The French are in the limelight, with three of them in the final draw going into what promises to be a very busy edition. Benoît Paire and Grégoire Barrère will face each other in the first round, in a replay of the quarter-finals of the last tournament in Metz. The unpredictable Paire, with his hard-hitting forehand - it was recorded at 182 km/h last week in Rotterdam - had the upper hand. He comes into the tournament on the back of a Top 20 finish, hoping to improve on his semi-final finish in 2016. Richard Gasquet, for his part, must reassure himself after his quarter-final exit in Montpellier. The Frenchman will take on the young Swede Mikael Ymer, hoping to finally turn things around in Marseille, where he has never made it past the semis. The last match of the final draw on this first day of the tournament, the Hungarian Fucsovics will face the Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
This 28th edition is therefore entering the thick of things with some attractive matches, in line with the entire draw. No less than three members of the Top 3 are expected to take part: Daniil Medvedev, defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas and Belgian David Goffin. In addition to these three top players, who are safe until the second round, there are three other Top 20 players: Canadian Denis Shapovalov, Karen Khachanov, winner in 2018, and Benoît Paire. Not to mention Felix Auger-Aliassime, ranked 21st in the world this week. I am very happy, even if I have taken a step back from all this," said Jean-François Caujolle, director of the Open 13 Provence. I know today that the tennis hierarchy is such that there is not so much difference between players ranked 15, 30 or 50. It's mainly that there are more attractive names! But this is really a very dense field.
Simon ? Mayot, 18 years apart
The players expected this week know that it will not be easy to be in the running again next Sunday.
Marin Cilic, who made the draw, knows this all the better as he has already had experience of two Marseille finals, played in 2011 and 2016. It's going to be very difficult, as it always is here in Marseille," said Cilic, a young father who is resting on Monday and will face Filip Krajinovic in his first round match. I feel good, I played very well at the Australian Open. It's very encouraging for the season. I'm really happy to be in Marseille where I haven't been since my final in 2016.
For the other Frenchmen who have to wait a little longer before entering the competition, the mission will also be delicate. Pierre-Hugues Herbert will face Mikhail Kukushkin, last year?s finalist. Antoine Hoang will face Hubert Hurkacz, seeded n°8.
Finally, the old hand Gilles Simon, twice winner in Marseille, will face the young Harold Mayot, who has just won the Australian Open for juniors. A great show in prospect.
