Tuesday's Matches to Watch: Tsonga v. Rublev; Osaka v. Mladenovic

*Jo Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) - ATP No. 112, UTR No. 13

Andrey Rublev (RUS) - ATP No. 115, UTR No. 71*

Just a year ago, Andrey Rublev was ranked No. 31 in the world. A year later, after recovering from a lower-back stress fracture, he is outside the Top 100 and showing no signs of regaining his 2018 form.

The Russian will next face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, fresh off his 17th ATP title in Montpellier and a quarterfinal appearance in Rotterdam. Hopefully for Rublev’s sake, Tsonga, who is also on the road to full recovery, is still tired from playing his eighth match in fourteen days.

For Rublev to have any chance in this match, his down-the-line forehand must be firing. If he can consistently hit that shot, Tsonga will slice, and Rublev can then run around and dictate play with his humungous forehand. Tsonga has too big an advantage on his serve for Rublev to simply make balls, so he will have to find a way to pressure the Tsonga backhand. That starts by cracking the down-the-line forehand to the much weaker Tsonga backhand. Rublev can surely sneak a set, but look for the Frenchman to advance on his beloved home soil.

*Naomi Osaka (JPN) - WTA No. 1, UTR No. 2

Kiki Mladenovic (FRA) WTA No. 67, UTR No. 120*

All eyes are on the coach-less Naomi Osaka in Dubai. This will be her first match without WTA Coach of the Year Sascha Bajin. A year ago at this same tournament, Osaka throttled Mladenovic, 6-2, 6-2. Osaka should replicate both the result and score line tomorrow, but how will she fare in her first match in years without Coach Bajin in her corner?

A member of the world’s Top 10 in 2018, Kiki Mladenovic has been steadily falling down the WTA rankings with no signs of slowing down. She started 2019 with a 1-4 record and multiple losses came to players ranked outside the Top 200. A few more early-round losses and it might be safe to classify Mladenovic as a doubles specialist, where she is currently ranked No. 3 in the world. According to her UTR rank of 120, her backwards skid is only about halfway done. Look for the coach-less Osaka to dominate the struggling Mladenovic.

ATP Rio De Janeiro

• Starting Monday 2/18, at 2:30 pm ET, catch live coverage of the Rio Open featuring Dominic Thiem, Fabio Fognini, and Diego Schwartzman.

WTA Dubai

• Watch Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova live from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships starting Saturday, 2/16 at 3:00 am ET

WTA Budapest

• Tennis Channel Plus features live coverage of the Hungarian Ladies Open beginning Monday, 2/18 8:00 am ET

ATP Delray Beach

• Watch Juan Martin del Potro, John Isner and Frances Tiafoe live on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Tuesday, 2/19 at 12:30 am ET.

ATP Marseille

• See Karen Khachanov, Borna Coric and Stefanos Tsitsipas live on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Monday 2/18, 8:30 am ET