The third day of singles action in the Open 13 in Marseille on Wednesday will feature five singles matches. Four seeds and one wildcard will be in action in the ATP 250 event.
On the second day on Tuesday, the likes of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Tomas Machac emerged victorious, respectively beating Gregoire Barrere and Andy Murray.
Without further ado, here’s a look at how the following four matches in Marseille could pan out on Wednesday:
#1 Round of 32: Emil Ruusuvuori vs Luca van Assche
Emil Ruusuvuori
Emil Ruusuvuori opens his campaign against Frenchman Luca Van Assche for a place in the Marseille second round.
World No. 55 Ruusuvuori is off to an impressive 6-2 start in 2024, reaching the Hong Kong final and the Australian Open second round. Meanwhile, the 68th-ranked Van Assche is 4-3 on the season, coming off a Davis Cup win
The two players haven’t met before, but expect the more in-form Ruusuvuori to prevail.
Pick: Ruusuvuori in three sets
2 Round of 32: Felix Auger-Aliassime (Marseille seventh seed) vs Quentin Halys
Seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime gets his Marseille campaign up and running against Frenchman Quentin Halys.
The 28th-ranked Auger-Aliassime is 4-3 on the season, coming off a semifinal run in Montpellier last week. Meanwhile, World No. 101 Halys is 2-1 in 2024 and is coming off a Davis Cup win.
This is another first-time matchup, but expect the more experienced Auger-Aliassime to take the win.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in straight sets
#3 Round of 16: Karen Khachanov vs Roberto Bautista Agut
Third seed Karen Khachanov takes on veteran Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut as a place in the Marseille quarterfinals beckons.
World No. 8 Khachanov has won three of his five matches in 2024, with all three wins coming at the Australian Open. Meanwhile, the 102nd-ranked Bautista Agut is 2-3 on the season, reaching the Hong Kong quarterfinals.
Khachanov has won only three of his nine matches with Bautista Agut but should take the win, owing to his marginally superior recent form.
Pick: Khachanov in three sets
#4 Round of 16: Lorenzo Musetti vs Tomas Machac
Sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti gets his campaign underway against Czech Tomas Machac.
World No. 27 Musetti is 4-3 on the season, coming off a first-round win over Maximiliano Marterer. Meanwhile, the 66th-ranked Machac is 4-2 in 2024 after seeing off Murray in the first round.
The two players haven’t met before, but the Czech should take a hard-fought win to reach the last-eight.
Pick: Machac in three sets
