Challenger Cassis - Roumane capable of keeping it close

European Challengers still in Full Swing

Beside the big stage in New York City, there are still Challengers on every week. In Cassis, France, we have two home players facing each other in round one: Former French Open juniors champion Geoffrey Blancaneaux is a rather big favorite against 18-year-old Rayane Roumane.

Blancaneaux had some great success in juniors, reaching the top 5 in the rankings and winning Roland Garros in 2016, beating players like Moutet, Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime on his way to the title. His opponent on the contrary is still a no name to the ordinary tennis fan.

First Ever Title for Roumane in August

However, Rayane Roumane won his first ITF title last month in Pozoblanco, Spain. In the semifinal and final, he beat Illya Marchenko and Konstantin Kravchuk, both former top 100 players, in straight sets. Even though they are not on top of their game anymore, the tournament win should give Roumane a lot more confidence in future matches.

His favorite surface are hard courts as he can best display his strenghts on faster courts. He has a good serve and heavy groundstrokes and tries to dictate rallies from the baseline. Blancaneaux however is more of a clay court grinder. He tries to be aggressive like Roumane, but lacks a bit of power and didn't play on hard courts since March.

Expecting a Close Match

Although I don't know anything about the court speed in Cassis just yet, I expect them to be rather fast than slow due to the warm weather. Giving Roumane the surface advantage here, I'm confident in picking the +1.5 sets handicap as I do not expect Blancaneaux to run away with this one.

The bet is a bit hidden on the bet365 site, but you can find it at the "Player" section - "To Win in Straight Sets" - "Geoffrey Blancaneaux" - "No".