Kei Nishikori may have his hands full in his Barcelona opener against Roberto Bautista Agut on the other side of the net on Tuesday. Marcel Granollers and Dominic Thiem are also in second-round action.
According to online sportsbook sites listed on TopBettingReviews.com, the most competitive match of the day at theĀ Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell is expected to be Andreas Seppi (a -120 favorite) vs. Carlos Berlocq (an even money underdog). Their head-to-head series is tied 1-1 after Berlocq won a Davis Cup match in Argentina earlier this year in four sets.
Two other intriguing Tuesday matches:
Roberto Bautista Agut vs. (4) Kei Nishikori
Nishikori and Bautista Agut will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in the Barcelona second round on Tuesday. With an outstanding 17-4 record to his credit this season, Nishikori reached the Miami semifinals and beat Roger Federer in the process, but he withdrew due to a groin injury before facing Novak Djokovic.
Bautista Agut is a stellar 15-10 for his 2014 campaign and he has climbed to No. 45 in the world after registering as low as 73rd in mid-January. Highlights for the Spaniard include fourth-round showings at the Australian Open and in Indian Wells. He opened on Monday in Barcelona with a 6-1, 6-0 blowout of Lukasz Kubot. With this confidence, on this surface, and playing at home in Spain, Bautista Agut should have a great shot at an upset.
Pick: Bautista Agut in 3
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(Q) Dominic Thiem vs. (14) Marcel Granollers
Granollers and Thiem are also squaring off for the first time on Tuesday. Both men have reason to be confident in the early stages of the clay-court season. While Thiem has been in fine form the entire season, Granollers heated up earlier this month with a runner-up finish on the clay courts of Casablanca. Still, though, the 31st-ranked Spaniard is just 7-10 for the year and an additional cause for concern is that he struggled physically in a first-round Monte-Carlo loss to Grigor Dimitrov.
Thiem has arguably been the ATP’s No. 1 breakout star of 2014. The 20-year-old Austrian started the season at 139th in the world and he is now up to No. 80. He has been successful in six of seven qualifying attempts this year, including at the Australian Open (reached the second round), in Indian Wells (third round), and in Miami (second round). Thiem qualified in Barcelona then took out Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-4. His game is huge, but it would work better against Granollers on a faster surface. On clay, the No. 14 seed–if 100 percent–may have just enough veteran savvy and craftiness to get past the youngster.
Pick: Granollers in 3
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I would have gone with Nishikori, but given that he is just coming back from the groin injury and RBA is playing so well now, I will go with RBA in three sets.
I really want to get a look at this guy Thiem. There’s been a lot of talk about him. Since I haven’t seen him play yet, it’s hard to make a pick. I will go with Granollers in three sets.
he is awesome
I watch Theim playing a bit, but I don’t see anything special about Thiem in terms of talents. However, somehow he manages to keep winning. I think it has something to do with his strong mentality. The kid never gives up, which is quite unusual for his age.
For RBA, I think he has better chances against a tall guy like Del Potro or Berdych. He has been beaten twice by Fognini, Gulbis and Nishikori has a lot of similarities with later two guys than first two guys. I see RBA as a future Ferrer.
GC, thanks for the comment.
1) I have to disagree. The guy is a MASSIVE talent. Curious: where did you see Thiem play?
2) Gulbis is a lot more similar to Del Potro and Berdych than he is to Fognini and Nishikori! It is true, though, that NISHIKORI may not be as good of a matchup for RBA. But Gulbis should be a good matchup for him IF Delpo and Berdych are.
Ahh! My day of REALLY GOOD matches is here!
RBA
Thiem (hopefully he can silence Granollers’ labour screams)
I won’t stay up until the matches start at 4:30 am my time. Only for Rafa will I do that! But I do hope to catch Thiem when they replay the matches.
ATP not streaming an Ernie match?
Sacrilege!
Ernie through, to play either Montanes or Dolgo.
A Dolgo-Ernie match………….sumptuous.
It’s all Ernie’s fault……….RBA is losing to Kei!
Davydenko: a set down but a break up in the 2nd………..
RBA gets the 2nd set………..Vamos RBA!
A break for RBA in the 3rd………………
MANY breaks for Kei Nishikori in the third!
Not only has Ramos broken back, he is now a break up on Davy, 4-2 to Ramos in the 3rd.
Nadal vs. Ramos, as expected
Sigh……..
The ATP needs to investigate Davydenko. There is a pattern here: each time he is slated to play Rafa he loses in the round before. Clearly this is deliberate to protect that positive H2H he enjoys against Rafa.
I am sure someone will create a currency (like Bitcoins) out of H2H stats against Rafa in the future and Davy wants to cash in!
Sneaky bugger…………..
Davydenko just isn’t good anymore.
This!
We’re lucky to have posters as shrewd as you who can figure these things out ritb
No wonder my head hurts, @snowdevil! Thinking is tough you know………………
Well, at least Rafa gets to play a proper clay-courter, needs to build up rhythm
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What happened to Paire. Did he go refuse to play the last game of the set?
The scoreline is given as 6:4 5:1
Please bring back Nick Lester. Cant bear the prospect of listening to Jason Knowitall for the whole week. Someone should tell him he is commentating on a match ā not showcasing his coaching credentials š
ed251137 (at 2:16 pm)
https://twitter.com/nicklester/statuses/458586704061149184
What a relief
Dimi lost to someone I’ve never heard of:
Pts Sets
Dmitry Tursunov
7 0 3
Inigo Cervantes
5 6 6
Maybe he is injured.
injured in the head, perhaps
#OverRated
#NeverMind š³
@nadline, you are not confusing this Dmitry Tursunov with Grigor Dimitrov, are you?
:developer:
Inigo Cervantes is a Spaniard ranked #824 in the world.
Well I just hope that I not comparing Dmitry with Dimitrov.
Don’t I?
Or do I.
No I did.
OK.
Good.
YOU forgot to use the DO emoticon
Didn’t you? Or did you?
You did.
OK.
Good.
Sorry, It’s Tursunov who lost to Cervantes.
DO YOU
OR DON’T YOU