Familiar foes David Ferrer and Philipp Kohlschreiber will meet again on Friday in the Barcelona quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Fabio Fognini is back in action one day after upsetting Rafael Nadal.
(12) Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. (3) David Ferrer
Ferrer and Kohlschreiber will be colliding for the 13th time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 9-3 in favor of Ferrer, who has won all three of their previous clay-court meetings without dropping a set. They faced each other twice in 2014, with both showdowns ending in third-set tiebreakers. Ferrer survived 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in Cincinnati and 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(3) on the indoor hard courts of Vienna.
It has already been a productive week for Kohlschreiber, who has won back-to-back matches at a tournament for the first time this year. The 25th-ranked German reached the quarters without surrendering a set to either Andrey Kuznetsov or Benoit Paire. Ferrer also got a first-round bye before beating Albert Montanes and Elias Ymer. The world No. 8 trailed Ymer 4-0 in the second set on Thursday only to take the last six games for a 6-3, 6-4 victory. With a 26-4 record on the season, Ferrer is supremely confident and should maintain his master of Kohlschreiber on this surface.
Pick: Ferrer in 2
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Pablo Andujar vs. (13) Fabio Fognini
Fognini will be back in action approximately 24 hours after stunning Rafael Nadal 6-4, 7-6(6) in the Barcelona third round. It was the Italian’s second win over Nadal this season–and second on clay. Aside from those upsets, however, Fognini has been a borderline disaster. He was 6-9 prior to this week with a whopping six opening-match exits.
Up next for the world No. 30 is Andujar, whom he has positively owned in the past. Fognini is dominating the head-to-head series 5-0 (two Futures matches included) and 10-0 in total sets with not a single set more competitive than 6-4. Andujar has taken out Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Leonardo Mayer, and Feliciano Lopez while coughing up only one set to Mayer in the process. Fognini obviously should win this one, but he could lose interest against a less heralded opponent so soon after toppling Nadal.
Pick: Andujar in 2
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