Gael Monfils is looking to finish the year strongly in his home-town event.

Monfils’ challenge for a place at the ATP World Finals ended last week with a second round loss in Valencia and the Frenchman hasn’t quite been able to sustain the form which saw him win the Metz title earlier this autumn.

It’s been a fairly consistent year for Monfils, with the highlight being his run to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros but he’s struggled to get past the fourth round/quarter-finals hurdle in the big events. 

Guez is a little known player who mainly plies his trade at the lower end of the challenger circuit. With a ranking of 179 he needed a wildcard into qualifying but made full use of it, dispatching two very handy serve-volleyers – Robby Kendrick and Ivan Navarro in straight sets.

Few gave him a chance against Stanislas Wawrinka but the Swiss was comprehensively outplayed 6-3, 6-4. It’s doubtful that Monfils will have heard of Guez before but he should be wary, Guez has some big shots and also qualified for ATP Lyon last month.   

Sporting bet are pricing Monfils at 1/6 but if you reckon Guez can catch his compatriot cold in this event then he’s at 11/2 with Stan James.