Day 3 at the ATP event in Metz will be packed full of action. Although a lot of the world’s top players will be in the Laver Cup this week, Metz has a very interesting field, including two former Grand Slam champions in Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka, both fighting as hard as they can to climb back the rankings and get back into contention for titles. It also features, as usual, a lot of French players.
ATP Metz Day 3 Predictions
Stan Wawrinka vs João Sousa
Head-to-head: Wawrinka 3-0 Sousa
Sousa has never even won a set against Wawrinka, but those three previous encounters all came in 2014 and 2015, years where the Swiss won Grand Slam titles and was a feature in the Top 5. Much has changed since with Wawrinka currently ranked #284 and struggling to get any decent results; but he’s still fighting as shown by the fact that he fought his way through qualifying to make this main draw, and under normal conditions has far more weapons than Sousa and should be able to prevail.
Prediction: Wawrinka in 2
Ugo Humbert vs Benjamin Bonzi
Head-to-head: Bonzi 1-0 Humbert
These two faced in the first round of the US Open, with Bonzi prevailing in a very tough 5-setter that could have gone either way. After that, Bonzi went on to lose 4 consecutive matches (to Kyrgios in the second round of the US Open and 3 Davis Cup rubbers) while Humbert won a Challenger title in Rennes without dropping a set all week. Confidence and momentum seem to be on Humbert’s side, which might be enough to swing the pendulum his way here.
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Richard Gasquet vs Dominic Thiem
Head-to-head: Gasquet 2-1 Thiem
Humbert’s title win in Rennes came precisely at Dominic Thiem’s expense. The Austrian had his best week since his comeback but could only win 3 games in the final. It was still an encouraging week for him and he’ll be looking to continue improving this week in Metz. Gasquet himself is looking to get back up the rankings and recently reentered the Top 100 after winning two matches at the US Open. In 250 events, especially on French soil, Gasquet is always a dangerous player and he might have the slightest of edges here.
Prediction: Gasquet in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
