U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic will kick off his Moscow campaign when he takes the court against Evgeny Donskoy on Wednesday. Andreas Seppi and Ivan Dodig are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(WC) Evgeny Donskoy vs. (2) Marin Cilic
It remains to be seen how Cilic will ultimately deal with both the expectations of being a Grand Slam champion (he won this summer’s U.S. Open) and the pressure of trying to clinch a World Tour Finals spot. Early returns are not particularly encouraging. The eighth-ranked Croat got crushed by Andy Murray 6-1, 6-4 in the Beijing quarterfinals then lost his Shanghai opener to Ivo Karlovic in a third-set tiebreaker. Of course, it surely did not help that Cilic had to jump right into Davis Cup action following his triumph in New York (he won a singles rubber over Thiemo De Bakker to help Croatia get back into the World Group). He should be well-rested now, though, and ready for the stretch run after an entire week away from match play.
Up first for the No. 2 seed at the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday is Donskoy, whom he has never faced. Donskoy kicked off his week with a 6-4, 6-0 rout of Dudi Sela on Tuesday afternoon. For the most part, though, it has been a disappointing 2014 campaign for the 24-year-old Russian. He is just 4-8 at the ATP level and toiling down at 128th in the world. Despite playing at home, Donskoy has never advanced past the second round of the main draw in seven previous appearances in Moscow and this is just the second time he has has reached the last 16.
Pick: Cilic in 2
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Ivan Dodig vs. (8) Andreas Seppi
Dodig and Seppi will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers and for the second time this season on Wednesday. If their previous encounters are any indication, this should be a good one. Seppi leads the head-to-head series 4-1, but only one of their meetings has ended in straight sets. Their most recent showdown at August’s Canada Masters went the way of Dodig, who pulled out a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) thriller.
Neither veteran had much trouble in his first-round match. Seppi took care of Dusan Lajovic 7-5, 6-4 on Monday before Dodig trounced Pere Riba 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday. Seppi’s fall swing has been a struggle, in part due to a lower-back problem. The Italian is coming off a first-round loss in Shanghai to Tommy Robredo. Dodig fared decently at the recent Masters 1000 event, avenging a Kuala Lumpur setback against Pablo Cuevas before succumbing to Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(7), 6-7(4), 6-3. The indoor hard-court surfaces favors the Croat, a more aggressive player who should be able to dictate play early and often against Seppi.
Pick: Dodig in 3
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