Ricky’s picks for Auckland and Adelaide: Monfils vs. Bergs and Korda vs. Auger-Aliassime

A pair of ATP 250 finals will be contested on Saturday before the Australian Open gets underway on Sunday. They are taking place in Auckland and Adelaide.

Here are my previews and picks for the two matchups.

Auckland: (Q) Zizou Bergs vs. Gael Monfils

Monfils is playing in his 35th ATP final; Bergs is playing in his first. But is experience really a huge factor going into the ASB Classic championship match? Maybe not. After all, the 38-year-old Frenchman is just 12-22 all time in ATP finals.

This is a great opportunity for Bergs, who has looked like the best player throughout the week in Auckland. The 66th-ranked Belgian has won six matches–two in qualifying and four in the main draw. He looks physically fitter than Monfils and also plays more offense, which will inflict more physical damage on the veteran. I’m going with Bergs for a minor upset, giving him his first ATP title.

Adelaide: (5) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. (2) Sebastian Korda

Korda and Auger-Aliassime will be facing each other for the fourth time in Saturday’s Adelaide International final. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in favor of Auger-Aliassime, who has earned both of his wins on hard courts (one indoors, one outdoors). Korda got the job done on the red clay of Estoril three years ago.

This hard-court match, however, should go in Korda’s direction. He is a former runner-up in Adelaide, having come within one point of upsetting Novak Djokovic for the 2023 title before falling 6-7(8), 7-6(4), 6-4. The 22nd-ranked American is well rested (he has played only two matches this week) and has not dropped serve a single time. That will put a lot of pressure on Auger-Aliassime, who did well to beat Tommy Paul in the semis–but it was far from a good match for either player.

Pick: Korda in 3

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.