Tsonga, Monfils in action as fall swing begins in Metz

The tournament formerly in St. Petersburg first moved to Tel Aviv, Israel. Then it moved entirely off the ATP schedule. Due to the ongoing conflict in Israel, Metz’s Moselle Open is the only event taking place this week. It does, however, have plenty to offer in its own right. Top two seeds Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils headline a strong field and are sure to provide plenty of entertainment for the home crowd. They are joined in the 28-man bracket by Philipp Kohlschreiber, Lukas Rosol, Jerzy Janowicz, and David Goffin.

Moselle Open

Where: Metz, France
Surface: Indoor hard
Prize money: 410,200 Euros
Points: 250

Top seed: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
2013 champion: Gilles Simon (not playing)

Draw analysis: Tsonga generally fares extremely well at small, indoor hard-court tournaments at home in France. His career record in Metz is 13-2 after reaching the final on three straight occasions (champion in 2011 and 2012, runner-up in 2013) and he is also 18-5 lifetime in Marseille—including 7-1 over the past two seasons (runner-up to Ernests Gulbis earlier this year). By 250-point standards, though, his draw this week is a bear. Tsonga will kick off his campaign against either Edouard Roger-Vasselin or Gilles Muller. A red-hot Goffin, by far the toughest of the 5-8 seeds, is a potential quarterfinal opponent for Tsonga. Kohlschreiber, who advanced to the second week in New York, is on a semifinal collision course with the No. 1 seed.

Monfils should have an easier time of things at the bottom of the bracket, although it may not entirely be a walk in the park. After an opener against one of two qualifiers, the U.S. Open quarterfinalist could run into the mercurial Janowicz—who is no stranger to indoor hard-court success in France (2012 Paris runner-up) but has slumped massively in 2014. Unless Janowicz or the fourth-seeded Rosol enjoys an on-fire serving day, there should be no stopping Monfils prior to the title match.

First-round upset alert: Ivan Dodig over (6) Joao Sousa. Based on seed, ranking, and in some ways on current form, Sousa is the true favorite in this one. A healthy Dodig (maybe?) combined with an indoor hard court, however, suggests otherwise. The Croat, who did not play a singles match in between Roland Garros and Toronto, at least won two matches at the Rogers Cup and was competitive with Gulbis and Feliciano Lopez in Cincinnati and at the U.S. Open, respectively. Sousa’s lone ATP title actually came on an indoor hard court last fall in Kuala Lumpur, but Portugal’s top player would much rather face Dodig on a slower surface.

Hot: Gael Monfils, David Goffin, Adrian Mannarino

Cold: Jerzy Janowicz, Igor Sijsling, Paul-Henri Mathieu

Quarterfinal predictions: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga over David Goffin, Philipp Kohlschreiber over Jeremy Chardy, Ivan Dodig over Benjamin Becker, and Gael Monfils over Jerzy Janowicz

Semifinals: Tsonga over Kohlschreiber and Monfils over Dodig

Final: Tsonga over Monfils

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Comments and your own predictions are appreciated!