Janko Tipsarevic’s comeback will continue against Santiago Giraldo in the Houston second round on Thursday. Roberto Bautista Agut and Jack Sock are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(5) Santiago Giraldo vs. (WC) Janko Tipsarevic
Tipsarevic’s comeback could not have gone any better at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship on Tuesday. It could, however, been easier. Playing singles for the first time since October of 2013, Tipsarevic saved two match points before outlasting Guilherme Clezar 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7). The 30-year-old Serb now has three matches under his belt (singles and doubles this week), having previously lost a doubles contest with countryman Novak Djokovic in Miami.
Up next for Tipsarevic in the Houston second round is a third career meeting with Giraldo. The former world No. 8 has won both of their previous encounters; 6-1, 6-0 on the hard courts of Los Angeles in 2010 and 6-3, 6-3 on the clay of Bucharest in 2013. Fast forward a few years and Giraldo, of course, is a much more established player at this point. The Colombian is up to 32nd in the rankings and has peaked as high as No. 28. Although he can get the job done on any surface, Giraldo’s results at this time last season were especially impressive. He reached the semis in Houston, the title match in Barcelona, and the quarters in Madrid as a qualifier. Tipsarevic has played a lot of tennis the past two days (he lost a doubles match 13-11 in a super-tiebreaker to Bob and Mike Bryan on Wednesday) and clay will not help his efforts to play quick points against Giraldo.
Pick: Giraldo in 2
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Jack Sock vs. (2) Roberto Bautista Agut
Sock missed the first two months of the season because of a hip injury and a serious illness that nearly killed his brother, Eric. To say the 22-year-old American is making up for lost time would be an understatement. He reached the fourth round in Indian Wells, the third round in Miami, and kicked off his Houston campaign on Tuesday by defeating Brazilian clay-courter Joao Souza 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Sock also won the Indian Wells doubles title with Vasek Pospisil and they finished runner-up in Miami to the Bryan brothers.
Standing in Sock’s way of a quarterfinal spot is Bautista Agut. The two players have faced each other once in each of the past three seasons–including this one. Bautista Agut prevailed 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 during 2013 Beijing qualifying and 6-1, 6-3 last year in the Auckland quarters. They also squared off just recently in Indian Wells, where Sock pulled off a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 upset. A black eye sustained in Miami doubles contributed to his opening-match loss in singles to Jerzy Janowicz, but the 15th-ranked Spaniard should be good to go for Houston. Clay-court results in 2014 included a semifinal showing in Madrid and a title in Stuttgart. The No. 2 seed will have a much better opportunity to withstand Sock’s power on the slow stuff than he did in the desert.
Pick: Bautista Agut in 2
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