This Saturday, at the Palais des Sports in Marseille, the draw for the 2021 edition of the Open 13 Provence took place in the presence of Jean-François Caujolle, the tournament director, and Benjamin Bonzi, who was awarded a wild card.
The draw for the Open 13 Provence 2021 is now known. And, as usual, it is particularly strong. With the presence of two members of the Top 10, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, the tournament is true to its tradition. For Tsitsipas, the two-time defending champion, the challenge will be to win a third title and thus equal Marc Rosset, Tomas Enqvist and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. However, if he wins, he will be the only one to have won three in a row. As for Medvedev, in his third appearance in the final draw, he will undoubtedly want to do better than a quarter-final, a stage he reached in 2017 and 2020, without succeeding.
These two, along with Karen Khachanov (winner of the tournament in 2018) and Ugo Humbert (semi-finalist in 2019), respectively seeded 3 and 4, benefit from a first round bye.
Among the first rounds to watch, there will be the clash of cultures between the promising Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, who beat Gaël Monfils in the first round of the Australian Open, and the even more promising Japanese, Yoshihito Nishioka, who, with his left foot, already has a title (Shenzhen in 2018) and a final (Delray Beach in 2020) to his credit.
Another first round match that is likely to create sparks is that of the "old hands", pitting Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (three times winner in Marseille) against Feliciano Lopez who, at 39, will be playing his seventh Open 13 Provence. The two men, who have a combined age of 74, have already crossed swords five times (5-0 Tsonga), including once in Marseille in 2009. That day, in the quarter-finals, Jo won in three sets. Two days later, he lifted the trophy. Perhaps this first round is a good omen?
Another Frenchman who will have his work cut out for him from the start is Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The Schiltigheim native will be up against another Japanese player who, at 31 years old, is playing in his very first Open 13 Provence: Kei Nishikori. The former Top 10 player, winner of 12 titles and 14 times finalist, notably at the US Open in 2014, is on the rise again as his recent quarter-final in Rotterdam shows.
Other first rounds to watch include Greg Barrère, who will face rising Italian star Jannik Sinner, and Lucas Pouille, who continues his return to competition and will face a qualifier, with the hope of going on to challenge the tournament's No. 2 seed and two-time defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas. Finally, Benjamin Bonzi, holder of an invitation (wild card), will also face a qualifier, and perhaps then go on to face the winner of the match between Ruusuvori and Nishioka. This is a great opportunity for the Nîmes native, who is playing in his very first Open 13 Provence and who, without a doubt, dreams of performing so close to home...
