Ernests Gulbis will kick off his 2015 campaign when he takes the court against Jiri Vesely on Wednesday in Auckland. Steve Johnson and Pablo Carreno Busta are also bidding for a place in the quarterfinals.
(Q) Jiri Vesely vs. (2) Ernests Gulbis
Gulbis and Vesely will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers during second-round action at the Heineken Open on Wednesday. It has already been a productive tournament for Vesely, who qualified for the main draw then took care of Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 7-6(4). The 63rd-ranked Czech also played last week in Chennai, where he advanced one round before losing to Andreas Haider-Maurer.
Whereas Vesely has already contested five matches this season, Gulbis has not yet played one. The 13th-ranked Latvian withdrew from Doha before getting a first-round bye as Auckland’s No. 2 seed. Gulbis reached the French Open semis last spring only to slump down the stretch, in part due to a shoulder injury. Look for him to show signs of rust in this one, but Gulbis is generally an outstanding performer at the 250-point level.
Pick: Gulbis in 3
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(8) Steve Johnson vs. Pablo Carreno Busta
Johnson and Carreno Busta will also be facing each other for the first time in their careers on Wednesday. Johnson advanced on Monday with a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Joao Sousa. The American is going to miss out on an Australian Open seed at No. 39 in the world, but he is likely to at least equal his career-best ranking of 37th if he wins this showdown. Johnson is aiming to go one round–or more–further than he did last week in Brisbane, where he beat Marinko Matosevic and lost to Kei Nishikori.
Carreno Busta made some kind of statement on Tuesday, either about the impressiveness of his own game or the growing pains that Borna Coric will have to endure–or both. The Spaniard hammered the 18-year-old Croat 6-4, 6-3 and it was not even that close. Carreno Busta also reached the last 16 in Chennai, ousting Alejandro Gonzalez before bowing out to Yen-Hsun Lu. Johnson should have too much firepower on a hard court, but he will have to put in more of his first serves (55 percent against Sousa).
Pick: Johnson in 3
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