Lucas Pouille played great tennis in his win against Nadal and is in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the second time in a row. He has made good progress and perhaps this is the new generation of French tennis. After this tournament he will enter the top 20.
What is most striking is that it has taken five sets to win his last three matches. After the match against Nadal he said that he had given everything he had. However, I think Lucas should have recovered sufficiently in the two days since as he is still young.
Gael has played well so far and has reached this Grand Slam quarter-final without dropping a set. Maybe this wouldn’t be so impressive if he beat lowly opponents, but Baghdatis and Almagro don’t exactly fit that bill, so he’s definitely a player to take seriously. Perhaps the main positive about Gael is the fact that he seems more serious these days. Of course he does not deny himself the opportunity of entertaining the audience, but, at the same time, his games are not as protracted as before and it appears as though he’s far more focuses on getting the job done than he once was.
Monfils and Pouille played in last year’s Australian Open where the former won in five sets. In principle we have a meeting between two representatives of the two generations of French tennis.
Although I do not believe it will be a walkover, Monfils is still the favourite and, in terms of experience, I believe he has enough about him to come through this test. However, Pouille is capable of a taking a set in what is likely to be a war of attrition.
See all of today’s tips here.