Fasten your seatbelts as France’s Gael Monfils is set to face Argentina’s Sebastian Baez in the R64 of the Shanghai Masters. Monfils has already got off to a winning start in Shanghai. Now he’ll be keen to carry forward that winning moment further into this tournament. However, Baez, on the other hand, is entering this tournament after a disappointing end to his US Open campaign last month. He was forced to withdraw from his second-round match against the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor due to an injury. Is he fit enough to bring down the experienced campaigner?

Gael Monfils vs Sebastian Baez: Preview

Gael Monfils has played some good tennis in some of the tournaments this year, but he has failed to maintain consistency in his performance. His best results came at the Qatar Open and the Mallorca Championships, where he reached the SFs. He started his campaign in Shanghai with a win against the Bosnian tennis player Damir Džumhur. He defeated Dzumhur by 6-4,6-3. Can he bring yet another dominating performance against the Argentinian?

Sebastian Baez, on the other hand, has already won two titles this season. The first one came at the Rio Open, where he defeated his compatriot Mariano Navone by 6-2,6-1 in the final and then the second one came a few days later at the Chile Open. Apart from that, he has also made quite a few QF and SF runs this season. Overall, it has been a decent year for him so far. 

Monfils vs Baez: Head-to-Head

Gael Monfils has faced Sebastian Baez only once in his career so far. It was the Frenchman who had the last laugh that time. Now, it’ll be interesting to see who gets the edge in the second meeting.

• 2023 French Open R128: Monfils 3-6,6-3,7-5,1-6,7-5.

Prediction: Baez to win in three sets

This has all the ingredients to go a bit deeper than expected. Gael Monfils is currently ranked 46th in the world and he has a win-loss record of just 22-20. On the other hand, Sebastian Baez is currently placed at the 26th spot in the men’s singles ranking. The Argentinian has a win-loss record of 31-23. Now, if we take a look at their playing styles,

Baez has an aggressive style of play. He has strong groundstrokes in his armory, and this can cause a few troubles for the 38-year-old Frenchman in this match. Apart from that, Baez is also known for his calculated style of play. He’s quite good at disrupting the free-flowing game of his opponents with his pin-point strategies.

Monfils, on the other hand, is more of a baseliner who mainly relies on placement and consistency to beat his opponents. His incredible athleticism and court coverage, even at this age, make him a really special player on the Tour. He is often seen sliding on the hard courts to retrieve the balls, and that’s quite exceptional. He can also jump from defense to offense very swiftly.

Apart from that, he can also generate some real power behind his serves and groundstrokes. So far, Monfils has hit 364 aces this season and committed just 174 double faults. The Frenchman is a really tricky player to handle. His showmanship and high-risk shot-making skills make him a real entertainer on the court. Is it enough thought to beat the 23-year-old Argentinian? Well, if Baez is fully fit, then it’d be really challenging for Monfils.