Tommy Paul vs David Goffin Prediction & Betting Tips - Aix en Provence, France

Prediction published on 05/05/2023, 11:42  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 06/05/2023 at 00:00 in Tennis Predictions

It's not common for a top 20 player to be in a Challenger Tour event. That's the case in Provence with Tommy Paul the top seed for this tournament. He takes on unseeded David Goffin in the semi-finals with likely opponents in the final including Andy Murray and Alexander Bublik? Why enter this Challenger Tour event? Well, Paul lost in the second round of the Madrid Masters and is keen to get some more time on clay courts with Rome and Roland Garros on the horizon. Paul was ranked 17th in the last published list but can move up a place if winning this tournament. Paul has so far had wins over Geoffrey Blancanaeux and Jurij Rodionov, both in straight sets and only losing ten games. Those were his first two clay court wins of the year. He has had success on this surface in the past with a Junior Grand Slam final at Roland Garros and six Challenger Tour titles.

David Goffin was as high as seventh six years ago but is down at 95th in the latest list. The Belgian is 107th in the live rankings but a win over Paul will at least take him back into the top 100. Goffin lost in the first round in Madrid so lost points after reaching the third round in 2022. He is a former French Open quarter finalist but that was six years ago. Before this tournament he'd won only one of four matches on clay this year. That was against Feliciano Lopez who was ranked 593rd at the time and that went to a final set. Goffin has won one tournament this year and that was a Challenger Tour event in his home country. No top 100 players were beaten that week.  In this tournament, Goffin has had three wins but the last two have both seen him taken to a final set. We back Paul to get the win here.