It will be an all-Croat affair when Marin Cilic and Borna Coric square off for the second time this season on Wednesday in Acapulco. An in-form Donald Young, meanwhile, will try to keep his winning ways going against Nick Kyrgios.
Borna Coric vs. (3) Marin Cilic
Cilic and Coric will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers and for the second time this year when they clash in round two of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Wednesday. All three of their previous encounters have gone Cilic’s way; 6-1, 6-2 at the 2015 Shanghai Masters, by retirement after winning the first set at last summer’s Cincinnati Masters, and 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 a few weeks ago in Rotterdam.
Coric’s retirement against Cilic touched off a dismal, injury-plagued stretch in which he played only two matches in the last three months of 2016. In fact, he did win a single match since upsetting Rafael Nadal in the Cincinnati third round until beating Karen Khachanov 7-6(6), 7-6(10) in Rotterdam. The 64th-ranked Croat is 3-5 this year and coming off a 6-1, 6-1 blowout of Mexican wild card Lucas Gomez on Monday. Cilic advanced on Tuesday by holding off Buenos Aires champion Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. The third-seeded Croat is just 4-4 in 2017, but he fared decently in Rotterdam (reached the quarterfinals, lost to eventual champ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in two tiebreakers) and looked both well-rested and motivated against Dolgopolov. Coric has always struggled against his more experienced countryman and there is no reason to think that trend will end in Acapulco.
Pick: Cilic in 2
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(SE) Donald Young vs. (6) Nick Kyrgios
Young has to hope tennis’ version of March Madness–this week plus Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami–goes as well for him as February did. Last month, the 63rd-ranked American advanced to consecutive semifinals in Memphis and Delray Beach–the latter of which earned him a special exemption into Acapulco. He ousted ATP giants Reilly Opelka, John Isner, and Ivo Karlovic along the way, while also benefiting from some good fortune in the form of a Delray Beach quarterfinal withdrawal by Steve Darcis. Young basically got another free pass on Tuesday, when he took his first set against Bernard Tomic 7-6(5) before the Australian retired.
Up next for the Atlanta native is second career showdown with Kyrgios. Their only previous meeting came three years ago at the Sarasota Challenger, where Kyrgios cruised 6-4, 6-4. The 17th-ranked Australian, who has played sparingly this season in his return from suspension (5-2 record), overcame Dudi Sela 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a somewhat contentious affair on Tuesday night during which the Israeli fans were typically boisterous–much to Kyrgios’ chagrin. It is safe to assume that an American is unlikely to get as much crowd support in Mexico these days, so Kyrgios will not endure the same kind of distractions. He served at 74 percent in the final set against Sela and dropped a mere three points in his last four service games, so that bodes well for the No. 6 seed’s chances on Wednesday.
Pick: Kyrgios in 2
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