ATP Open Sud de France 2020: Vasek Pospisil vs Gael Monfils, Finals Match Preview and Prediction
After a week of some great tennis action at Montpellier, it's time for the title clash with top seed Gael Monfils all set to face Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the final of the ATP Open Sud de France 2020.
Monfils, seeded ninth in the world, lost to eventual runner-up Dominic Thiem in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2020 while Pospisil made an early first-round exit at Melbourne Park.
Gael Monfils will be aiming for his third title at Montpellier, but the Frenchman will need to overcome an in-form Pospisil who has been in great touch over the last week which was evident during the course of his fluent win over fellow-Canadian Dennis Shapovalov.
Richard Gasquet who had withdrawn from the Australian Open owing to injury was trailing Pospisil before he retired but the Canadian had to battle hard against David Goffin in the semifinal.
Pospisil played some delectable drop shots en route to a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 win after staving off a determined challenge from the Belgian who is the current World No. 10 and looks to be in just the right shape ahead of the final.
Monfils, meanwhile, has been in commanding form at Montpellier after overcoming some initial stutters to get past Adrian Mannarino and snuffing the fight out of Filip Krajinovic in the semifinals.
The Serbian was very much in the contest in the first set of the semifinal before being edged out, but Monfils took control in the second winning 7-6, 6-2 and would like nothing better than to carry the momentum into the all-important title clash.
Monfils earlier won the Sud de France Open in 2010 after having lost the 2005 finals to Andy Roddick. The 33-year-old made it to the finals again in 2012 but lost to Tomas Berdych before beating Richard Gasquet to win the title in 2014.
The Frenchman enjoys a 5-0 head-to-head record against Pospisil and the 132nd-ranked Canadian will need to come with an exceptional performance if he is to record an upset on Sunday evening.
The match begins at 1900 hours IST.
Prediction: Monfils to win in two sets