Damien Kayat looks at selected Ro16 matches coming your way from the ATP Tour's Open Sud de France this week.
Denis Shapovalov 3/10 | Marcel Granollers 47/20
On the surface, this appears to be a no-brainer. Marcel Granollers is a journeyman who has largely tasted success on the double’s circuit. But he has certainly had fleeting success in the single’s game, though most notably on clay. Granollers largely operated on the Challenger tour last season, only tasting occasional success at the top level. He reached the semi-final of the Launceston Invitational, though it was a surprise semi-final run at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships that really defined his season. He picked up various decent Challenger results, including a victory in Vietnam. So one would think that Granollers stands no chance, right? I wouldn’t be so sure.
19-year-old Denis Shapovalov really burst onto the scene at the 2018 Roger’s Cup, becoming the youngest man to ever reach a Masters 1000 semi-final in the process. Some might say that he perhaps failed to deliver on his potential last season. He reached a few semi-finals, with perhaps his performance in Madrid the most impressive of the year. But he really failed to fulfil his promise on the North American hardcourts. And then there is his troubling recent form. Yes, he reached the third round of the Aussie Open only to lose to Novak Djokovic. But prior to that, he had amassed an alarming sequence of first-round exits. Shapovalov is clearly extremely talented and is a potential icon of the sport. But his unforced error count has the tendency to balloon and this may be tighter than you think.
This will be the first meeting between these two. That’s unsurprising given Shapovalov’s age and Granollers’ fairly low status at this time. But Granollers is just the sort of player who could cause an upset against Shapovalov. He will try to minimize his errors, forcing Shapovalov to generate his own pace and hit many balls. This could frustrate a player who seems to save his tennis for the upper echelon players. Granollers could be decent value at 47/20.
Gilles Simon 13/10 | Jo Wilfried Tsonga 11/20
This should a fascinating match-up. Particularly when you consider just how well French players have done in this event. It’s rather surprising that neither one of these men has actually reached the final here. Tsonga was the darling of the tennis world after reaching that 2008 Aussie Open Final. It’s often criticized for perhaps not quite ‘realizing’ his potential. I think it’s an unfair judgement on a man born in this current era of Grand Slam greats. He has 16 titles of his own and is typically fighting back to return from a poor 2018. His year was decimated by a series of injuries that culminated in a left knee operation. The latter half of the season was punctuated by poor results as he struggled to get back to speed. But a semi-final in Brisbane seems to indicate that he may be prepared to return to a semblance of form.
Gilles Simon has been a consistent presence on tour, with a few Grand Slam quarter-finals to his name. A winner of 14 titles on tour, Simon actually experienced quite a resurgence throughout the 2018 season. While he only reached the final 16 here, it was quickly followed by an appearance in the Lyon Open final. He then went on to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon. He would then claim the Moselle Open title before quarters at both the European Open and Swiss Indoors. He ended the year with another semi-final at the Maharashtra Open. And he already has a semi to his credit this year, with an excellent start to the season in Sydney.
It’s unsurprising that these two compatriots would have met many times before. And I guess it’s also unsurprising that Tsonga holds a distinct edge. He leads the head-to-head 8-3. Tsonga has also won their last three matches. But one has to remember that Simon has been steadily regaining ground in the rankings for some time now. Tsonga had to battle past unheralded Humbert in the opening match. Simon looks terrific value to me at 13/10.
Written by Damien Kayat for Hollywoodbets.
from Hollywoodbets Sports Blog http://bit.ly/2MR9prA
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