Moselle Open – Metz, France Preview

Written by: Global Chick on 16th September 2011

Moselle Open – Metz, France Preview

Gilles Simon of France hits a return to John Isner of the US during their fourth round match on the eleventh day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 08 September 2011. The US Open runs through 11 September 2011. EPA/Andrew Gombert |

(Above: Gilles Simon)

Most people are still recovering from US Openitis this week but the ATP Tour moves on to Metz next week. Davis Cup is being played this week so no other ATP Tournament is allowed on the schedule – Challengers, qualifying and Futures excluded.

The Moselle Open is played in Metz, which is the capital of the Lorraine region. The town is located in the northeast of France.

The main draw will commence on Monday 19^th of September and the qualifying will begin on Saturday the 17^th of September. Last year’s winner was Gilles Simon who defeated German qualifier Mischa Zverev in the final. Gael Monfils won the tournament the year before.

This year’s player list is looking good. Top French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be the draw card this year. Currently at No. 10 in the world the charismatic player will be coming straight from a Davis Cup tie and before that he returned from New York losing to Roger Federer in the quarterfinal.

World No. 15 Richard Gasquet didn’t have a very successful American summer of tennis. He did lose in the fourth round at both French Open and at Wimbledon. The 25-year-old will be looking to win his first title for the year.

Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov won his first and only career singles title in Umag this year. The World No. 20 came on the scene at the Australian Open this year where he lost to Andy Murray in the quarterfinals.

Canadian star Milos Raonic started the year at No. 156 and is now ranked No. 31. He was the first Canadian to reach the third round at a Grand Slam in 10 years.

The very valuable French Davis Cup member Michael Llodra has won the doubles title in Metz three times. The left-hander will be looking to win his sixth career title next week. His last title win was in Eastbourne in 2010. That same year he also won Marseille. His doubles career is still going strong. He won two tournaments in two consecutive weeks in Washington and Montreal partnering Nenad Zimonjic.

Croat Ivan Ljubicic won the Moselle Open in 2005. Ivan reached as high as No. 3 on the singles ranking. In the last couple of years his ranking has been up and down. He is currently at No. 29.

Two French players have been awarded wildcards, Kenny De Schepper and Arnaud Clement.