Stan Wawrinka will begin his week in Marseille against good friend Benoit Paire on Thursday. David Goffin and Dominic Thiem are also in second-round action.
Benoit Paire vs. (2) Stan Wawrinka
Wawrinka will be getting back in gear four days after winning the Rotterdam title when he takes the court on Thursday at the Open 13. The seventh-ranked Swiss is traditionally an extremely hot starter and this season has been no exception. After beginning 2014 by winning his first 13 matches, Wawrinka is 14-1 so far in 2015. In addition to his Rotterdam triumph, Marseille’s No. 2 seed lifted the Chennai trophy and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Toiling down at 121st in the world mainly because of injuries, Paire may finally be rounding into form. The Frenchman captured a Futures title in late January, reached the Montpellier second round, and won last week’s Bergamo Challenger. He was leading Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 on Tuesday when Mathieu retired. Paire is 1-3 lifetime against Wawrinka and just barely lost their most recent meeting 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) last summer in Toronto. The underdog has done nothing except play on indoor hard courts in France of late and he is used to the conditions. This should be competitive as a result, but of Paire’s 14 matches this season, only one has come against a top 100 opponent and he has not faced anyone in the top 25 since his last meeting with Wawrinka.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
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Dominic Thiem vs. (6) David Goffin
Goffin and Thiem will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers and for the fourth time at the ATP level. All four of their previous encounters came in 2014 and Goffin got the best of every single on of them. The Belgian survived 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1) in Acapulco qualifying before picking up more routine wins at Queen’s Club, in the Kitzbuhel final, and last fall in Basel.
The good news for Thiem is that Goffin is not quite as on fire–at least not yet–in 2015. The world No. 20 was just 3-4 for the season heading into Marseille, but he scored an impressive 6-4, 6-2 blowout of Jerzy Janowicz on Wednesday. Thiem started the year slow, perhaps due to an offseason of Austrian army commitments, but he advanced one round in Montpellier and took care of Joao Sousa 7-6(6), 6-4 in his opening match this week. Although a more vulnerable opponent and the indoor surface will give Thiem a chance, past history against each other plus Goffin’s result versus Janowicz make it hard to pick against the No. 6 seed.
Pick: Goffin in 3
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If he serves really well Paire might escape with a respectable scoreline, but im not buying into his chances of actually making this particularly competitive, assuming Stan plays a decent match. He beat no one in Bergamo. He’s beaten no one all year. In his last set he just about got the better of a Mathieu who wasn’t even moving. My brain is screaming 2-0 Stan at me.
It’s interesting that you don’t think Paire will make a match of it against Stan. I have not seen Paire recently, so I can’t speak to his form right now. I have to believe that if Stan plays well it’s not going to be very competitive.
????????????
Ricky,
Sorry, but my response was directed at createdsick’s post above mine. I should have made that clear.
it doesnt make any sense regardless to whom it was directed at
Ricky,
I don’t mind you calling me out. I also don’t mind explaining what I said, because it does make sense as far as I am concerned. I said that I have not seen Paire play. That is true. However, regardless of his form I still thought that Stan would have an easy time of it. Essentially I was agreeing with createdsick.
I don’t mind you taking issue with what I said, but I do mind nadline jumping in and adding to the insult.
that’s not the comment i was referring to
first you said “It’s interesting that you don’t think Paire will make a match of it.”
then you said “it’s not going to be very competitive.”
It’s called hedging your bets and not knowing what you are talking about. Put simply, tying yourself up in knots.
Never in doubt. Stakhovsky is a lot more likely to make a match of it than Paire. But Stan’s in line to be the man again this week.
nadline,
Please do not presume to speak for me. However, I am not surprised that you would jump in and try to take advantage when Ricky says something that is critical of me.
Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. Crack a smile every now and again. It’s not that serious. There is more to life than tennis blogs.