Venue: Uniprix Stadium, Montreal
Round of 64
09.08.2022
The Candian sports scene has always been a pleasure to watch and there has been times when we have seen incredible sporting battles for many decades now. As we head to the tennis part of the business, Montreal is sure to feature some of the more memorable battles where the best players have gathered. And on that note, USA’s Frances Tiafoe will take on French Benjamin Bonzi.
Receive Your Welcome Bonus!Frances Tiafoe
Frances is a tough customer and at six feet two inches, the athletic player is able to force the opponents into a corner regularly. He possesses a strong forehand and loves to be aggressive which means that the opponents have to be alert to his strong serves. Frances has an unorthodox form of serve and he has constantly worked on it to reap big rewards. Tiafoe can do better with his second serve but overall, his power can be difficult to deal with.
Tiafoe comes into the tournament after losing to Nick Kyrgios in the Quarter-Final of the Citi Open, where he just lost a thriller where the second set went to a 14-12 tiebreaker in favor of Nick. Before that, Frances’ campaign was caught short by compatriot Jenson Brooksby in the Semis. During Wimbledon, he lost to David Goffin in the Round of 16. Tiafoe will need to make deeper runs to acquire an elite status, but nonetheless, he is at his peak and is ranked 24 as of now.
Benjamin Bonzi
Bonzi is also at the peak of his career, and made it to the 44th ranked player, thanks to a constantly improving play. Bonzi rose to cult fame when he defeated Roger Federer during 2017 Wimbledon tournament, where he came back from a nil-two set deficit and employed underhand serves to take the game. Benjamin is known for his unorthodox style of play and has proven to be a tough competitor in long rallies. But as an aggressive baseliner, he still needs to set the tone.
Benjamin comes into the tournament after a first round exit against Christopher Eubank in Citi Open. He lost to John Isner during the Quarter-Final of the Hall of Fame tournament. During Wimbledon, he lost to Jenson Brooksby in the Second Round. Before that, he had an impressive Semi-Finals run during Mallorca Open, losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas but only after defeating Daniel Altemeier and Denis Shapovalov.
Head-to-Head
Frances and Benjamin have met only once thus far and in that battle, Frances came on top. The meeting came just recently during French Open, where Frances had to get to 7 games to win the game in three sets.
Expert Betting Tips
Frances and Bonzi play contrasting styles but they have been battle-hardened lately, playing top-ranked players and continuing to grow. While Tiafoe has enjoyed deeper runs than Bonzi, he has the ability to overcome odds. But to be honest, Frances’ power game can be too much for Bonzi here and it will be interesting to see how he breaks Frances’ serve. I’d back Frances here.