Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the world No. 3 eliminated on Sunday in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, will play in the Open Sud de France in Montpellier (January 30 – February 6), the organizers announced on Thursday.
On the other hand, the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime (world no. 9), who was initially announced, will eventually be absent. The 21-year-old miracle, recent winner of the ATP Cup with his country, probably needs to breathe after his trip to Melbourne and the unforgettable quarterfinal that he lost in five sets to the Russian Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday.
Zverev, defeated by Dennis Sapovalov in Melbourne, thus becomes the big favorite of the French tournament he won in 2017 and which this year will find the public, absent in the previous edition due to the coronavirus crisis.
It will be the first time a third-placed player in the world will play in the Montpellier tournament.
At 24, Zverev has nineteen titles on the ATP Tour. Finalist at the US Open in 2020, won the Masters twice and was crowned 2021 Olympian in Tokyo.
Despite the absence of Auger-Aliassime, the stadium will still be good in Montpellier with the presence of the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (finalist in 2021), the Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili (winner of 2 ATP tournaments in 2021) or the Croatian Borna Coric.
On the French side, hopes will be based mainly on Gaël Monfils (no 20), who lost in the quarterfinals in Melbourne and has already been crowned three times in Montpellier (2010, 2014, 2020).
