Lucas Pouille vs Gael Monfils
With Djokovic having to reach deep for form of late, many had pegged 13-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal as a frontrunner for the title with another favourite, Andy Murray. But Nadal, whose own struggles with injury this year saw him miss out on the French Open and Wimbledon, saw a significant fight from 22-year-old Frenchman Lucas Pouille.
The young player, who is not seeded here, had his best ever Grand Slam finish so far at Wimbledon this year, and has carried good form into the tournament here, putting up a solid fight against a number of players.
Although he is ranked 25th on the ATP standings, the young Pouille does not have a single ATP title to his credit; despite this, he played inspired tennis strong enough that Nadal acknowledged him as a ‘definite future top 10’ who ‘has all the shots.'
He’s up against the tall Gael Monfils, who has been nicknamed Sliderman for his flexibility. The two have only met on the professional circuit once before, at the Australian Open of 2015. where the lower-ranked Pouille took Monfils to a five-set encounter after winning the first two sets against his tall countryman.
Monfils is yet to drop a set, and fresh off a victory over Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the Round of 16, he has both experience and momentum on his side. But one could give the young, aggressive Pouille a psychological upper hand here. The 22-year-old has pulled off arguably the biggest win of his career so far – one that follows on the back of several others, so an upset is quite the possibility.
