The draw did not spoil the French. This was to be expected since only Gaël Monfils and Ugo Humbert are among the seeds. The first, 15th world, could face Rafael Nadal in the round of 16. But before a very hypothetical round of 16 against the Mallorcan, he will have to get rid of the experienced Albert Ramos-Viñolas at the outset. He could then find Roberto Carballés Baena, his executioner in Belgrade, then possibly Jannik Sinner. Given the current form of “La Monf”, its presence in the second week seems very uncertain.
Ugo Humbert will challenge Ričardas Berankis. The generational duel between Richard Gasquet and Hugo Gaston, revelation of the previous edition, promises to be interesting. The winner is expected to face Rafa in the second round. Pouille will have a lot to do against Pablo Cuevas before a potential match against Novak Djokovic while Tsonga could challenge David Goffin if he manages to get rid of Yoshihito Nishioka.
Finally, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Benoit Paire and Jérémy Chardy are doomed to a big performance since they are respectively opposed to Jannik Sinner, Casper Ruud and Stéfanos Tsitsipás.
The first round of the French:
Lucas Pouille – Pablo Cuevas
Ugo Humbert – Richard Berankis
Jo ‐ Wilfried Tsonga – Yoshihito Nishioka
Mathias Bourgue – Dominik Köpfer
Arthur Rinderknech – Marin Čilić
Richard Gasquet – Hugo Gaston
Pierre ‐ Hugues Herbert – Jannik Sinner
Gaël Monfils – Albert Ramos ‐ Viñolas
Adrian Mannarino – Aljaž Bedene
Benjamin Bonzi – Facundo Bagnis
Corentin Moutet – Laszlo Djere
Benoit Pair – Casper Ruud
Arthur Cazaux – Kamil Majchrzak
Gregoire Barrère – Fabio Fognini
Gilles Simon – Martin Fucsovich
Jeremy Chardy – Stéfanos Tsitsipás
Enzo Couacaud – Egor Gerasimov
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 5:32 PM
