2021 Open 13 Provence Marseille Final Preview: Medvedev vs Herbert

Tennis returns to Marseille in 2021 with the Open 13 Provence set to run from March 8th till March 14 and featuring some of the best like Medvedev and Tsitsipas.

A great week of tennis in the south of France is coming to a close with only the Open 13 Provence final left to be played. Expectedly we will see the number one seed, Daniil Medvedev, in there after his win over Ebden. Joining him in the final is a player we don't often see in the finals or at least the singles finals.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert possibly played his best week of tennis that saw him advance to the final in Marseille. It was not out of luck as he defeated some strong names such as Norrie and Humbert and also the defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas. He did all of that with a smart style of play heavily reliant upon his massive serve. It has not failed him yet this week but against Medvedev, it will be tested.

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Daniil Medvedev returned to winning ways in Marseille after an unexpected early exit in Rotterdam. Everything worked for him this week as he steamrolled some solid players en route to the finals such as Sinner, Gerasimov, and Ebden. None of them are world beaters but they can beat if you give them the chance. They played three times so far and Herbert leads 2-1.

Most of those matches were played a long time ago and since then Medvedev has improved dramatically. But that H2H proves that Herbert is a tough matchup for him and given the way the Frenchman played so far in Marseille there is a possibility he might pull off an upset. It's highly unlikely as Medvedev is deservedly the favorite but not impossible.

2021 Open 13 Provence Marseille Schedule of Play:

Sunday, March 14th:

14:00 Medvedev D. (Rus) - Herbert P. (Fra)

Saturday, March 13th:

The Open 13 Provence is coming to an end with the semifinals on Saturday where we will have two fairly interesting but rather unexpected matchups. Top seed Daniil Medvedev is playing well in Marseille and he will be looking to add another trophy especially since he is by far the best player remaining in the draw. He will take on Matthew Ebden for a place in the final.

The Australian has been enjoying a good season so far with his Marseille run especially impressive. His powerful serve and diverse game troubled puzzled his opponents so far in Marseille and he will look to continue that against Medvedev. They never played before but the Russian is so well suited to counter Ebden that anything other than his victory would be shocking.

The 2nd semifinal would have been a proper delight for the crowd if it was present but nonetheless the organizers will be happy to see a Frenchman in the final. That is possible because two of them will clash in the 2nd semifinal. Both Humbert and Herbert share more than just a phonetical resemblance of their surnames as their games a fairly similar. Both possess a strong first serve and good forehand.

Both enjoy playing indoors and both are in trouble if the serve is not hitting. So far it was hitting which enjoyed both of them to score some big victories. This clash should be a tight one with Humbert having the edge simply because he leads the H2H 2-0. Both matches came in 2018 and since then Humbert improved a lot so a slight advantage goes to him.

15:20 Medvedev D. (Rus) - Ebden M. (Aus)
16:50 Humbert U. (Fra) - Herbert P. (Fra)

Friday, March 12th:

The quarterfinals at the Open 13 Provence will be played on Friday and there will be four amazing matches on the programme. It will all start at 14:30 with Khachanov taking on Ebden. This should be a very tight match as both players possess a strong serve and rarely get broken. Khachanov is the better player overall but Ebden has been extraordinary this week.

After them, we will see a fantastic match between Medvedev and Sinner. Not much needs to be said about either player as this is simply going to be a delight to watch for any tennis fan. Medvedev is the favorite but it is within Sinner's ability to win the match.

The afternoon part of the schedule will kick off with Tsitsipas against Herbert. Tsitsipas did well in his first match but Herbert is a far superior player than Pouille at the moment. The Frenchman's serve will be key because if it works he will be tough to bet.

Tsitsipas is capable of strong returning and he will need that in order to win this one. The final match of the day will feature two native players as Humbert will take on Rinderknech. Both of them played well so far and for both serving is key. Who serves better will win this match.

