AT the start of 2016 he was sitting just outside of the Top 30 but now Jeremy Chardy has dropped down to find some form at the Challenger level in Brest. The twenty-nine year-old Frenchman is still ranked comfortably inside the Top 100 at no. 79 but it represents a significant fall for a player accustomed to seeing a seeding by his ranking in recent years at Grand Slams.
Despite the loss in ranking Chardy represents a formidable opponent at the Challenger level, and is the top seed in Brest, one of the higher-end challengers with 125 ATP points on offer for the winner. Chardy has already ousted the potentially tricky Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was featured in our look at young prospects on the challenger circuit.
Yet there are further difficult matches ahead for Chardy is he is to win the title. Canadian Steven Diez is in the form of his career and awaits Chardy in the quarters should the top seed defeat Aleksandr Nedovyesov. Diez is yet to drop a set this week. The other seeds in the top half of the draw, in the form of Italians Alessandro Giannessi and Luca Vanni have already suffered early exits.
The bottom half of the draw features strong competition, with today’s second round encounter between the unseeded Julein Benneteau and the third seed Marco Chuidinelli the match of the day. Benneteau at his peak featured in similar ranking positions to Chardy but injury curtailed much of his season. Chuidinelli meanwhile, is enjoying a late career surge. Despite Benneteau’s encouraging return Chuidinelli should have enough to beat the home favourite.
The second seed Lukas Lacko is also progressing well having dropped just eight games en route to the quarter-finals. Lacko could face the lucky loser Norbert Gombos. The tall Slovakian has enjoyed a strong run of late, with semi-finals in Izmir and Bangkok and a runner-up display in Orleans (l. to Herbert). He is in this tournament by virtue of Quentin Halys’ withdrawal, but won his opening encounter, and will prove a stiff test for any player in the draw.
Once thought to be one of France’s brightest young hopes, Laurent Lokoli featured in Brest. The twenty-two year-old is perhaps best remembered for qualifying for Roland Garros in 2014 before taking Steve Johnson to five sets. Lokoli lost his opener to fellow wildcard Corentin Moutet, a seventeen year-old.
