The ATP 250 Open 13 Marseille 2015 final features fifth seed Gilles Simon and wild card and seventh seed Gael Monfils facing off in all-French Final. The Tennis Review previews the actions and predicts the champion.
Gael Monfils (W/C, 7) Vs Gilles Simon (5).
Both Monfils and Simon have excellent records at French Indoor events. Monfils has won twice in Montpellier and once in Metz while Simon has won twice in Metz and once in Marseille (2007). Both men have four indoor titles with Monfils also winning in Stockholm and Simon in Bangkok.
Simon has also been a runner up at the ATP 1000 Madrid Indoors (2008) and Bangkok (2012), and Monfils has six indoor runner up finishes going all the way back to 2005 when carpet was still a surface on the tour in Lyon.
The two men have had very different fortunes at the Open 13. Before this year’s tournament Monfils was 1-6 in Marseille while Simon is a former champion and has a 16-7 win-loss record at the event.
Both men have one weapon which makes them such formidable forces indoors- their speed. Monfils, arguably the tour’s most athletic player, can cover the court better than anyone, while Simon is one of the quickest men of the tour. The two can chase down pretty much every ball fired their way, and are also two of the best defensive players on the tour, as displayed at the Australian Open 2013 when they played a 71 shot rally ( see video below).
That defense works well indoors against more attacking players- they can get the ball back into play and make their opponent go for their shots, forcing them into error. They can also work themselves back into the rally and take control of it. Against each other though, expect some cat and mouse antics as both men wait to pull the trigger and end the point, and with fitness not being an issue for either of them, neither will be in a hurry.
If both players do opt to be more aggressive earlier in rallies than usual, it will be an entertaining match. Monfils can be one of the game’s most entertaining shot-makers, and Simon has had great success recently after adopting a more aggressive approach.
Simon won that Australian Open contest 8-6 in the fifth in what has been by far their most competitive match. Simon leads the head to head 4-1 with three of those wins coming on hard courts and the two are tied 1-1 indoors.
This final will be a good chance for Monfils to cut down that head to head deficit. Monfils has been playing far better tennis, serving particularly well, and looked good in his straight sets semi-final win over Bautista-Agut. Simon, on the other hand, has struggled all tournament and took three sets to get past Sergiy Stakhovsky in their last four match.
However, while Monfils is in better form, Simon is a better match player. Monfils has a reputation of not always giving his competitive best, choosing to entertain the crowd rather than end the point. That characteristic, if it comes out on Sunday, will play into the hands of the super professional Simon.
Prediction: Simon has the better Marseilles record, the better finals record (11-5 to Monfils’ 5-16), the career head to head lead and playing Monfils in a final is likely to bring out a better level of play in him than his previous opponents in the draw did. Simon to win in three sets.
Commentary by Christian Deverille
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