14:30 Khachanov K. (Rus) - Ebden M. (Aus)
16:00 Medvedev D. (Rus) - Sinner J. (Ita)
17:30 Herbert P. (Fra) - Tsitsipas S. (Gre)
19:00 Rinderknech A. (Fra)Humbert U. (Fra)  

Thursday, March 11th:

The Open 13 Provence quarterfinals are starting on Thursday and we will have four interesting matches with some big names on the courts such as Medvedev and Tsitsipas. It will start at 13:30 with a match between Herbert and Norrie. Herbert rarely plays this deep in events but at this one, he has been very good. Norrie played well as well but he had shaky moments. The H2H favors Herbert as he defeated Norrie twice already. After them, we will see Davidovich Fokina and Rinderknech play. Fokina has been playing well indoors for a while while the Frenchman rarely plays ATP events. The Spaniard should have the edge in this one despite never playing the Frenchman.

At 17:30 we should see top seed Medvedev on the courts for his match against Gerasimov. Medvedev suffered an upset loss in Rotterdam and he will look to change that but the opponent is a tough one in Gerasimov. They played three times so far and Medvedev won all of them so he should be the favorite tomorrow as well. The final match of the day will be between 2x Open 13 Provence champion Tsitsipas and Pouille. Tsitsipas played okay in Rotterdam and he will look to build upon that in an event that suits him well. Pouille has struggled throughout 2020 and his play so far this year has not been much better.

13:30 Herbert P. (Fra) - Norrie C. (Gbr)
15:00 Davidovich Fokina A. (Esp) - Rinderknech A. (Fra)
17:30 Medvedev D. (Rus) - Gerasimov E. (Blr)
19:00 Pouille L. (Fra) - Tsitsipas S. (Gre)

Wednesday, March 10th:

The Open 13 Provence continues on Wednesday with six matches on the schedule headlined by the likes of Khachanov, Tsonga, and Sinner. It should be a very interesting day of tennis in Provence today with the programme set to start at 11:45 with Hanfmann taking on Gerasimov. After that, we will see a super interesting match between Ebden and Ruusuvuori. At the same time, Norrie will take on Lestienne. At 15:00 Khachanov will take on McDonald in a match that could easily go to two tiebreaks as both of them are stellar servers.

The afternoon session will feature two matches and both of those matches will feature French players. In the first one, we will see Sinner play against Gaston. The Italian barely survived a scare in the previous round by another Frenchman so he will be careful in this one. The final match of the day is the premier match between Tsonga and Humbert. Both love these fast conditions so it should be a spectacle.

11:45 Hanfmann Y. (Ger) - Gerasimov E. (Blr)
13:30 Ebden M. (Aus) - Ruusuvuori E. (Fin)
13:30 Norrie C. (Gbr) - Lestienne C. (Fra)
15:00 Khachanov K. (Rus) - McDonald M. (Usa)
17:30 Gaston H. (Fra) - Sinner J. (Ita)
19:00 Tsonga J-W. (Fra) - Humbert U. (Fra)

Tuesday, March 9th:

The Open 13 Provence in Marseille continues on Tuesday with a strong schedule of play consisting of 7 matches headlined by Nishikori and Tsonga. Just like yesterday, it will start at 13:30 CET with two interesting matches with Bonzi taking on Ebden and Travaglia taking on McDonald. After them, we will see Rinderknech take on Kukushkin while Nishikori will play Herbert.

The afternoon part of the schedule will feature several interesting matches as well such as a clash between seasoned veterans Tsonga and Lopez. After that, we will see the younger brother of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Petros Tsitsipas play against Davidovich Fokina. The final match of the day will between Pouille and Molcan with the Frenchman looking to get back to winning ways after a lot of struggles in the past years.

13:30 Ebden M. (Aus) - Bonzi B. (Fra)
13:30 Travaglia S. (Ita) - McDonald M. (Usa)
15:00 Kukushkin M. (Kaz) - Rinderknech A. (Fra)
15:00 Nishikori K. (Jpn) - Herbert P. (Fra)
17:30 Tsonga J-W. (Fra) - Lopez F. (Esp)
18:00 Davidovich Fokina A. (Esp) - Tsitsipas P. (Gre)
19:00 Pouille L. (Fra) - Molcan A. (Svk)