The day was expected to be complicated in terms of weather, but all the matches on this Monday were able to take place without any issues despite an abnormally low temperature combined with persistent wind.
These conditions clearly didn’t bother the defending champion Albert Montanes, who quickly defeated Australian Matthew Ebden and will face Gaël Monfils in the second round for a “rematch” of the previous edition’s final.
From the French side, Nicolas Mahut had a scare against the sensation of the start of the tournament, Martin Vaisse, who still took a set for his first match in an ATP 250 draw.
The other all-French duel turned to the advantage of the more experienced Paul-Henri Mathieu, who according to his own words came back “from nowhere” after trailing 6-2 4-3 against young prospect Lucas Pouille, who came through the qualifiers. The Alsatian then broke free to win 10 consecutive games and prevail 2-6 6-4 6-0.
Tuesday’s program will also be packed with an initial clash on the center court starting at 1:30 PM between the Frenchman Julien Benneteau, the recent winner of the Bordeaux tournament, and the clay-court specialist Argentine Carlos Berlocq.
Next will be the debut of the giant Kenny de Schepper against the qualifier Jack Sock, followed by the “BIG MATCH” starting at 6 PM between American Steve Johnson and the rising Austrian star Dominic Thiem, 20 years old, ranked 58th in the world, and who defeated Stanislas Wawrinka two weeks ago in Madrid.
The Open de Nice Côte d’Azur will also make its presence felt in the city today at 2:30 PM on the “green caster,” where Gaël Monfils and Gilles Simon will exchange balls with lucky schoolchildren from Nice before participating in a signing session.
TODAY’S PROGRAM: Tuesday, May 20, 2014
CENTER COURT starting at 11 AM
D Bracciali (ITA) / O Marach (AUT) vs G Monfils (FRA) / B Paire (FRA)
Not before 1:30 PM
J Benneteau (FRA) vs C Berlocq (ARG)
K De Schepper (FRA) vs [Q] J Sock (USA)
Not before 6 PM
S Johnson (USA) vs D Thiem (AUT)
COURT N°1 starting at 11 AM
B Tomic (AUS) vs M Klizan (SVK)
F Volandri (ITA) vs R Haase (NED)
M Klizan (SVK) / P Oswald (AUT) vs [WC] H Lee (TPE) / C Wang (TPE)
Not before 3 PM
A Begemann (GER) / R Haase (NED) vs [4] E Butorac (USA) / R Klaasen (RSA)
[3] J Benneteau (FRA) / E Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs R Junaid (AUS) / M Venus (NZL)
COURT 5 starting at noon
K Skupski (GBR) / N Skupski (GBR) vs [2] J Rojer (NED) / H Tecau (ROU)
[1] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) vs M Ebden (AUS) / D Tursunov (RUS)
Not before 3 PM
C Berlocq (ARG) / L Mayer (ARG) vs [WC] S Devvarman (IND) / P Raja (IND)
Results Monday, May 19, 2014
Singles – First round
[5] D Tursunov (RUS) d O Nedovyesov (KAZ): 6/1 6/4
[6] N Mahut (FRA) d [Q] M Vaisse (FRA) 67(4): 6/3 6/2
[WC] P Mathieu (FRA) d [Q] L Pouille (FRA): 2/6 6/4 6/0
[Q] L Mayer (ARG) d [WC] B Coric (CRO): 4/6 6/3 6/4
A Montanes (ESP) d M Ebden (AUS): 6/1 6/3
Doubles – First round
M Pavic (CRO) / A Sa (BRA) d P Marx (GER) / F Mergea (ROU) 1/6 6/3 10/2
