Not thrilled

I think we don't really want to bet on either one

Hurkacz is in free fall this season, he's all over the place in his matches and simply hasn't been winning since the Australian Open, a run of 6 straight losses. His serve is less effective, he's frustrated and nothing is changing, his matches are disappointing and the main change he's trying is to switch coaches. Why not, it could restart some momentum and create a shock, we’ll see! Historically he’s not too bad in Monte Carlo, he can heat up and bounce back strongly, but there are still big doubts and just based on his last really shameful defeats in terms of level of play, you can’t trust him blindly.

For Darderi it’s much more surprising, he seemed to be starting very strong this season and was showing high ambitions, but he’s just come off two losses during the Sunshine Double and he was disappointing in Marrakech once again. I really don’t like what he’s showing in his recent matches, very tense and much more fragile than before. He’s losing his way a bit and lacks confidence, the momentum isn’t great and for his first Monte Carlo with the pressure of playing at home, he’ll have to be watched closely.

To sum up, we’ve got two guys in crisis (especially Hurkacz) and not much certainty about their level for tomorrow. Let’s say Darderi is naturally better on clay and that with the support of the crowd he should rediscover the grinta he’s been missing for a few matches now...