Antoine Escoffier vs Clement Chidekh Prediction & Betting Tips - St. Brieuc, France

Prediction published on 20/03/2023, 12:38  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 20/03/2023 at 15:04 in Tennis Predictions

Antoine Escoffier is the top seed in the Saint Brieuc Challenger Tour hard court tournament. Clement Chidekh stands between him and a second round match against either Charles Broom or Maxime Janvier. Escoffier begins this tournament ranked 180th in the world. That's a career high for the 31-year-old who was as low as 202nd last month. The French player has reached three semi-finals this year. Those were in the Challenger Tour events held in Nontharburi, Cherbourg and most recently in Lugano. He's also had three quarter final exits so has had a very consistent year.

Clement Chidekh only made it into the main draw of this Challenger Tour event as an alternate. He also hails from France and is 399th in the world in the latest world ranking list. That's also a career high ranking for the 21-year-old. He's been climbing the rankings this year after starting 2023 in 635th position. His rise began when winning the ITF tournament held in Loughborough but his opponent in that final was ranked only 984th at the time. His next ITF event in Sheffield saw him lose in the last four to the then world number 823 Daniel Little. Another semi-final was reached in Sunderland and that was followed by a step up to the ATP Tour in Montpellier, winning two matches to get into the main draw before losing to Quentin Halys. That was the first of a run of three losses before another ITF quarter final. His last tournament saw him beaten by Michael Zhu who was ranked 1057th that week. Back Escoffier to get the win here.