Last year, Stefanos Tsitsipas arrived in Marseille with doubts in his head. After his semi-final at the Australian Open, the Greek had a hard time coming down, losing in the second round in Sofia, then in the first round in Rotterdam. Tsitsipas admitted yesterday that he had almost cancelled his visit to Marseille, but at the last minute he finally took his flight. He had a perfect week, winning the tournament without losing a set.
He returns this year with a well consolidated Top 10 status. And for his first match, the native of Athens faces Mikael Ymer of Sweden, who beat Richard Gasquet in the first round. His main achievements are on the Challenger circuit. But the young Swede, born in 1998 like Tsitsipas, is hoping to take his game to the next level. He will face a real challenge against Tsitsipas.
Another headliner in the running this Wednesday is Felix Auger-Aliassime (F2A). The Canadian, seeded No. 7, will try to win his first match at the Palais des Sports against Italian Stefano Travaglia. Born on 8 August, like a certain Roger Federer but in 2000 (the year of the Swiss's first final in Marseille!), F2A played in the tournament in 2018, after being awarded a wild card. He lost the first round. But at the time, the Montreal native was ranked 167th. He is now 18th, close to his best ranking. A finalist last Sunday in Rotterdam against Gaël Monfils, Auger-Aliassime is expected to go further this time.
Paire sees far ahead
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (P2H), the first Frenchman to compete on Wednesday, is up against Mikhail Kukushkin. The Alsatian is playing in the tournament for the third time in his career. Until now, he has never managed to get past the second round. The draw was not kind to P2H, who will face the finalist of the last edition, Mikhail Kukushkin. Kukushkin surprised everyone by saying at the end of the tournament that he had had a dream week. Since then, with the exception of a round of 16 at Wimbledon, the Kazakh has not really got back on track. Herbert, who is coming off a quarter-final in Montpellier, has everything he needs to take his chance.
While the two youngsters Harold Mayot and Arthur Cazaux are expected to play doubles against Nicolas Mahut and Vasek Pospisil, Benoit Paire will have to confirm his good form against Kazakh Alexander Bublik to close this "super Wednesday". Very efficient in the first round, the Avignon native has clearly stated his ambitions: " I am here to win ". There's more to it than that!
