Teenage German Alexander Zverev will be looking to put a dreadful Davis Cup result behind him as men’s tennis returns to the ATP World Tour for the first time since before the Australian Open. He is the fourth seed at the Sud de France Open in Montpellier.
Zverev was part of a favoured German team that lost to a Belgium side inspired by Steve Darcis, who defeated Zverev on Sunday, after he had taken down Philipp Kohlschreiber on Friday in five sets. Zverev had also paired with his brother Mischa, but had lost to the Belgian pair of Rueben Bemelmans and Joris de Loore. Mischa Zverev is seeded for the first time in an ATP event after his run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
The tournament also sees Marin Cilic feature as the top seed. Cilic is under heavy pressure to win ATP points now, as early season losses to Jozef Kovalik in Chennai, and Dan Evans in the second round of the Australian Open, mean the Croatian will be under pressure later in the year.
Richard Gasquet is the defending champion and has a bye in the first round as the third seed. Veteran Paul-Henri Mathieu, who made last year’s final, will be under severe pressure to defend 150 ATP points.
ATP Montpellier Draw: (Picks in bold)
(1) Marin Cilic – Bye
Dustin Brown vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
Benoit Paire vs Karen Khachanov
Qualifier vs (5 WC) Feliciano Lopez
(3) Richard Gasquet – Bye
Qualifier vs Malek Jaziri
Illya Marchenko vs (WC) Quentin Halys
Dan Evans vs (6) Mischa Zverev
(7) Marcel Granollers vs Jeremy Chardy
Paul-Henri Mathieu vs Qualifier
Aljaz Bedene vs Borna Coric
Bye – (4) Alexander Zverev
(8) Fernando Verdasco vs Qualifier
Daniil Medvedev vs Tobias Kamke
Qualifier vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Bye – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
- Qualifiers identities are not yet determined, so it is not fair to make the picks in their matches just yet.
I have picked Daniil Medvedev to defeat Tobias Kamke, though it is worth noting that Medvedev was forced to retire from his Davis Cup rubber with Novak Djokovic at the weekend. However, he took a set so I’m inclined to believe he should be sufficiently fit to take on Kamke
