Analysis for Simon-Mahut (ATP Metz)

Head-to-head record 1:1

Two Frenchmen will battle in Metz for the second round spot. Gilles Simon is having the career best season but we will go with his opponent who should feel better within the indoor conditions in Metz. Mahut is a very dangerous player especially of rapid surfaces (grass, indoor) as his right-handed serve is really strong. He is a good serve and volleyer which helped him to become the world class doubles player. He has won many tournaments with his country-mate Julien Benneteau but last two years he has been showing some solid performances in singles as well. His career best result is probably his remarkable run in Queens last year where he managed to defeat fifth-seed Croatian Ivan Ljubicic and top-seed Rafa Nadal both in straight sets to reach semis where he beat another Frenchman Arnaud Clement. He lost to Andy Roddick in a very tight match having one match point in the second set tiebreak in his first ATP final. He is going to defend the semifinals here in Metz so the local surface should suit him well. Gilles Simon is coming off the winning clay tournament in Bucharest so he lacks the match practice on fast surface. Simon is a defensive baseliner who plays his best on dirt and slow hard courts. His record in Metz is disastrous as he lost all the matches he played here in past. Of course, the YTD results make the favourite from Simon but we will side with his better prepared countryman. Mahut won the challenger in Orleans recently and played several good matches in Beijing last week so we think his self-confidence will be OK for today´s match. Odds above 3 can be tried here.