Simone Bolelli and Andrey Rublev will wrap up first-round action on Wednesday in St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, the last 16 is beginning with an all-Austrian matchup between Dominic Thiem and Andreas Haider-Maurer.
(WC) Andrey Rublev vs. Simone Bolelli
Bolelli and Rublev and will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when clash in round one of the St. Petersburg Open on Wednesday. Rublev is in the midst of a breakout season during which he has earned seven of his eight career ATP-level match wins. The 17-year-old is well inside the top 200 at 178th in the world and he has even been called on for Davis Cup duty by Russia. He played last weekend at home against Italy, losing a singles rubber 7-6(8), 6-2, 6-2 to Fabio Fognini. Fortunately for Rublev, it was also contested on an indoor hard court and he did not have to travel far prior to this week, so the transition should be smooth.
Also on hand at the tie in Irkutsk, Bolelli lost a singles rubber in straight sets to Teymuraz Gabashvili but won the doubles match with Fabio Fognini as the Italians defeated the home team 3-1 overall. Since beating Sam Querrey 7-6(7), 6-7(4), 7-6(9) in the Winston-Salem second round, Bolelli is on a three-match losing streak in singles. The world No. 63 has lost seven consecutive sets with only one of those being more competitive than 6-3. This is a great opportunity for a confident Rublev in front of his Russian fans.
Pick: Rublev in 3
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(3) Dominic Thiem vs. Andreas Haider-Maurer
Thiem and Haider-Maurer will be squaring off for the third time in their careers and for the third time this season when they meet again on Wednesday. Their two previous encounters came on clay, with Thiem coming back from a set down to prevail on each occasion. The 22-year-old advanced by retirement while leading 6-7(5), 6-1, 3-0 in Umag before getting the job done 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 in Kitzbuhel.
Although Thiem has done his best work on clay, surface should not matter much in this particular matchup. Haider-Maurer, after all, is a counter-puncher who can best deal with the world No. 21’s power on a slow court. With almost half of his ATP-level match victories coming this season (21 of 44), Haider-Maurer is up to No. 61 in the rankings. He progressed one round at the U.S. Open, beating Vasek Pospisil before succumbing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, and he began this week by taking out Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-5, 7-6(2) on Monday. This should be competitive, but Thiem has to like his chances of defeating his compatriot for a third straight time.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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Rublev in 3 and Thiem in 2 (should be somewhat tight though)
Granollers easily beats Kokkinakis? What? Well maybe granollers decided to play. Now he gets Sousa idk bout that one. I’m thinking granollers in three but I’m not sure.