Magnificent Manna!

So happy for the Frenchman who, before this tournament, was in a big period of doubt about the future of his career

A few doubts and no win for ages, Manna arrived in Montpellier with no ambition other than to play well again and snag a victory. He did way better than that, his week has been crazy and totally unexpected! After a first set completely dominated by Damm in the semis, he turned the match around and earned himself a final, which really sums up his week. Can he surprise us again and take the title? I think that’s going to be tough... He said he was exhausted after his semi-final and on top of that, the toughest match is still ahead of him, so it’s hard to believe in it.

Because yes, on the other side of the net it’s Felix this time, and the Canadian indoors is a monster. He’s defending his title seriously and even if he dropped a set today, I can’t say he played badly, quite the opposite. He lacked a bit of killer instinct to finish the match (and Droguet was clutch too), but in terms of level of play, he’s so strong! Impeccable serve quality, great movement, reliable forehand and solid backhand — we very often get a very good Felix indoors and that’s the case again, I can confirm it.

So I really don’t see how Manna can win this. He’d have to be perfect on serve and ultra-clinical on the other side, or we’d need to see an FAA who’s a bit worse than in the previous rounds. That scenario is possible but very unlikely; I don’t see an upset in this final and I think the odds reflect that.