Scouting Report: Rune, Felix, Murray compete in Montpellier

The ATP Tour moves to Europe for the first time this season this week at the Open Sud de France – Montpellier, an ATP 250 indoor hard-court event. Holger Rune, Andy Murray and Felix Auger-Aliassime are among the stars in action.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to watch from the south of France.

1) Top seed Rune: The 20-year-old Dane will aim to bounce back from his disappointing second-round exit at the Australian Open when he leads the field in Montpellier. Rune is making his second appearance at the tournament, having advanced to the semi-finals last year. Earlier this season he reached the final in Brisbane.

2) Cazaux, Monfils, Gasquet lead French charge: Arthur Cazaux, who defeated Rune in Melbourne, will make his debut at the home event. The 21-year-old made waves at the Australian Open, where he advanced to the fourth round. Gael Monfils will also be in action. The 37-year-old has fond memories in Montpellier, where he lifted the trophy in 2010, 2014 and 2020.

Like Monfils, Richard Gasquet is a three-time champion in Montpellier, triumphing in 2013, 2015 and 2016. The 37-year-old is chasing his first tour-level match win of the season this week.

There are 11 Frenchmen in the draw, excluding qualifiers.

3) Can Felix Build on AO run? Auger-Aliassime won the title in Basel last October but struggled overall in 2023, holding a 23-18 record on the season. The Canadian arrives off the back of a third-round run in Melbourne, though, and will be hoping to build momentum in Montpellier, where he makes his second appearance.

4) Murray in action: Can the 46-time tour-level titlist Murray add more tour-level trophies to his collection deep in his career? The 36-year-old’s last title success on the ATP Tour came in Antwerp in 2019, but the Scot will be trying to change that this week in Montpellier.

5) Doumbia/Reboul lead doubles field: Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul headline the doubles draw, with singles stars Alexander Bublik and Alexander Shevchenko teaming. Julian Cash pairs with Robert Galloway and Lloyd Glasspool teams with Henry Patten.