Good and not good

Two qualifiers playing each other and they’re French, well at least we’ll have one of the two in R2

Bonzi has just had some really nice qualifying matches, knocking out Blanch and then Dedura. Not huge names, but two young players who are really on the rise, and it was far from a sure thing for Bonzi given the form he was in coming in! But the Frenchman has found his tennis again in this tournament that already suited him well last year. He was playing steel before getting injured, and it looks like he's ready to put together another big run this week. It's true that a lively clay and high pace really suit him.

It suits Droguet just as well, since he's really playing good tennis on clay. I was pretty skeptical because I really didn't see him being comfortable on it, but his forehand is actually perfectly built for the surface and now, with fast conditions, the quality of his serve helps him just as much. He took out Virtanen and Wu, matches that were far from a lock on paper either, but in the end he handled them really well and comes in confident after a good tournament in Bucharest, where he would have deserved better than having to retire.

Second meeting between them: the first was won by Bonzi on grass, and now it's the exact opposite with a high bounce and clay, so it's hard to rely on that result. I'll just talk about the potential match-up and what I imagine between the two. For me, Droguet is a much better server than Bonzi, and he's also a bit better equipped on clay with his forehand and his natural qualities. Bonzi can play better here than on other clay courts though, you have to respect that, but I still give the edge to Mr. Droguet.