Cincinnati R3 previews and predictions: Berdych vs. Cilic, Murray vs. Anderson

A quarterfinal spot in Cincinnati will be at stake when Tomas Berdych faces Marin Cilic on Thursday. Third-round action also includes Rio gold medalist Andy Murray, who is continuing his campaign against Kevin Anderson.

(6) Tomas Berdych vs. (12) Marin Cilic

Call this the Goran Ivanisevic Bowl. Cilic recently split from Ivanisevic and the 2001 Wimbledon champion is now in Berdych’s coaching corner. In fact, the Western & Southern Open marks the first tournament of the Berdych-Ivanisevic pairing. It got off to a fine start on Wednesday, when the No. 6 seed defeated Marcel Granollers 6-3, 7-6(4). Although Berdych slumped through the first half of the season, three of his last four events have been successful–a quarterfinal at the French Open, a semifinal at Wimbledon, and another quarterfinal to begin his American hard-court summer in Toronto.

Cilic and Berdych will now be squaring off for the 11th time in their careers, with the Czech leading the head-to-head series 6-4. Cilic, however, has won two of their last three and three of their last five encounters. Not unlike his opponent, the 14th-ranked Croat has been mostly mediocre in 2016. He is just 28-17 for the year and was 3-4 in his last seven matches prior to arriving in Cincinnati. But Cilic, who will begin working with Jonas Bjorkman at the U.S. Open, clobbered Viktor Troicki and Fernando Verdasco to start this week in style. Look for the 2014 U.S. Open champion’s form to continue against Berdych.

Pick: Cilic in 2

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Murray seemed to be dealing with a shoulder injury and general fatigue in his Cincinnati opener on Wednesday night, and who can blame him? After all, the second-ranked Scot is coming off a gold medal-winning run at the Rio Olympics (which gave him a second consecutive gold, having previously triumphed at the London Games in 2012). But Murray is no stranger to making his physical state seem worse than it really is, so nobody should have been surprised to see him make routine 6-3, 6-2 work of Juan Monaco.

Next up for the No. 1 seed on Thursday is a eighth career showdown against Anderson, who trails the head-to-head series 5-2. The 6’8” South African, though, got the best of their most recent battle–a 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(0) thriller in round four of last year’s U.S. Open. This season has been less successful for Anderson, mainly because of injuries. The world No. 24 is slowly making his way back and he recently advanced to the Toronto quarterfinals. Now he is through to the last 16 in Cincinnati thanks to a retirement from Alexandr Dolgopolov followed by a 6-2, 6-4 rout of a hobbled Richard Gasquet. Will Anderson be facing a third consecutive opponent who is less than 100 percent? If so, he may have a chance. But in all likelihood Murray’s gas tank will be in better shape that it was against Monaco and the favorite should extend his winning streak to 20 matches.

Pick: Murray in 2