Dominic Thiem will kick off his 2018 clay-court campaign when he goes up against Andrey Rublev in the Monte-Carlo second round on Tuesday. Alexander Zverev, who also benefited from a first-round bye, is facing Gilles Muller.
Andrey Rublev vs. (5) Dominic Thiem
Thiem will get his favorite time of year started when he takes the court at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters for second-round action on Tuesday afternoon. The seventh-ranked Austrian was easily the second best player on the slow stuff last season and could really use another productive clay-court campaign because he has won just a single match since the end of February (he has not played since Indian Wells due to a knee injury). Clay is likely just what the doctor ordered for Thiem, who last year finished runner-up to Nadal in Barcelona and Madrid, upset Nadal in Rome, and reached the French Open semifinals.
Up first for the fifth seed on Monday is a second career showdown against Rublev, who lost their only previous meeting 6-4, 6-3 this past fall on the indoor hard courts of Valencia. Rublev started this season in blistering form, with a runner-up performance in Doha, a third-round appearance at the Australian Open, and quarterfinal finishes in Montpellier and Rotterdam. But he has cooled off since, falling right away in Acapulco (to David Ferrer), Indian Wells (to Taylor Fritz), and Miami (to Vasek Pospisil). The 33rd-ranked Russian even lost to world No. 195 Dennis Novak in a Davis Cup tie against Austria before beating Robin Haase 7-6(7), 2-6, 7-5 on Monday in Monte-Carlo. Rublev may be tired, and he will have to do a lot more than outlast Haase to prove that he can compete with Thiem on this particular surface.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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Gilles Muller vs. (3) Alexander Zverev
Zverev and Muller will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the second time at the ATP level when they meet again on Wednesday. Muller has won both of their previous encounters; 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 on the hard courts of the Irving Challenger in 2015 and 7-6(5), 6-2 last summer on the grass of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. A different surface and another year of experience under his belt should help Zverev exact some revenge. The fourth-ranked German finished runner-up to John Isner at the Miami Masters and got two clay-court matches under his belt during Davis Cup quarterfinal action against Spain (clobbered Ferrer then got blown out by Nadal).
Muller is at his best on grass or a fast hard court, but he cannot be discounted on the red stuff. The two-time ATP champion and six-time runner-up reached a final on clay for the first time last spring, making a run in Estoril before succumbing to Pablo Carreno Busta. In position for Roland Garros seeding at No. 28 in the world, Muller opened in Monte-Carlo on Monday with a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of lucky loser Florian Mayer. If the Luxembourgian serves well he can be competitive in this one, but on this surface an upset is not likely in the cards.
Pick: Zverev in 2
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WYG?
Zverev in three Thiem in two
Ricky still making picks after Houston? haha
Thiem already a set down
That must have been a good match. Rublev came close to beating Thiem! Or it says Thiem has a ways to go to reach his best.
However, between Khachanov and Rublev, I recall thinking last year that Rublev looked potentially like a better clay court player than Khachanov. We’ll see how that goes. Khachanov definitely had the better draw at MC this year. 4K wasn’t up to speed and Simon, his next opponent, has not been playing well. But a 3 set win over Mannarino is a good start for Gillou 😀 Still it’s tough to pick Khachanov over Simon, imo. The entire draw had me over-thinking and second guessing every match; except for picking Rafa FTW, of course 😀
I Dont see Rafa as been a shoo in, i really dont know if hes fully fit at the moment ….
Yes, of course, no counting chickens before they hatch – Dear Ali!
I just meant if you are bracket picking. It’s nice to pick Rafa to win MC and not second guess it like every other pick lol…. Same for Barcelona, Rome, and RG. But I don’t necessarily pick Rafa for Madrid. I’d like Kei, Delpo, Murray (if he was playing) or someone else to grab that one.
Vamos Rafa – he really by far and away the best clay court tennis player I have ever seen. Trying to win RG over Rafa during Rafa’s reign is dangerous — Novak had to sell his soul to the Pepe Guru and possibly never play top shelf tennis again! lol
And look at Stan the Man, if you can find him 😀
Federer simply refuses to attempt clay season with Rafa… on and on it goes.
RC will you be posting on FB again, really miss you on there hun ?
Oh my gosh. I hate facebook — not a good place for me. I just don’t trust social media. And I did get a new computer and lost all my info, had to switch browsers. I just am not that good with security – not savvy on the internet. And my info leaks to places I don’t want it to go. So I have to change phones, ect, ect..
I do miss you and Andy Mira. Please don’t take it personally 😪
And I’m not very keen about posting on Tennis-x. So, I miss Margot. Almost posted bunches of WTA on their WTA threads but I don’t know. Life is overwhelming when I take on too much.
RC no problem i cant i blame you , ive fallen out of love with FC too to be honest, and im thinking of calling it a day , but i have an emotional pull with one person that keeps me there lol, also its a place where i chat to all my camp buddies, and you have to have a FB account to purchase the tickets for the rituals, good to see you posting here though, i havent been here my self much as ive been really busy lately, and TX is the same as ever, nothing and nobody changes lol 😉
RC…How r u?Is everything okay?Hope u will be strong…no matter what challenge life thrown at u…i’m here for u if u still ever need me okay?if i ever hurt u in the past,i am so sorry from the deep of my heart rc…I also hope u will always remember ALL of our conversations on FB…it’s all true & genuine…