Over the last three weeks, the men have taken a shot of Grand Slam tennis at the Australian Open, and chased it down with a week of team tennis during Davis Cup. Now it’s time to get back to their day jobs: i.e., the ATP tour.
It’s a gradual return to the grind. While the women spend the week preparing for their own team event, Fed Cup, the men scatter to three 250-level events, in Montpelier, Quito, and Sofia. After the opening bell in Melbourne, the quiet of February settles in, and the marathon to London begins. This may not be a month for casual fans, but there’s plenty for aficionados to see.
Here’s a look ahead at how this tennis-lovers month will get started.
Montpellier, France
$622,885; 250 ranking points
Indoor hard
Draw is here
When it comes to staging indoor, down-season, 250-level events without any of the Big 4 on the marquee, France is the place to go. French fans tend to attend, especially when their countrymen are on the court, and there will be lots of them this week in Montpelier. Gilles Simon, Julien Benneteau, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Richard Gasquet, Jeremy Chardy, Nicolas Mahut, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Benoit Paire, and No. 2 seed Lucas Pouille are all packed into this small draw of 28, along with a French wild card named Calvin Hernery.
The top seed is almost French, but not quite. After a disappointing early loss in Melbourne, Belgium’s Davis Goffin will try to get some of his late-2017 mojo back, as will the No. 2 seed, and recent Davis Cup hero, Pouille.
Wild card of interest: Benneteau. His farewell tour, as well as the last leg of the long-running Benneteau Title Watch, continues.