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2/1/12 11:44 PM | Ricky Dimon
Gael Monfils and Paul-Henri Mathieu will be in action on Thursday in Montpellier. They are hoping to join fellow Frenchmen Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals.
Michael Russell vs. (3) Gael Monfils
Russell and Monfils will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they do battle in round two of the Open Sud de France on Thursday. Monfils leads the head-to-head series 2-0, but both previous encounters were competitive. The Frenchman prevailed 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) at the 2006 U.S. Open and 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3 at the 2009 Miami Masters.
Monfils finished runner-up to Doha to open his season and upset Rafael Nadal in the process. However, the world No. 13 is looking to bounce back from a third-round Australian Open loss to Mikhail Kukushkin. Russell lost in the first round in both Sydney and Melbourne, but he scored an impressive 6-3, 7-5 victory over Adrian Mannarino on Tuesday. Monfils has home-court advantage and an edge on indoor hard courts, so he should cruise in straight sets.
(8) Jarkko Nieminen vs. (WC) Paul-Henri Mathieu
Mathieu will continue his comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him for the entirety of 2011. The 30-year-old Frenchman earned his first match victory in over a year on Tuesday, dismissing Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-4, 6-4. This event marks Mathieu's first ATP appearance since Basel in November of 2010.
Up next for the wild card is a tough test against Nieminen, who is in fine form this season. The eighth-seeded Finn captured the Sydney title as a qualifier just before the Australian Open and he pocketed his seventh win of 2012 by surviving Maxime Teixeira 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the Montpellier first round. Based on Nieminen's level of play and Mathieu's rust, the favorite in straight sets is the pick.
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Jarkko Nieminen
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Montpellier
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