It will be an all-French affair when Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon face each other on Thursday in Tokyo. The second-round schedule is also wrapping up with a showdown between Nick Kyrgios and Radek Stepanek.
Gilles Simon vs. (2) Gael Monfils
Monfils and Simon will be squaring off for the eighth time in their careers when they battle for a spot in the Japan Open quarterfinals on Thursday. Simon is dominating the head-to-head series 6-1, but one ended in retirement and five of their six completed encounters have required final sets–including two five-setters. The two Frenchmen have not faced each other since Wimbledon in 2015, when Simon scored a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-2 victory that was moved to Center Court for the fifth set after darkness fell.
Fast forward to the latter stages of 2016 and Monfils has become an obvious favorite in this matchup. The world No. 8 is currently in position for a World Tour Finals berth, whereas Simon is on the way down at 31 years old. Simon had dipped to 30th in the rankings with a modest record of just 25-21 for the year. But on the heels of a dreadful summer, the former world No. 6 is a decent 3-1 this fall with a semifinal showing in Metz and a 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 defeat of Philipp Kohlschreiber on Tuesday in Tokyo. Monfils advanced on Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Yuichi Sugita, improving his 2016 record to an awesome 41-12. Count on another close one, but an in-form Monfils should have the upper hand this time around.
Pick: Monfils in 3
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(6) Nick Kyrgios vs. (Q) Radek Stepanek
Kyrgios has been predictably up and down in the results department this year even though has done well to remain mostly free of controversy in terms of his attitude. Although the 15th-ranked Australian has the first two ATP titles of his career under his belt (Marseille and Atlanta), he did not make it past the fourth round of any slam and he lost in the third round on three occasions. Kyrgios is coming off a an opening loss in Chengdu to Kevin Anderson, but he took care of Ryan Harrison 7-5, 6-2 on Monday in Tokyo.
Next up for the sixth seed is a third career meeting with Stepanek, who trails the head-to-head series 2-0. A pair of competitive first-round Grand Slam showdowns have gone Kyrgios’ way; 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 7-6(11) at the 2013 French Open and 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(9), 6-1 at Wimbledon this summer. Stepanek has endured his fair share of injury problems at 37 years old, but he is still playing well when healthy. In fact, the Czech will be back in the top 100 next Monday for the first time since April of 2015. So far in Tokyo he has successfully qualified for the main draw and taken out Stephane Robert in easy 6-2, 6-1 fashion. A much tougher opponent in Kyrgios will almost certainly put a swift end to Stepanek’s productive week.
Pick: Kyrgios in 2
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