Seventh seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils will play Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the Second Round of the 2022 Australian Open. The match will be played on Wednesday January 19th, 2022 at 9:15am EST.
What a match is in store at the Australian Open as dynamic players Gael Monfils and Alexander Bublik face off in the Second Round. Both players are extremely talented and play a very exciting brand of tennis, so this is sure to be a great match for the crowd. Monfils is the in-form player as he just won the title in Adelaide, will he carry that momentum forward into the Australian Open?
Gael Monfils is the 17th seed here at the Australian Open 2022 and has recently broken back into the top 20 after some struggles to begin the 2021 season. He eventually got it turned around and had a strong start to the season. The Frenchman has had a brilliant start to the year, capturing his first title in Australia in Adelaide, and followed that up by crushing Federico Coria in the First Round here. He served brilliantly in that match, and that coupled with his elite movement and shotmaking will make him a very difficult opponent for Alexander Bublik. Monfils with confidence is a very dangerous prospect, and he is not someone that any of the top players want to face.
Alexander Bublik is quite similar to his opponent Gael Monfils, in that he is extremely unpredictable. The Kazakh is very talented but tends to have some very disappointing results at times, and has struggled with consistency throughout his career. Now unseeded at the Australian Open, he will be hoping for a good performance here to get his ranking back where it used to be. Unlike his opponent Gael Monfils, he had a difficult time in the First Round, needing four sets to get past Ernesto Escobedo. He will have to be a lot better against Monfils, who has looked great this year.
This has the potential to be a very tough match for both players, but given their respective forms, it is hard to look past Gael Monfils. At age 35 he seems to be back to his very best and is playing some fantastic tennis. On a good day, Alexander Bublik is capable of causing the upset, but he hasn’t looked convincing at all in 2022 and we expect him to go down here to a renewed Monfils.