Our forecasts for the ATP 250 Montpellier winner
by Cydias Aujard | by Cydias Aujard
Richard Gasquet's farewell
As usual, the Open Sud de France will feature a host of French players. Although Gaël Monfils, who enjoyed an incredible Australian Open by reaching the last eight, will not be taking part in the tournament, nor will Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, the list of French players present this year is nonetheless very full.
First up is 38-year-old Richard Gasquet, who is making his farewell tour in the 2025 season before his planned retirement after Roland Garros. This will mark the end of 24 seasons of professional tennis. Having already won the Open Occitanie three times, in 2013, 2015 and 2016, the Frenchman was keen to bid farewell to the Montpellier crowd one last time. And the draw is going to provide a great spectacle for the French public, as the first round will pit Richard Gasquet against his compatriot Adrian Mannarino, 36, for the 4th time in their careers.
There will also be a second duel between two Frenchmen in the first round, as Harold Mayot takes on Arthur Rinderknech. Harold Mayot was the most successful Frenchman at the Montpellier tournament last year, reaching the quarter-finals against Felix Auger-Aliassime. Wild card Grégoire Barrère will also be taking part, facing Germany's Dominik Koepfer in the first round. Winner of his first round last year, he was knocked out in the last eight by number 6 seed Alexander Shevchenko.
We will also be able to count on 2018 winner Lucas Pouille, Wild Card Quentin Halys and young Arthur Cazaux. The draw allows all these French players to avoid the headliner Andrey Rublev before at least the quarter-finals. All these matches and many more can be found in our tennis forecasts!
Surprising Andrey Rublev
Russian Andrey Rublev will be seeded number 1 in this tournament. Eliminated in the round of 16 at the Hong Kong tournament by Fabian Marozsan at the start of the season and then in the first round at the Australian Open Grand Slam by the young Brazilian and recent ATP Next Gen Finals winner Joao Fonseca, the Russian is looking for success in this tournament. He will also be looking for victories to start adding points to his season in order to maintain his place in the top 10 of current players.
After missing out on the quarter-finals of the Metz tournament to Corentin Moutet at the end of last season, Andrey Rublev failed to win a single match at the year-end ATP Finals, losing to Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud. The Russian must prove to the tennis world at all costs, but also to himself, that he is still very much in the competition and that he has lost none of his talent. He should want to go far in this tournament and will be starting his round of 16 match in front of the French public in Montpellier for the first time.
Alexander Bublik, the defending champion
Alexander Bublik is back in this tournament, where he is playing almost on home soil. A two-time winner and defending champion, he should be determined to get a result this year too. Seeded number 4, the Kazakh ended his 2024 season with a defeat in the second round of the Paris-Bercy Masters against top 15 Holger Rune.
Alexander Bublik is currently on a two-match losing streak, having failed to win his first match of the season in the round of 16 of the Adelaide tournament at the beginning of January against Miomir Kecmanovic, and also failing to beat Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo in the first round of the Australian Open last week. Moreover, he has failed to win a single set in this 2025 season, and his recent performances should not allow him to really worry his future opponents in this familiar tournament.
The player to watch: Felix Auger-Aliassime
Felix Auger-Aliassime is back here this year after finishing as a semi-finalist last year, when he narrowly missed out on a place in the final to winner Alexander Bublik. The Canadian seems to be in great form at the start of the season. Winner of 4 consecutive titles at the Adelaide tournament, he showed all his determination to get his 2025 season off to the best possible start and demonstrated that he wants this season to be better than the last.
He stopped Arthur Cazaux and Marcos Giron in the first two rounds, then won his semi-final against the number 1 seed, Tommy Paul, before taking the title against Sebastian Korda, the number 2 seed.
His first title in the first tournament of the year has already taken him 6 places up the ATP rankings.
He also won his first round match at the Australian Open against Jan-Lennard Struff, before losing in the second round to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a fierce 5-set duel lasting almost 5 hours. An example, if ever there was one, of just how motivated the Canadian is to have an unforgettable season. Rested since 15 January, he should have had time to recharge his batteries. He should take full advantage of his position as number 2 seed in this French tournament and should manage to win a second title of his season.
Our forecast for the winner of the ATP Montpellier: Felix Auger-Aliassime wins, Bet365 odds at 5.00!
