Winston-Salem R3 previews and predictions: Querrey vs. Rublev, Tiafoe vs. Krajinovic

Andrey Rublev will try to keep his summer hot streak going when he takes the court against Sam Querrey for third-round action in Winston-Salem on Wednesday. Frances Tiafoe and Filip Krajinovic are also aiming for a spot in the quarterfinals as they prepare for the upcoming U.S. Open.

(6) Sam Querrey vs. Andrey Rublev

Querrey and Rublev will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this summer when they meet again in round three of the Winston-Salem Open on Wednesday. They just faced each other at Wimbledon, where Querrey took care of business on his grass-court stomping grounds to roll 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. A hard court should give Rublev more of a chance, as should the fact that he has been in stellar form since leaving the All-England Club. The 47th-ranked Russian finished runner-up in Hamburg and is coming off a quarterfinal run in Cincinnati as a qualifier–avenging his Hamburg loss to Nikoloz Basilashvili before upsetting Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer. So far this week Rublev has defeated Thomas Fabbiano and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Following an opening bye as the No. 6 seed, Querrey made quick 6-3, 7-5 work of Roberto Carballes Baena on Tuesday. The 46th-ranked American is a solid 19-10 this season, including an awesome 13-4 in his last 17 matches dating back to the start of the clay-court swing. This will be more competitive than their Wimbledon contest, but Rublev has to be getting fatigued and Querrey thrives in these summer hard-court conditions.

Pick: Querrey in 3

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(8) Filip Krajinovic vs. (10) Frances Tiafoe

Also one spot apart in the rankings, Krajinovic (51st) and Tiafoe (52nd) will also be squaring off for the second time in their careers at the ATP level–with their previous encounter having come at a major in 2019. During first-round action at the French Open, Krajinovic prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. They also met in the qualifying rounds of the 2015 Memphis event, where the Serb got the job done 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

It has been a bit of an abbreviated 2019 campaign for the oft-injured Krajinovic, but when healthy he has consistently produced to the tune of a 21-10 record. The 27-year-old began his hard-court swing with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over a rusty Tomas Berdych on Tuesday. Tiafoe has played only six games in Winston-Salem, following up a first-round bye by getting a first-set retirement from Jeremy Chardy. The 21-year-old American is a mediocre 16-18 on the main tour this season and may not be in the kind of form that will allow him to avenge his Roland Garros setback.

Pick: Krajinovic in 3

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