Date/Time: Friday 8th February 2019 (Kick-off 8:45 PM CET).
The last Quarter Final to be played in Montpellier on Friday is the all-French battle between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Jeremy Chardy. The fans will be looking forward to this match as Tsonga is the latest veteran making his way back from an injury that ended his 2018 season much earlier than he wanted.
He is a very popular figure around the world and Tsonga particularly enjoys playing on the indoor hard courts in France. Some of his best results have been in these conditions and Tsonga has looked very good coming through the draw after dropping the first set he played in the First Round.
Jeremy Chardy will have his support being a home player too and he can be a very dangerous customer when at his very best. It is hard to get a read of his form though as Chardy has been able to beat two players Ranked outside the top 100 to reach this Quarter Final and this is the first significant test he will have faced in this tournament.
Chardy has opened 2019 with some strong serving numbers on the hard courts, but a weakness of his game has long been the returning side of things. That hasn't been a problem for Chardy against overmatched opponents in this tournament, but there has been a decline of his returning numbers against top 100 Ranked opponents on the hard courts in the last few years.
No one will ever confuse Tsonga with being a top returner on the Tour, but he can put opponents under immense pressure when he is serving at the top of his game. That is what he will be looking to do and then hoping it sees Chardy break down and in their head to head matches in the past that has been the case.
It has been very difficult for Chardy to get anything out of the Tsonga serve in their previous matches. In fact Chardy has only broken the Tsonga serve once in four previous matches against him, but he has produced at least one service game which has led to a break for Tsonga against him in three out of four of those matches.
The serving statistics and the superior Tsonga numbers should set him up for a win in this one too and I will back him to cover the spread with a single break of serve arguably enough to do that.
Prediction: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - 2.5 games
T&Cs apply.
