2022 Open Sud de France Info

The 2022 Open Sud de France is a hard-court tennis tournament slated for January 31 – February 6 at Sud de France Arena in Montpellier, France. This year’s tournament will mark the 35th iteration of the event that is a part of the ATP Tour 250 and the 2022 ATP Tour.

Attending the tournament are some of the biggest names in the tennis world, with four of the top-25 ranked players. That includes Félix Auger-Aliassime (no.9), Roberto Bautista Agut (no.18), Gaël Monfils (no.20), and Nikoloz Basilashvili (no.23) as the fourth seed.

Joining them are Filip Krajinović (no.36), Alexander Bublik (no.37), Ugo Humbert (no.40), and David Goffin (no.45), as the eighth seed of the tournament. The field of the top-eight seeded players also includes two former champions in David Goffin, who won Open Sud de France in 2021, and Gaël Monfils, who won it three times (2010, 2014, 2020).

Players To Watch Out For

• Roberto Bautista Agut

Last year’s finalist Roberto Bautista Agut enters the 2022 Open Sud de France hoping to try and win the trophy that escaped him last year, and he should feel confident about his chances to do so. The Spaniard has had a solid start to the 2022 season, reaching the finals of the ATP Cup in Australia, and performed reasonably well at the 2022 Australian Open, where he made it to the third round.

Admittedly, Bautista Agut would have hoped to pick up at least one trophy to kick off the new season, but it’s hard to feel disappointed with what he has shown so far. Furthermore, he has proven before that the Montpellier courts suit him, so he is definitely one of the players to watch out for.

• Felix Auger-Aliassime

While we talk about the players who deserve our attention, it’s hard to forget Felix Auger-Aliassime. He beat Agut in the ATP Finals at the start of the month and has shown exceptional form at the 2022 Australian Open.

On the Australian hard courts, Auger-Aliassime made it into the quarter-finals, beating the likes of Ruusuvuori (3-2), Davidovich Fokina (3-1), Evans (3-0), and Čilič (1-3). But unfortunately, he could not make it past world no.2 Daniil Medvedev, who handed him a devastating loss against on Wednesday.

Auger-Aliassime lost the bout after leading by two sets, going down 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 4-6. However, despite his painful defeat, the Canadian deserves a lot of praise for his performance in Australia, where he has proven that he can compete with the best tennis players in the world. 

And considering he is the highest-rated tennis player in Montpellier, the question is not so much whether Auger-Aliassime can win, but instead if there is any player who can stop him?

• Gaël Monfils

One player that should pop into your head when wondering who can stop the top-seeded Canadian is Gaël Monfils. The Frenchman is enjoying an excellent start to the 2022 season and looks set to make some noise on his home court.

He won the title in Adelaide and had an impressive run at the 2022 Australian Open, where he reached the quarter-finals. En route to the final eight, Monfils won against Bublik (3-0), Garin (3-0), Kecmanovic (3-0), and came very close to derailing Matteo Berrettini (2-3) in the QF but fell short in the final set (2-6).

So while Monfils could not make it past QF in Australia, he has proven that he is in excellent form as he heads to his home tournament with the wind in his sails. And if you combine that with the fact that Monfils is a three-time Open Sud de France champion, you have a recipe for a strong candidate to make it four this February.