Familiar foes Hubert Hurkacz and Diego Schwartzman will do battle at the ATP Cup on Wednesday. In addition to the Poland vs. Argentina tie, Norway is facing Chile. That matchup is highlighted by Casper Ruud vs. Cristian Garin.
Hubert Hurkacz (POL) vs. Diego Schwartzman (ARG)
Hurkacz and Schwartzman will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the second time at the ATP Cup when they meet again on Wednesday in Sydney. They have split their two previous encounters; Hurkacz prevailed 4-6, 2-6, 6-3 at this same team competition in 2020 before Schwartzman scored a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory that spring on the clay courts Rome.
Both players are off to victorious starts to their respective 2022 campaigns. Hurkacz defeated little-known Greek Aristotelis Thanos 6-1, 6-2 and then overcame Georgia’s Aleksandre Metreveli 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1. Schwartzman followed up a 6-1, 6-2 rout of Nikoloz Basilvashvili by upsetting Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3. The 13th-ranked Argentine is in superior form so far this week and Hurkacz would rather be playing this matchup on a faster and slicker surface like grass or an indoor hard court.
Pick: Schwartzman in 3
Casper Ruud (NOR) vs. Cristian Garin (CHI)
Garin and Ruud will also be facing each other for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. Both of their previous meetings (each one on clay) have gone Garin’s way; 6-4, 6-4 at the 2019 Sao Paulo event and 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 a couple of months later in the Houston final.
You have to think the tide will turn in this one. It is true that Ruud is also at his best on clay, but the eighth-ranked Norwegian is far more adept on hard courts than Garin. Although Ruud lost to Roberto Bautista Agut on Monday, Garin lost even worse to Bautista Agut (6-0, 6-3) and then went to three sets with Dusan Lajovic before getting a retirement. On this surface, a confident and in-form Ruud should roll without any trouble.
Pick: Ruud in 2
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Diego – the diminutive dynamo