The 2019 ATP Marrakech final pits Spain’s Pablo Andujar vs. charismatic Frenchman Benoit Paire on red clay at the ATP 250 level. Which player will merge victorious?
The head to head: Paire leads 3-1
The Frenchman has three wins back from 2012-13 (two of them on clay), but the most interesting thing is that they actually met two weeks ago, in the final of an ATP Challenger Tour event in Marbella. Andujar came back from 2-5 in the second set to finally take the title 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4, saving a match point in the process.
Andujar’s history in Morocco
For some reason, the Moroccan soil has been a very kind place to the Spaniard. Three of Andujar’s four ATP level titles came at the Grand Prix Hassan II (2011, 2012 in Casablanca and last year already in Marrakech). Somehow he’s always able to bring his best tennis to this small North-African country. This year it’s not as surprising, as Andujar just captured two Challenger titles in a row (the aforementioned Marbella and then Alicante), which means he’s currently on a streak of 13 match wins in a row.
Paire’s inconsistencies
You don’t really have to look far in order to find proof of how weird of a player Benoit Paire is. Between those two great weeks for him – the one in Marbella and this one in Marrakech – he visited the Sophia Antiopolis Challenger where he was destroyed by a Challenger journeyman Roberto Marcora. Here in Marrakech, his biggest mental hiccups took place in the first round against Aljaz Bedene, but after barely scraping through, the Frenchman was pretty much flawless ever since (defeated Herbert, Munar and Tsonga).
Fatigue factor
As we mentioned before, Andujar is on a great run, which might take its toll on his physical shape. Having played a whole ton of matches in the last two weeks, it seemed like the Spaniard might not have anything left in the tank for his favourite tournament. However, after barely scraping through Federico Delbonis and Philipp Kohlschreiber, Andujar benefited from Jiri Vesely’s walkover and had a day off. Today against Gilles Simon he was back to his regular self and gave Paire’s compatriot just two games.
Prediction
Well, it’s Benoit Paire so don’t expect an easy pick here. On a good day, the Frenchman is miles more talented in our opinion. However, we admire Andujar’s work ethic and his never give up mindset and we’re going to slightly lean to the Spaniard, mostly because of how well he’s been playing in Morocco over the last ten years.
Prediction: Andujar in 3
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