French to the fore in Marseille

Nick Kyrgios has been silent for the past couple of weeks which is a blessing but this week he is in Marseille, defending one of the three titles he won in 2016.  He is having to deal with a host of French players, five of whom joined him at the quarter final stage.

Six was looking likely, but unseeded veteran Nicolas Mahut could not continue his form shown in the first round when he upset young gun A,expander Zverev.  Instead, little known Slovakian qualifier Norbert Gombos prevailed in a three set thriller, and will be the next opposition for Kyrgios.

Second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, full of confidence following his Rotterdam success last week, will play the Australian in one semi final should both win through, Tsonga needing to edge past seventh seed and compatriot Gilles Simon.

Top seed Gael Monfils meets sixth seed Richard Gasquet in another all French clash, and potentially the best of the four quarter finals.  The victor in that plays the survivor of the Lucas Pouille (4) v Daniil Medvedev match.  Medvedev already is unpopular with locals, having dumped 8th seeded Frenchman Benoit Paire in the opening round.

Over in the US, meanwhile, Florida is the centre of men's tennis, with the Delray Beach Open now down to the final eight.  Or should I say final seven.  Donald Young has been handed a quarter final walkover by Steve Darcis and is the first semi finalist decided.

Some luck for sure, but his opening round win over second seed Ivo Karlovic earns him credibility points.  Young will play another American, either Jack Sock or Steve Johnson.  Sock, the third seed, is currently, at number 21, the top ranked American, which says a lot for the adequate but less than awe inspiring space in which we find US men's racquet work

Top seed Milos Raonic is in a different class from the rest of the field, and eighth seed Kyle Edmund will need to fire on all his own cylinders plus some he borrows from elsewhere to stand a chance of gaining a semi final berth.

Raonic, should he advance, will run into Sam Querrey or that rarely sighted Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro. Making his fifty thousandth attempt at a fully fledged comeback, one can only hope this one works and the insanely wasted talent gives us more than teasing glimpses before he finally hangs up his racquet.