Prediction published on 9/25/24, 10:50 AM
 by
Tyler Doty

|
Modified on
9/25/24
at 10:51 AM

in

Tennis Picks

A tough first round for Gael Monfils at the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing, with a clash against one of the favorites, Daniil Medvedev.

Almost a month after being eliminated in the second round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows by Casper Ruud, Gael Monfils is back in action to kick-start the end of his 2024 season. The Frenchman had shown himself to be at his best recently on hard court, with victories over Alexei Popyrin and Carlos Alcaraz in Cincinnati and a quality performance against the Norwegian to emerge with his head held high in New York. After a few days’ rest to be by the side of his wife Elina Svitolina, who has suffered a foot injury and undergone surgery, the French tennis player will attack the Beijing tournament in good physical shape and is determined to finish his 2024 season on the right foot. Unfortunately, the draw was not kind to the Frenchman, who was drawn against Daniil Medvedev in his opening match.

The Russian will be one of the favorites in China and won’t want to miss out on his Asian debut. The number 3 seed is coming off 2 defeats last weekend in the Laver Cup, but will be showing a different level of intensity from Wednesday evening onwards. A quarter-finalist at the US Open, Daniil Medvedev often plays his best tennis on hard court and will be keen to demonstrate this again in the first round. Relying as ever on a high-quality serve and stable groundstrokes, the Russian will need to be serious if he is to overcome the Frenchman, an opponent he knows well having faced him on 4 occasions, winning and losing in equal measure.