic. This result has come borderline out of nowhere for Korda, who was red hot in the first half but seemed to hit a wall physically after Wimbledon.
It doesn’t get much tougher physically than a matchup with Medvedev, who is 11-1 in his last 12 matches dating back to the U.S. Open and 10 of his 11 wins have come in straight sets. The second-ranked Russian defeated Ilya Ivashka 7-5, 6-4 to kick off his title defense. If Medvedev fails to go back-to-back in Paris, it is unlikely that Korda will be the one to stop him. The underdog just won’t win enough free points on serve in these conditions to avoid a ton of baseline rallies.
Pick: Medvedev in 2
WWW?
Just read neither Med or Djok has committed to AO.