Martin Klizan vs Gael Monfils Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP French Open

Prediction published on 28/05/2018, 06:06  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 31/05/2018 at 03:22 in ATP French Open Predictions

Unseeded Gaels Monfils wlll be hoping to reach the third round of the French Open as he takes on Martin Klizan in the second round. Monfils has a decent record in his home Grand Slam with three quarter finals and a semi-final. He reached the fourth round here last year losing to Stan Wawrinka in straight sets. His ranking has slipped in the last year as he was 15th seed for this tournament last year. 2018 got off to a good start winning a tournament in Qatar including a semi-final win over Dominic Thiem but only made the second round of the Australian Open losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets. He returned to form reaching the semi-final of the Argentina Open on clay. A quarter final in Rio followed - again on clay - and he beat John Isner at Indian Wells.  Form has dipped in European clay tournaments though he hasn't had easy draws. He got his French Open challenge off to a good start when he beat Elliot Benchetrit in the first round. He dropped the first set but then won the next three losing just four games.

Martin Klizan is ranked 117 in the world coming into this tournament but made it through to the second round with a hard-fought four-set win over Laslo Djere who is ranked 16 places higher than him. Klizan was ranked as high as 25 three years ago and is bidding to reach the third round here for only the second time and the only time he managed that was in 2014. Earlier this year he won a Challenger tournament and in March reached the semi-finals of the Casino Admiral Trophy on clay. He is a bit inconsistent though losing to Daniel Gimeno-Traver in an Italian clay tournament and he's ranked 286 in the world but then he reached the quarter finals in Barcelona beating Novak Djokovic and Feliciano Lopez before losing to Rafael Nadal. His good form continued with a quarter final in Munich  This could be a tight game if Klizan is on form but Monfils is the higher ranked player and on home territory should be able to get the win.